Moving Back to Finland

[ozil-madrid]

Hi,

1/I have a finnish citizenship, but moved out of Finland for work. Its been more than a year but unfortunately the economy doesn't look very stable and there is a redundancy/layoffs chance. Should that happen, ill have to leave the country as im on Visa atm. If i return to Finland, am i eligible for unemplyment benefits for housing,food...etc or not as i have been out of the country for more than a year?

2/One more question: If i can buy a cheap property to get a home to settle in quick, will that not allow me to get any benefits for the Vastike, good...etc because theyd tell me sell the home 1st?

3/Lastly, is Nummela Vihti a good area for an immigrant family or what areas would you recommend that would be cheap to buy a home in to settle in quickly in life? I dont know if anyone would rent me without a job? But also interested to buy a cheap home if possible.

Thanks!

[betelgeuse]

Hi,

1/I have a finnish citizenship, but moved out of Finland for work. Its been more than a year but unfortunately the economy doesn't look very stable and there is a redundancy/layoffs chance. Should that happen, ill have to leave the country as im on Visa atm. If i return to Finland, am i eligible for unemplyment benefits for housing,food...etc or not as i have been out of the country for more than a year?

You are but depending on your situation they might not be earnings related.

2/One more question: If i can buy a cheap property to get a home to settle in quick, will that not allow me to get any benefits for the Vastike, good...etc because theyd tell me sell the home 1st?

Home is a protected asset in sosial assistance. Availability of housing subsidies for owners has been reduced lately.

Kela will be able to advise you more personally.

[NukkuMatti]

Hi,

1/I have a finnish citizenship, but moved out of Finland for work. Its been more than a year but unfortunately the economy doesn't look very stable and there is a redundancy/layoffs chance. Should that happen, ill have to leave the country as im on Visa atm. If i return to Finland, am i eligible for unemplyment benefits for housing,food...etc or not as i have been out of the country for more than a year?

My advice, don't come back to Finland, for your own good...., try and start to search now already in Germany / Netherlands, because you already have a EU passport, the chance of getting a job there is way way way bigger than in Finland, especially as an immigrant, depending on your skills.

When you got money for buying a house, you will most likely not qualify for basic income support in Finland due to not being allowed to take actions that might limit you in your personal financial support. (which is the same in all of EU I believe).

In other words, if you come back to Finland and you have no job and need to apply for basic income support, Kela will first determine if you had any assets in the 3 months before you need the basic income assistance. If you have (lets assume for arguments sake) 250.000€ and instead of using that to support your family in a rental home for the next few years, you decide to buy a home instead, this makes your possible need for basic social assistance ineligible, due to taking financial actions that (can be /) are seen as your own choice / creating the need for basic social assistance by irresponsible use of your assets, so either you will not get it or get sanctioned and cut for the action.

Child supplement for unemployment benefits has been cut away, so you will get about 590€ every 4 weeks if you do not receive any unemployment benefits from your current job (netto)

You will also (see previous poster) get no housing benefits if you buy a home = shareholders apartment or fully owned:
Housing benefits have been abolished for this form of housing starting 01.01.2025 and is only available at 70% of the rent from application date with a local defined maximum, so no you do not get support with the vastike, water and heating if you buy a home or shareholders apartment.

You will get lapsilisä for your children depending on their age and how much you have, your wife will also get unemployment benefits (or labor market subsidy), probably the same 590€ netto every 4 weeks.

Conclusion: without kids, you and your wife will together have an income on benefits alone of 1180€ every 4 weeks plus some extra is you have kids in the age between 0 and 16
You said you are on a visa where you are now, so that means outside of EU therefore most likely no unemployment benefits from your current job when moving here.

If you go and live in a to be bought house, that is it, no basic income support on top of unemployment benefits,... at least for the first 3 months but possibly longer.. (I do not know exactly how long or if you ever will get it)

[NukkuMatti]

Here is the rest of the post, I got an internal server error 500 from the forum server when I added this to previous post.

2/One more question: If i can buy a cheap property to get a home to settle in quick, will that not allow me to get any benefits for the Vastike, good...etc because theyd tell me sell the home 1st?

3/Lastly, is Nummela Vihti a good area for an immigrant family or what areas would you recommend that would be cheap to buy a home in to settle in quickly in life? I dont know if anyone would rent me without a job? But also interested to buy a cheap home if possible.

Thanks!

