Same sex marriage residence permit

[Anna.R]

Hello everyone. I would like to ask about a Finn marrying a non-Finnish citizen and obtaining a residence permit. I and my girlfriend are both females. Finland has law for same sex marriage but her country (undisclosed) doesn’t. How can we bring my girlfriend to Finland to get married and settle to live here?

I don’t have solid financial security yet since I am a student. Does that negatively affect our chance of living here?

Anything else we need to know? Thank you so much!

[rinso]

Hello everyone. I would like to ask about a Finn marrying a non-Finnish citizen and obtaining a residence permit. I and my girlfriend are both females. Finland has law for same sex marriage but her country (undisclosed) doesn’t. How can we bring my girlfriend to Finland to get married and settle to live here?

I don’t have solid financial security yet since I am a student. Does that negatively affect our chance of living here?

Anything else we need to know? Thank you so much!

Bring her on as a tourist (max 90 days) then marry during this period and apply for a residence permit.
You need all the paperwork and planning done beforehand (all the certificates from her home country).
She can stay in Finland during the application period.
Your financial situation should not affect the application, but I suspect it will cause delays.

[Anna.R]

Thank you rinso, I hope tourist visa can let us register marriage.

[fintel]

Thank you rinso, I hope tourist visa can let us register marriage.

Your main issue is to get her a tourist visa (if refused it will be very very difficult to legalize your marriage here).

I will give you some golden advice.

Do not apply for a Finland visa. Apply for a Latvia schengen visa because of greater chance of approval (98%).

Once in Latvia, catch next flight to Finland and get married in Turku.

(Helsinki is more strict with impediments to marriage).

[FinlandGirl]

Do not apply for a Finland visa. Apply for a Latvia schengen visa because of greater chance of approval (98%).

Once in Latvia, catch next flight to Finland and get married in Turku.

I am beginning to wonder whether you just have no clue, or are intentionally trying to destroy other peoples lifes.

Lying regarding the travel plans in a visa application usually results in a 2 year ban from entering the Schengen area.
Marrying in Finland on a Finnish tourist visa is OK, doing so on a tourist visa for a different Schengen country isn't something I would risk.

[fintel]

I am beginning to wonder whether you just have no clue, or are intentionally trying to destroy other peoples lifes.

Lying regarding the travel plans in a visa application usually results in a 2 year ban from entering the Schengen area.
Marrying in Finland on a Finnish tourist visa is OK, doing so on a tourist visa for a different Schengen country isn't something I would risk.

The maistraatti office is not even concerned about your visa status at the time of conducting marriage so your concern about schengen visa country is totally invalid. I am beginning to wonder what actual real life experience you have regarding immigration and whether you are actually a Finnish girl or if it's a scam user name?

I have seen a dozen couples who carefully selected the country for which they apply for a tourist schengen visa because of the relaxed visa requirements for tourism with some countries in the EASTERN bloc. It is well known that Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania grant tourist visas much more easily than Poland, Germany, Spain.

So according to your logic, it's OK to then LIE to Finland about your FAKE TOURISM plans but NOT OK to lie to Latvia about the same thing? I can safely say that if you mention on your Finland tourist visa application that you are going to Finland to get married, the visa will most likely be denied because your purpose of stay WILL NOT match your intended purpose of visit.

Go ahead, listen to the FinlandGirl and lie to your Finnish government.

[fintel]

I am beginning to wonder whether you just have no clue, or are intentionally trying to destroy other peoples lifes.

There is no situation in which "lifes" is the correct usage. Lifes is a common error for someone trying to spell the plural of life. Lives is the correct spelling of the plural word for life. It also is the third-person singular conjugation for the verb to live.

I am guessing English is not your first language.

[FinlandGirl]

I am beginning to wonder whether you just have no clue, or are intentionally trying to destroy other peoples lifes.

Lying regarding the travel plans in a visa application usually results in a 2 year ban from entering the Schengen area.
Marrying in Finland on a Finnish tourist visa is OK, doing so on a tourist visa for a different Schengen country isn't something I would risk.

The maistraatti office is not even concerned about your visa status at the time of conducting marriage so your concern about schengen visa country is totally invalid.

One problem with your suggestions is that you are not even aware where the potential problems are.

If Latvia puts your name on the list of people prohibited from entering the Schengen area, this also has to be implemented at the Finnish Schengen borders.
Trying to get a positive Residence Permit decision with an existing Schengen ban can be quite a fight, FInland cannot revoke your entry ban set by Latvia.

[fintel]

One problem with your suggestions is that you are not even aware where the potential problems are.

