Moving to Finland from England

[heretostay]

I currently work as a manager in customer services. I have experience mainly in retail and customer service

Unfortunately those jobs here require Finnish at a high level. English is also very useful if you are working for example in tourism but only if accompanied with Finnish skills.

[Mackee23]

Hi,

I am from the UK and recently moved to Finland. If you are planning to move here before the end of the transition period I belive that you can apply for a residents permit based on being an EU citizen as I did. Like someone has pointed out the application costs 54 euros. I applied and booked my appointment online with the Finnish imigration before I left the UK. It was very straight forward and I given my residents permit at my appointment, which was 20 minutes long. However the difference is that I am married to a Finn and we have lived together for more than two years prior to me moving to Finland. This is big difference and made things very straight forward.

You can apply for a residents permit on the groungs of being an EU citizen (if you move here before the end of 2020) as long as you meet one of the following conditions:
You have arrived in Finland as an employed person or a self-employed person.
You have arrived in Finland as a family member. (you are married to a Finn).
You have arrived in Finland as a student.
If none of these grounds apply to you, you may still stay in Finland as long as you have sufficient funds to support yourself.

I think from the sounds of it, the last one would apply to you. Sufficient funds to support yourself means that you need to prove that you can afford to live in Finland without claiming benefits. The minimum requirement is 1000 euros per month for the first year. So if you are able to save up 12,000 euros before you arrive it should be fine.

If you are moving to Finland after December 2020 then unless a special deal is made, which I very much doubt, then you will be applying based on the normal rules for a non EU citizen. In which case you would only be granted a permit on the following grounds:

Family ties - married to a Finn
work
you are going to start a business here
you are going to study here


So in conclusion, it would be a lot easier for you to move to Finland before the end of Dec 2020, but unless you and your partner get married before you move here you will have to show proof that you can support yourself and you are not entitles to claim benefits.

If you have a house in the uk, can you not sell the house or downsize, so that you have enough money to support yourself without claiming benefits? You have to realise how your questions sounds to others. Imagine if this was the other way around and someone moving to the UK was asking these questions.

All the information about immigration and applications can be found on the migri.fi website.

[betelgeuse]

I am from the UK and recently moved to Finland. If you are planning to move here before the end of the transition period I belive that you can apply for a residents permit based on being an EU citizen as I did.

Free movement is done via registration of right of residence – not residence permits.

I think from the sounds of it, the last one would apply to you. Sufficient funds to support yourself means that you need to prove that you can afford to live in Finland without claiming benefits. The minimum requirement is 1000 euros per month for the first year. So if you are able to save up 12,000 euros before you arrive it should be fine.

EU law forbids exact euro limits. I will refrain from picking on other details for now.

[Mackee23]

I am from the UK and recently moved to Finland. If you are planning to move here before the end of the transition period I belive that you can apply for a residents permit based on being an EU citizen as I did.

Free movement is done via registration of right of residence – not residence permits.

I think from the sounds of it, the last one would apply to you. Sufficient funds to support yourself means that you need to prove that you can afford to live in Finland without claiming benefits. The minimum requirement is 1000 euros per month for the first year. So if you are able to save up 12,000 euros before you arrive it should be fine.

EU law forbids exact euro limits. I will refrain from picking on other details for now.

I find your response somewhat petty. So I did not use the specific terminology, but does it really matter it I called it "right of residence" or "residence permit"? Both give you the right to live and work in Finland.

My response was based on my experience of the Finnish immigration process and the as i said all of this imformation can be easily found on the migri.fi website. And yes, Finland do require you to prove sufficent means of support:

Approximate money need to to secure an applicants means of support in finland are as follows:
One adult 1000 pm. 12,000 pa
Another adult living in the same household 700pm 8,400 pa
one family member younger than 18 years old 500pm 6,000pa

etc, etc

[Mackee23]

You might say that if they are applying for a right of residency they will not need to show evidence that they are able to support themselves for a whole year, but better safe than sorry.

[Mackee23]

Even if you are applying for right of residency the following grounds still apply:

You have arrived in Finland as an employed person or a self-employed person.
You have arrived in Finland as a family member. (you are married to a Finn).
You have arrived in Finland as a student.
If none of these grounds apply to you, you may still stay in Finland as long as you have sufficient funds to support yourself.

[FinlandGirl]

I am from the UK and recently moved to Finland. If you are planning to move here before the end of the transition period I belive that you can apply for a residents permit based on being an EU citizen as I did.

Free movement is done via registration of right of residence – not residence permits.

I think from the sounds of it, the last one would apply to you. Sufficient funds to support yourself means that you need to prove that you can afford to live in Finland without claiming benefits. The minimum requirement is 1000 euros per month for the first year. So if you are able to save up 12,000 euros before you arrive it should be fine.