I guess the last two questions are the answers a bit arbitrary, that being said, personally I would opt for Helsinki Espoo area rental home, both form a racism / foreigner hating discrimination point of view, as well as a practical point of view in regards to getting at least low wage jobs (cleaner, bus driver, garbage collector, wolt, postal service, supermarket) i.e. the jobs Finns won't do and the only jobs which employers will hire you for, being a foreigner and all.

But don't take my word for it, this is just my decades experience, getting worse lately with this Government stealing from the poor and giving to the rich...

[betelgeuse]

When you got money for buying a house, you will most likely not qualify for basic income support in Finland due to not being allowed to take actions that might limit you in your personal financial support. (which is the same in all of EU I believe).

In other words, if you come back to Finland and you have no job and need to apply for basic income support, Kela will first determine if you had any assets in the 3 months before you need the basic income assistance. If you have (lets assume for arguments sake) 250.000€ and instead of using that to support your family in a rental home for the next few years, you decide to buy a home instead, this makes your possible need for basic social assistance ineligible, due to taking financial actions that (can be /) are seen as your own choice / creating the need for basic social assistance by irresponsible use of your assets, so either you will not get it or get sanctioned and cut for the action.

Such a mechanism doesn’t exist.

https://www.kela.fi/etti/Toimeentulotuk ... 3511164605

[NukkuMatti]

When you got money for buying a house, you will most likely not qualify for basic income support in Finland due to not being allowed to take actions that might limit you in your personal financial support. (which is the same in all of EU I believe).

In other words, if you come back to Finland and you have no job and need to apply for basic income support, Kela will first determine if you had any assets in the 3 months before you need the basic income assistance. If you have (lets assume for arguments sake) 250.000€ and instead of using that to support your family in a rental home for the next few years, you decide to buy a home instead, this makes your possible need for basic social assistance ineligible, due to taking financial actions that (can be /) are seen as your own choice / creating the need for basic social assistance by irresponsible use of your assets, so either you will not get it or get sanctioned and cut for the action.

Such a mechanism doesn’t exist.

https://www.kela.fi/etti/Toimeentulotuk ... 3511164605

It was literally told to me that way by a Kela agent on the phone.
I believe she based it on:
https://finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1997/19971412#L1P2 (Luku 1 paragraph 2 section 1 and 2)
https://finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1997/19971412#L4P20 (luku 4 paragraph 20 section 2)

I once even had my savings for the rent of next month seen as varat / tulot because all my benefits were paid at the end of the month basically to pay all bills at the beginning of the month. and therefore not received any basic social assistance for that same month AND the month after, because according to them I could use that amount for the next two months, resulting in defaulting on my payments at the end of the month (electricity and water) causing additional costs, which in turn were not paid by basic income support after those 2 months, who were blaming me for spending my money too quick (only on food for my family, only super market payments on my account till that day).
They said I was liable for bad financial management so it was my own fault.
In short, because I was able to save the money for the rent so I could still do groceries next month for food and clothes for the kids, I was bad with money, I should have made sure my account was empty at the end of the month. Afterwards I made sure it was and took money out of the machine halfway the month so I was always sure I could pay for groceries.

So if the absence of such system as was told by Kela to me is the case, I can buy this month an Iphone 15 pro 1TB for 2000€ and apply for basic social assistance for the next month because I do no longer have savings which otherwise would help me through the next 3 months..?

That said, I do no longer find it on the website of Kela anymore either, same as the fact that assets of under 18yr old will not bee seen as assets, I cannot find that anymore either...has that (also) changed?

[FinlandGirl]

1/I have a finnish citizenship, but moved out of Finland for work. Its been more than a year but unfortunately the economy doesn't look very stable and there is a redundancy/layoffs chance. Should that happen, ill have to leave the country as im on Visa atm. If i return to Finland, am i eligible for unemplyment benefits for housing,food...etc or not as i have been out of the country for more than a year?

2/One more question: If i can buy a cheap property to get a home to settle in quick, will that not allow me to get any benefits for the Vastike, good...etc because theyd tell me sell the home 1st?

3/Lastly, is Nummela Vihti a good area for an immigrant family or what areas would you recommend that would be cheap to buy a home in to settle in quickly in life? I dont know if anyone would rent me without a job? But also interested to buy a cheap home if possible.

A Finnish citizen with a clean credit history can find an apartment.

You are a citizen, you speak the language, you have worked in Finland before, and you have sufficient savings to buy a house/apartment without a mortgage.

Why isn't your first thought about getting a job in Finland again?

It might be quite a commute from Nummela if you end up finding a job in Eastern Helsinki.