If Latvia puts your name on the list of people prohibited from entering the Schengen area, this also has to be implemented at the Finnish Schengen borders.
Trying to get a positive Residence Permit decision with an existing Schengen ban can be quite a fight, FInland cannot revoke your entry ban set by Latvia.

The problem with most of your posts is incorrect spelling.

Latvia will have no reason to put a Schengen ban on you if you have a valid resident permit application made in Finland during your short stay visit (90 days) visa validity period. That's plenty of time to fly to Finland, get married and have a pending resident permit application in Finland. Also if you have Finnish wife and kids, Finland would not be honoring it's own citizens by listening to Latvia about a potential tourist visa over stay and refusing your Finnish wife and kids access to a father or a husband.

[betelgeuse]

Do not apply for a Finland visa. Apply for a Latvia schengen visa because of greater chance of approval (98%).

Once in Latvia, catch next flight to Finland and get married in Turku.

I am beginning to wonder whether you just have no clue, or are intentionally trying to destroy other peoples lifes.

Lying regarding the travel plans in a visa application usually results in a 2 year ban from entering the Schengen area.
Marrying in Finland on a Finnish tourist visa is OK, doing so on a tourist visa for a different Schengen country isn't something I would risk.

Latvia is ok as long as the itinerary has more or as much time in Latvia than in Finland.

So according to your logic, it's OK to then LIE to Finland about your FAKE TOURISM plans but NOT OK to lie to Latvia about the same thing? I can safely say that if you mention on your Finland tourist visa application that you are going to Finland to get married, the visa will most likely be denied because your purpose of stay WILL NOT match your intended purpose of visit.

Getting married is an acceptable purpose for a visa (though I would apply under visiting family or friends). If there is a denial, it would be under the intent to return requirement.

As a political commentary they really should change the Schengen Visa Code to explicitly cover getting married with visas and applying for residence permits as the right to marry is one of the rights in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

[browndude]

Your situation is rarer but has precedent. For a Finn marrying a foreigner, one typically needs a document from the foreign citizen's country stating that they are not already married. Since the avioliittolaki here is the same for hetero and homosexual couples, I would think you would need one from your future spouse's country as well. If you are married legally in Finland, then your spouse will be able to apply for a residency permit on the basis of family ties and in those cases, the law is still such that your financial situation will not be an issue in getting a residency permit-i.e. your spouse can live here and apply from a KELA card etc.. I would strongly suggest getting information from official sources-migri and maistraatti. I would also look into seeing if an LGBT organization can advice you regarding this matter. And also, I would refrain from explicitly lying on your application as it could potentially lead to a series of major legal challenges down the line.

[FinlandGirl]

I would also look into seeing if an LGBT organization can advice you regarding this matter.

There is nothing special about same-sex couples here - marriage is between two people of any genders who are both not married to someone else at the time of their marriage. All requirements and benefits are the same as for opposite-sex couples.

[April19]

Hey! I was in the same situation as you. I don't think there is any other hiccup except getting your GF a visa. However, when applying recidence permit I would suggest underlining the fact that your marriage is not legal in your spouse's country - this enhances the fact that you guys really need to continue your lives together in this country rather than in hers, hence why the residence permit should be admitted.

All the best for you guys and good luck!

[Mackee23]

Hi,

If your partner is able to travel to Finland on a tourist visa, then you should be OK to get married in Finland and apply for a permit after the marriage.

Alternatively, if it is easier, maybe you could both travel to another country to get married? My Finnish partner and I (we are a same sex couple), were married in New York. It is really easy and cheap to get married there and you can both do it as tourists. We went to city Hall, got a marriage licence which involved a straight forward application and showing our passports. It cost $35 for the licence. When you have the licence you can return 24 hrs later and get married. The marriage ceremony costs $25. In order to register the marriage in Finland you need to pay for an extended licence and get it verified by the State and then the federal office, which involves going to a few different offices, but will only take a couple of hours and doesn't cost much. When we had all of that sorted my Finnish partner registered our marriage in Finland, which just involves completing a form and sending in our marriage certificate along with the verification.

It does not matter if u get married in Finland or abroad. As soon as you are legally married, you can apply for a residence permit for your partner. As you are a Finnish citizen you do not have to show proof of income, so don't worry about that. The fact that same sex marriage is not legal in your partner's country will not matter. It will probably just make our case for moving to Finland stronger.

[browndude]

I would also look into seeing if an LGBT organization can advice you regarding this matter.

There is nothing special about same-sex couples here - marriage is between two people of any genders who are both not married to someone else at the time of their marriage. All requirements and benefits are the same as for opposite-sex couples.

No difference here, big difference in the OP's girlfriends country.