EU law forbids exact euro limits. I will refrain from picking on other details for now.

I find your response somewhat petty. So I did not use the specific terminology, but does it really matter it I called it "right of residence" or "residence permit"? Both give you the right to live and work in Finland.

These are completely different legal situations with quite different rules.
The differences matter a lot.

[FinlandGirl]

Even if you are applying for right of residency the following grounds still apply:

You have arrived in Finland as an employed person or a self-employed person.
You have arrived in Finland as a family member. (you are married to a Finn).
You have arrived in Finland as a student.
If none of these grounds apply to you, you may still stay in Finland as long as you have sufficient funds to support yourself.

Your usage of the word "still" demonstrates that you do not understand how huge the differences are.

Many people who would like to move to Finland have the problem that one of the options you listed is not available for Residence Permit.
And for the other options it is a huge difference whether you have the right to reside in Finland, or whether a Residence Permit is usually denied in the same situation.

[Mackee23]

I meant these grounds STILL apply for "right of residency as an EU citizen".

[Mackee23]

The confusing is coming from me referring to the "right of residency" as a "residence permit based on being an EU citizen".

But it is clear from the responses that have followed that people knew what I was referring to.

[FinlandGirl]

I meant these grounds STILL apply for "right of residency as an EU citizen".

Terminology matters, you are underestimating the difference of having a right.

Right of residency means you just have to do a formality within 3 months of living in Finland.
You can start living and working in Finland without that, and Finland cannot usually deny someone this right.

How long did it take to get your Right of Residence registered?
For a Residence Permit based on family ties it usually takes around 9 months to get a decision.

Imagine your parents want to move to Finland after retirement for being close to their grandchildren.
With a Right of Residence they can just move here and then inform the Finnish government that they are exercising their right to live in Finland.
Finland never grants a Residence Permit in such cases.

[Maaria]

Imagine your parents want to move to Finland after retirement for being close to their grandchildren.
With a Right of Residence they can just move here and then inform the Finnish government that they are exercising their right to live in Finland.
Finland never grants a Residence Permit in such cases.

I always wanted to get a clear understanding of the rules for parents as family members of an EU citizen. My child and I have registered the right of residence as EU citizens in Finland last year and my spouse was granted a residence card of the family member of an EU citizen. Now, if the parents of my spouse, in other words my child's grandparents, want to come live with us, how much possiblity of getting their application of residence card for the family member of an EU citizen approved? I appreciate your response.

[FinlandGirl]

Imagine your parents want to move to Finland after retirement for being close to their grandchildren.
With a Right of Residence they can just move here and then inform the Finnish government that they are exercising their right to live in Finland.
Finland never grants a Residence Permit in such cases.

I always wanted to get a clear understanding of the rules for parents as family members of an EU citizen. My child and I have registered the right of residence as EU citizens in Finland last year and my spouse was granted a residence card of the family member of an EU citizen. Now, if the parents of my spouse, in other words my child's grandparents, want to come live with us, how much possiblity of getting their application of residence card for the family member of an EU citizen approved?

For EU free movement rules the parents of an adult are not usually family members.
And unless the grandparents have custody for their EU citizen grandchild, they are not usually family members of the grandchild.
The parents of your spouse might be family members if they are dependent on you.

[Mackee23]

I meant these grounds STILL apply for "right of residency as an EU citizen".

Terminology matters, you are underestimating the difference of having a right.

Right of residency means you just have to do a formality within 3 months of living in Finland.
You can start living and working in Finland without that, and Finland cannot usually deny someone this right.

How long did it take to get your Right of Residence registered?
For a Residence Permit based on family ties it usually takes around 9 months to get a decision.

Imagine your parents want to move to Finland after retirement for being close to their grandchildren.
With a Right of Residence they can just move here and then inform the Finnish government that they are exercising their right to live in Finland.
Finland never grants a Residence Permit in such cases.

I'd say terminology is a big thing for Finns, probably because the Finnish language is very specific. English is a bit more casual though. As long as we are understood that is fine and I was responding to a British person so I didn't think it mattered, especially because I also directed them to the migri site where they can find all of this information and it it is very simple and straightforward to use therefore the chances of applying for the wrong thing as extremely slim.

The person who who wrote this post used therm "residence permit", which was why I used it. We call this "mirroring" when you use the same words and phrases in your response. It's a subconscious way of making the person to whom we are responding to feel more comfortable.

Took me 20 mins to register my right of residency.

My family members would never move to Finland... And yes, I am fully aware of the differences. Like I say I just didn't use the exact terminology.