Any Tips for Moving to Finland?

[Upphew]

In this point, fin embassy will add your marriage for finnish maistraatti too.
Wait about 3-4 weeks. Whoa, you're married in legally at finland too.

Finnish embassy doesn't do this for everyone. I guess if you are black or African or something they just simply refuse you. Case in example the Nigerian man.

It is enough that you are not a Finn, regardless of your colour. Finns can do their registration in embassy or maistraatti or online.

[network_engineer]

This whole topic should not have been that complicated!

Nigeria is not a party to the Hague convention, and it was you who stated that a Finnish court upheld that a marriage in Nigeria is recognized in Finland.

FinlandGirl is right in her posts. The list of HCCH countries is listed here.

OP married a year ago.

A person's marital status is extremely important to note. If the OP is already married, he cannot get married again in Finland, since that will require him to present a 'Certificate of no impediment to marriage' (the term might be different in different countries). If the OP is already married in his country, then that country will NOT issue such a document since according to their records he is married.

BTW, if the OP is married to a Finn (?), the partner's status is also married. Has your partner tried to get their marriage status registered? What is the Maistratti's response? If they accept that the partner is married, it would be a bit odd circumstance for them to justify that one partner in a relationship is married to the other, but in the other case it is not!

Anyway, I think the easiest route is to get the original of your marriage certificate, get it (or a legalised copy of):

In the OP's country:

• 1. notarised with a notary public (or the equivalent, check the legal affairs or contact a lawyer) in your country,

• 2. have it apostilled (or legalised) by the Ministry of External Affairs of your country,

• 3.1 have it attested by the Finnish Embassy in the OP's country or the nearest Finnish Embassy that is responsible for your country

In Finland

• 3.2 then have it attested by the Embassy of the OP's country that serves Finland

• 4. and then present it to Maistratti

In that order. And then add a covering note that says it has been attested in this order. This leaves little room for Migri or the Maistraatti to argue that the document/ certificate itself is illegal/ not recognised.

On the other hand, the other clear option is to ask in writing from the Maistratti what is expected to have your marriage recognised in Finland. That will be according to their requirements.

[jxjx2]

I can't believe such a practical question became the ground for a crazy fight between finlandgirl and fintel. And on this matter, sorry Mr or Mrs Fintel, but you were the one being aggressive and disrespectful. In a democratic debate, we can disagree without being disagreeable.

Now to the original question regarding the registration of kids and marriage prior to asking the residency permit. I would say ABSOLUTELY YES! And here is why :
1. In the application form, whether paper or through enter Finland, they ask for family members information and one of them is the personal identity code, or the last for letters for your wife and kids. If the kids are born in Finland, then they get their henkilötunnus at birth. If the kids were born outside of Finland, then yes, register them at the local maastrati where your wife lives first so they get their number which get transferred to their moms file

2. Same logic for your marriage. The RP form asks you if your marriage is registered in Finland and they will verify by your wife henkilötunnus. Without that step done, they will put a hold on your RP application until it's done. I was in the same situation as you (one kid, not twins lol). We got married in Canada in May 2018 while she was pregnant, she went back to register the marriage (yes, it took apostile, but don't worry, it's very easy to obtain, just few weeks delay). We waited until the baby was born in August 2018 then in January 2018 I applied for RP and got it in May 2019.

So basically, when your wife inputs her henkilötunnus in your application, the information should match the reality. If you apply before registering the marriage, in the eyes of Migri, even if you attach a scan copy of your marriage certificate, you are not married so they won't consider you as such.
Good luck. And don't worry, with your finnish wife and finnish kids, unless you have a criminal record, your rp is cast in stone. Just go through the steps the right way.

thanks this was a very helpful reply. i will take your advice.
[/quote]

[Maeke]

No worries @jxjx2 !

Hope it helps and most importantly, Hyvää uutta vuotta 2020 !

[Maeke]

This whole topic should not have been that complicated!
......
In the OP's country:

• 1. notarised with a notary public (or the equivalent, check the legal affairs or contact a lawyer) in your country,

• 2. have it apostilled (or legalised) with the Ministry of External Affairs in your country,

• 3.1 have it attested by the Finnish Embassy in the OP's country

In Finland

• 3.2 then have it attested by the Embassy of the OP's country that serves Finland

• 4. and then present it to Maistratti

In that order. And then add a covering note that says it has been attested in this order. This leaves little room for Migri or the Maistraatti to argue that the document/ certificate itself is illegal/ not recognised.

Could not agree more. You have well summarized all the necessary steps, in my opinion. Excellent input @network Engineer !