[ozil-madrid]

Here is the rest of the post, I got an internal server error 500 from the forum server when I added this to previous post.

2/One more question: If i can buy a cheap property to get a home to settle in quick, will that not allow me to get any benefits for the Vastike, good...etc because theyd tell me sell the home 1st?

3/Lastly, is Nummela Vihti a good area for an immigrant family or what areas would you recommend that would be cheap to buy a home in to settle in quickly in life? I dont know if anyone would rent me without a job? But also interested to buy a cheap home if possible.

Thanks!

I guess the last two questions are the answers a bit arbitrary, that being said, personally I would opt for Helsinki Espoo area rental home, both form a racism / foreigner hating discrimination point of view, as well as a practical point of view in regards to getting at least low wage jobs (cleaner, bus driver, garbage collector, wolt, postal service, supermarket) i.e. the jobs Finns won't do and the only jobs which employers will hire you for, being a foreigner and all.

But don't take my word for it, this is just my decades experience, getting worse lately with this Government stealing from the poor and giving to the rich...

Thanks, so if i have some amount saved in the bank, but im unemployed, i should get a rental agreement better and not buy a home as that will affect me getting any kela help?

Do you mean espoo and helsinki has more racism or less?

[ozil-madrid]

1/I have a finnish citizenship, but moved out of Finland for work. Its been more than a year but unfortunately the economy doesn't look very stable and there is a redundancy/layoffs chance. Should that happen, ill have to leave the country as im on Visa atm. If i return to Finland, am i eligible for unemplyment benefits for housing,food...etc or not as i have been out of the country for more than a year?

2/One more question: If i can buy a cheap property to get a home to settle in quick, will that not allow me to get any benefits for the Vastike, good...etc because theyd tell me sell the home 1st?

3/Lastly, is Nummela Vihti a good area for an immigrant family or what areas would you recommend that would be cheap to buy a home in to settle in quickly in life? I dont know if anyone would rent me without a job? But also interested to buy a cheap home if possible.

A Finnish citizen with a clean credit history can find an apartment.

You are a citizen, you speak the language, you have worked in Finland before, and you have sufficient savings to buy a house/apartment without a mortgage.

Why isn't your first thought about getting a job in Finland again?

It might be quite a commute from Nummela if you end up finding a job in Eastern Helsinki.

If you have a clean history but no job, how can they give you the apartment ?

in terms of why not look for a job, isn't it everyone's dream to find a job in finland lol. Loooking at the news lately, situation seems a bit dark. I am dual citizen, dont speak finnish fluently and from experience it'd take maybe 6-12 months to find something.

[ozil-madrid]

"Työssäoloehto https://www.kela.fi/web/selkokieli/tyottomyyspaivaraha
Jotta saat peruspäivärahaa, sinun täytyy täyttää työssäoloehto. Työssäoloehtoa kertyy

yksi kuukausi, jos saat kuukauden aikana palkkaa vähintään 930 euroa
puolikas kuukausi, jos saat kuukauden aikana palkkaa vähintään 465 mutta alle 930 euroa.
Täytät työssäoloehdon, kun näitä työssäolokuukausia on kertynyt yhteensä 12 viimeksi kuluneiden 28 kuukauden aikana.

Työssäoloehto muuttui 2.9.2024. Sitä ennen työssäoloehto täyttyi, jos

olit ollut töissä vähintään 26 viikkoa viimeksi kuluneiden 28 kuukauden aikana
työaikasi oli ollut vähintään 18 tuntia viikossa
palkkasi oli ollut alan työehtosopimuksen mukainen tai vähintään 1 331 euroa kuukaudessa."

It seems if i worked last 28 months in finland, i would qualify if i come back as its almost a year only. but then it says rules changed?? whats the latest, translator not making sense.

[FinlandGirl]

If you have a clean history but no job, how can they give you the apartment ?

Many (especially private) landlords would not do that, but others are fine with that.

Renting an apartment from a company like Lumo shouldn't be a problem for you.

[betelgeuse]

It was literally told to me that way by a Kela agent on the phone.
I believe she based it on:
https://finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1997/19971412#L1P2 (Luku 1 paragraph 2 section 1 and 2)
https://finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1997/19971412#L4P20 (luku 4 paragraph 20 section 2)

You don’t always get correct advice on the phone. Even if those those applied, see 21.2 §:

”Korvausvelvollisen vakinaista asuntoa, tarpeellista asuinirtaimistoa ja tarpeellisia työvälineitä ei voida hänen elinaikanaan pakkotoimin myydä tai muutoin käyttää toimeentulotuen takaisinperintään.”

