Residence Permit II: The Extension

[khu]

Welcome to the sequel.

Now I've secured a permit, I need to figure out how to extend it. Because of how long they took (6 months! for a 6 month permit!) and various other circumstances (work) I've gotta figure out how to extend it while being able to come back to the US for 2-3 months in the spring, and be able to immediately go back to Finland, and not wait in the US.

The dates for the permit are Nov 5th to May 5th, 2005. I need to be back in the US from May to the end of June, 2005.

I've spoken to an acquaintance who lived in Helsinki for a couple years. His suggestion: Go there, apply for an extension immediately, and say I need to have my passport back so I can return for a couple months to do work, and return to Finland immediately afterwards to wait for the permit to be extended. This would be the unofficial way of doing it, as they seem to claim that you can't extend your permit until the very end of your stay and that you cannot have your passport back during this process...but since I'm tired of playing by their rules, anyone have any other ideas or feedback on whether this would have a good chance of working?

[harmaa]

I have absolutely no idea, but good luck with whatever you do.

[Hank W.]

Let me guess, you're applying for a 2 month extention?

[khu]

I'll go more for a 6-12 month extension.

[Hank W.]

Why didn't you originally apply for a year - or two while you're at it?

[sy]

Why do you want to extend your permit? Haven't you said that you intented to stay in Finland only for six months when you applied for your first permit? Now you want to extend it immediately, which raise the question whether you spoke the truth when you applied. If you lied, in theory your first permit can be canceled.

Of course, things change, people's situation can change, too. I think you can just apply for the extension at the end of the validity period of your first permit, i.e., about in April, or even a little bit eariler.

When you've applied for the extension, yes you can "borrow" your passport back, then you can travel freely to other countries, even after May 5th, 2005. After that day, if your application is still being processed (read: laying in some drawer at police station), you can LEGALLY stay in Finland, albeit WITHOUT A PERMIT yet. With the certificate issued by the police that you're applying for a permit, you can enter into Finland at the border check. And because you can visit Finland on a visa waiver programme (I assume you're an American citizen), the airline doesn't need to check your visa, either. (Airlines will be fined if they bring passengers without visa/permit to Finland.)

Actually this brings a question back to your first permit application. Why didn't you just come to Finland based on the visa waiver programme, then apply for the residence permit in Finland? As I said, you're allowed to stay in Finland to wait for your permit application being processed.

[khu]

When I made the decision to stay for 6 months in April '04 and submitted the application in June, I thought it would be something like September '04 through February '05. Now, seven months later, yeah, there are changes, bigger or smaller with my economic situation, the relationship with my girlfriend, the politics in the US, etc.

Sy, my understanding was that only foreigners within a common-law or official marriage with a Finnish citizen could take the route of applying for it and getting it in Finland. Perhaps this is the official line that they'll bend if they decide they don't hate you. If this is routinely done for 'co-habitation' cases (such as mine is) then I regret the four months I just wasted after my girlfriend left waiting for the idiots at UVI.

I certainly won't mind applying for the extension in April or a bit earlier, as long as I am not denied my passport, because the trip is important. The rest of the plan as you describe is essentially what I had in mind. I just wanted some reassurance from first- or secondhand sources that it would work.

[acwan]

Are you getting a 1-2 year residence permit this time? That way you can stay in Finland hassle free anytime during that period and STILL be able to travel back and forth to the U.S. Plus you have to pay application fees - a whopping 101 euros each time i think - is it worth it then to reapply after 6 months?

[Hank W.]

is it worth it then to reapply after 6 months?

I guess clogging up the system and then listening to moaning about long process times might have its perks