Moving to Finland with girlfriend.

[Rip]

She needs either a reason or sufficient means of support.

I agreed with you up to this point. She needs sufficient means of support. Either by employment or by other means. Having a 'reason' as you said not necessary, but having one (apart from work, which should of course imply means of support) does not excuse from the financial requirement. Exception presumably is made with family members of Finnish citizens while I never managed to find that stated in the law.

[Pursuivant]

For an EU "I got a lotsa money inna bank" is a "reason"

[Adrian42]

She needs either a reason or sufficient means of support.

I agreed with you up to this point. She needs sufficient means of support. Either by employment or by other means. Having a 'reason' as you said not necessary, but having one (apart from work, which should of course imply means of support) does not excuse from the financial requirement. Exception presumably is made with family members of Finnish citizens while I never managed to find that stated in the law.

When an EU citizen comes for a job to Finland, the Finnish government is not allowed to demand that the family members coming with him (no matter the nationality) have sufficient means of support - it is perfectly OK for these family members to become a burden for Kela.

[laeth]

Thanks for all the replies all. I'm still a bit confused as to whether or not she'll be able to stay with me indefinitely though =(.

[rinso]

When an EU citizen comes for a job to Finland, the Finnish government is not allowed to demand that the family members coming with him (no matter the nationality) have sufficient means of support - it is perfectly OK for these family members to become a burden for Kela.

Whether or not this is true, the practice is different.
There is an income requirement and applications are rejected because of it.

A guide of the sums required for a secure income in Finland
Person €/month €/year
1. adult 1 000 12,000
2. adult belonging to the same household 700 8,400
1. underage family member 500 6,000
2. underage family member 400 4,800
3. underage family member 300 3,600
4. underage family member 200 2,400
5. underage family member 100 1,200
from 6. underage family member onwards 0 0
student 560 6,720
au pair 280

If the family consists of two adults and two minor children, for example, the required income totals €2,600 per month (€1,000+€700+€500+€400).

If the family consists of a single parent and four minor children, for example, the required income totals €2,400 per month (€1,000+€500+€400+€300+€200).

Off course you can appeal (administrative court, supreme administrative court, Strasbourg) but that can take a long time.
As long as Finland doesn't get a serious warning from Brussels, you have to deal with the income requirements.

And as a side note; she is his girlfriend, not his partner. That means his income doesn't count for her.

A partner in a personal relationship is not a family member

When you apply for a residence permit on the basis of a personal relationship or the intention to marry, the income of the partner in the personal relationship living in Finland is not taken into account because, according to the Finnish law, you are not considered to be family members. The funds necessary to fulfill the income requirement (1. adult/€1,000/month) must be freely available, for example through your own bank account.

[Adrian42]

When an EU citizen comes for a job to Finland, the Finnish government is not allowed to demand that the family members coming with him (no matter the nationality) have sufficient means of support - it is perfectly OK for these family members to become a burden for Kela.

Whether or not this is true, the practice is different.
There is an income requirement and applications are rejected because of it.

A guide of the sums required for a secure income in Finland
Person €/month €/year
1. adult 1 000 12,000
2. adult belonging to the same household 700 8,400
1. underage family member 500 6,000
2. underage family member 400 4,800
3. underage family member 300 3,600
4. underage family member 200 2,400
5. underage family member 100 1,200
from 6. underage family member onwards 0 0
student 560 6,720
au pair 280

If the family consists of two adults and two minor children, for example, the required income totals €2,600 per month (€1,000+€700+€500+€400).

If the family consists of a single parent and four minor children, for example, the required income totals €2,400 per month (€1,000+€500+€400+€300+€200).

This is for a Residence Permit.

Completely irrelevant for EU citizens and family members of (non-Finnish) EU citizens.

Off course you can appeal (administrative court, supreme administrative court, Strasbourg)

Strasbourg would very obviously be the wrong court, Luxembourg would be the correct one.

but that can take a long time.
As long as Finland doesn't get a serious warning from Brussels, you have to deal with the income requirements.

That's nonsense.

http://www.poliisi.fi/poliisi/home.nsf/ ... endocument says:

The police may issue a residence card to an EU citizen's family member who is a non-EU citizen.

To apply for a residence card, you will need:

a residence card application form (http://www.poliisi.fi)
a valid passport
proof of marriage or a registered partnership
the registration certificate of the EU citizen with whom the applicant enters the country or whom he/she will follow
information on family ties (children, dependant family members)
from cohabiting couples, proof of cohabitation, unless the couple has a child in joint custody
from other family members, a document issued by an authority in Finland or their country of origin showing that the other family members are dependants of the EU citizen or live in the same household with him/her, or information on a serious health reason owing to which it is vital that the EU citizen personally cares for the said other family member

The EU residence card for an EU citizen's family member is issued for five years, or if the intended duration of the stay is less than five years, for the intended duration of the stay.