[NukkuMatti]

It was literally told to me that way by a Kela agent on the phone.
I believe she based it on:
https://finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1997/19971412#L1P2 (Luku 1 paragraph 2 section 1 and 2)
https://finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1997/19971412#L4P20 (luku 4 paragraph 20 section 2)

You don’t always get correct advice on the phone. Even if those those applied, see 21.2 §:

”Korvausvelvollisen vakinaista asuntoa, tarpeellista asuinirtaimistoa ja tarpeellisia työvälineitä ei voida hänen elinaikanaan pakkotoimin myydä tai muutoin käyttää toimeentulotuen takaisinperintään.”

I totally agree with you, but as the Kela lady argued, it basically came down to the fact that if you have a lot of money but know you will have trouble paying for your livelihood if you spend that money, while it is not of essential importance (you are able to go rent an apartment instead of buying) you are not allowed to do so, for that reason 21.2 does not apply, in her words, you could/should have reasonably have anticipated you would not be able to pay for your living expenses when buying the apartment instead of having the option to rent an apartment.

The situation would be different if you would have bought the house before you would know you need the basic income support.

For this reason alone, I would suggest to wait with applying for the basic income support until at least 4 or 5 months after you emptied your bank account to pay for the house: reason is that with an application for basic income support you need to provide bank statements of the past 3 months of all your bank accounts and savings / shares you hold etc... your savings would already be off your account in those 3 months and therefore be no complicating factor anymore.

Trust me, this is way easier than filing Kela decision appeals (which I also did several times with and without success) and possibly afterwards the need to go to court, because all that time you will have no basic income support anyway, even if in the end you win, it will give you so much headache and stress, it will make your life 2 years shorter guaranteed, time better spent elsewhere / jobseeking?? ...


Then as a reaction to the people making remarks about finding a job, yeah prepare to be jobless for a very very long time (years) if you want something else than cleaning toilets and it seems that even for cleaning toilets they expect you to have a PHD nowadays, at least when you are a foreigner (hyperbole & sarcasm).

[NukkuMatti]

When you got money for buying a house, you will most likely not qualify for basic income support in Finland due to not being allowed to take actions that might limit you in your personal financial support. (which is the same in all of EU I believe).

Such a mechanism doesn’t exist.

https://www.kela.fi/etti/Toimeentulotuk ... 3511164605

In the document you linked to it says in 1.3.1 :
1.3.1 Varautumisvelvollisuus
Hakijalla ja hänen perheellään on velvollisuus kykynsä mukaan pitää huolta omasta elatuksestaan.
Tähän velvollisuuteen voidaan katsoa sisältyvän myös varautumisen velvollisuus.

Varautumisvelvollisuudesta kerrotaan hakijalle päätöksellä, jotta hän voi varautua säästämään tuloja ja varoja elatukseensa pidemmän ajan. Hakija ei voi tarkoituksellisesti kuluttaa tulojaan haluamallaan tavalla.

This translates with google as:

1.3.1 Obligation to be prepared
The applicant and his or her family have a duty to take care of their own maintenance.
This obligation can also be considered to be a duty of preparedness.

The applicant will be informed of the obligation to be prepared by a decision in order to be prepared to save income and funds for a longer period of time. The applicant cannot intentionally consume his income as they wish.


As the translation is missing some sense because it is google... in general you could say that this is used by the Kela agents to deny you the basic income support if you have or had funds to cover your expenses for a long time...(as they did with me).

Therefore I stand by my advice to wait for 3 or 4 months after buying the house (actual pay date) to apply for basic income support.. maybe you are lucky and within that time you find a job that pays enough so you won't need basic income support, (Euro lottery gives you better odds though )

[FinlandGirl]

It was literally told to me that way by a Kela agent on the phone.
I believe she based it on:
https://finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1997/19971412#L1P2 (Luku 1 paragraph 2 section 1 and 2)
https://finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1997/19971412#L4P20 (luku 4 paragraph 20 section 2)

You don’t always get correct advice on the phone. Even if those those applied, see 21.2 §:

”Korvausvelvollisen vakinaista asuntoa, tarpeellista asuinirtaimistoa ja tarpeellisia työvälineitä ei voida hänen elinaikanaan pakkotoimin myydä tai muutoin käyttää toimeentulotuen takaisinperintään.”

§ 20 and 21 are about recovery, which is only relevant if money was granted in the first place.