Note that the Finnish police does not request any information on the income for handing out a Residence card to the non-EU spouse of an EU citizen.

(Also note that the non-EU spouse immediately gets a residence card for 5 years, not the 1 year for spouses of non-EU or Finnish citizens.)

(Also note that this is for spouses of EU citizens, rules for spouses of Finnish citizens can be more strict.)

And as a side note; she is his girlfriend, not his partner. That means his income doesn't count for her.

And again you are wrong.

Any kind of family ties rules don't apply for her (unless they marry).

But he can serve as her means of support. I know couples where this worked just fine.

[rinso]

@ laeth:
Please listen to Adrian 42, he knows about how your situation will be decided.
Don't look at the pages of migri.fi where the Finnish rules and practices are explained.

[Adrian42]

@ laeth:
Please listen to Adrian 42, he knows about how your situation will be decided.
Don't look at the pages of migri.fi where the Finnish rules and practices are explained.

http://www.migri.fi/moving_to_finland_t ... equirement says:

The granting of a residence permit requires that your income is secure

http://www.migri.fi/information_elsewhe ... c_citizens says:

If you are a citizen of the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland you will not require a residence permit for Finland. You will be free to reside and work in Finland for up to three months. If you are staying longer you must register your right of residence before the end of the three-month period. To register you must visit your local police.

It is complete bull$hit that you quoted the income requirements specifically for a Residence Permit, when migri.fi explicitly states that the person in question does not need a Residence Permit at all.

[Adrian42]

.

[laeth]

Doesn't sound like its very simple... Hmmm. I guess I'll ask the HR team at the company and see what they say. Thanks for all your help!

[Adrian42]

Doesn't sound like its very simple... Hmmm. I guess I'll ask the HR team at the company and see what they say. Thanks for all your help!

It isn't that complicated:

You can come to Finland and just start working. Even after you started working you can sort out all the formalities (social security number, tax card, kela, registering right of residence).

Your girlfriend can come to Finland for over 3 months under 158a (1) 2) on the basis of having sufficient funds. The only thing I don't know offhand is how to manage the healthcare coverage in that case.

If you'd marry, she can come to Finland for over 3 months under 158a (1) 4). In that case she would be covered by the Finnish health insurance, receive Finnish unemployment payments and get sent to free Finnish courses.

[Sami-Is-Boss]

Would she be interested in studying in Finland? It's free and it's something for her to do, and it'll help her learn the language and settle in...

[Pursuivant]

I think MIGRI gives a funny fart over EU's, its the local police as EU's only register their right - as stated before. So its up to the local sheriff and they want to see proof...

[Adrian42]

Girlfriend is NOT spouse and is NOT family member and she is required to support HERSELF if you want her to be registered based on "sufficient means of support".

That is true for non-EU-citizens applying for a Residence Permit.

For EU citizens (who have a Right of Residence) the situation is different.

Do you know why? Because legally, if you dump her on day two, she's not entitled to a divorce settlement from you (half your assets, etc) and Finland does not want the bill for feeding her and clothing her and putting a roof over her head, nor do they want her starving on the streets. I'm not suggesting you guys would do that of course, but you need to satisfy Migri that she CAN'T become Finland's burden

That's not a problem, registering her Right of Residence does not automatically give her access to Finnish social security.

And Finland can immediately revoke the registration of her Right of Residence (putting her into the same situation as a Spaniard who had the bad idea of buying a one-way ticket to Helsinki):

A registration of a right of residence is valid until further notice.

http://www.poliisi.fi/poliisi/home.nsf/ ... endocument

Stop listening to "opinions" on here as to whether she'd be allowed to stay, because only MIGRI's decision matters.

Wrong, Migri is not involved in the Registration of the Right of Residence of EU citizens.

The Alien's Act makes that quite clear:

Section 159 (360/2007)
Registering EU citizens' right of residence
(1) EU citizens residing in Finland for more than three months must register their residence. The application for registering the right of residence must be submitted to the District Police of their place of residence within three months of the date of entry into the country.
(2) An EU citizen who has provided proof that he or she meets the requirements of registration must be immediately issued with a registration certificate, giving his or her name and address, and the date of registration.

And I can confirm that when you go to the Police to register your Right of Residence, you get the registration certificate immediately.

[332415]

Where in Finland are you planning on moving to?

I was in exactly your situation, moving from England(/UK) to Finland 2,5years ago. I went through all the stuff you'll have to go through.