moving to Finland ..living with Finn etc etc

[Pursuivant]

France is unbeatably anal....

Only if you don't speak French... if you speak passably its just un petit pissoir

[Nicely]

but i have understood that France is unbeatably anal....

Yeah, some Finns are unbeatably anal too. Luckily it isn't a national thing.

[Pursuivant]

And some foreigners have unkickably gilt arses...

[Pursuivant]

France is unbeatably anal....

People from around the globe agree. 'In Britain you get a solicitor, pocket money, good accommodation, your health is taken care of,' he said. 'People have rights in Britain. In France you get nothing.'

[Nicely]

For me to effectively get something, I need to be there.

And what exactly stops you from coming here? You can freely come and seek work for the the 3 months on your jobseekers allowance transferred if you're on the dole currently. If you can't find a job in 3 months - that spells you out something don't it? You have no need for an ID number as you're not living here. You need one if you start living here. Because benefits are tied to residence. And ID means residence.

I don't and haven't claimed any benefits for around 15-20 years. I run my own company and will be working until tomorrow (I start to move on Wednesday). I would start my own Finnish company as soon as I arrived if I could. But guess what? You have to be registered to work to do that... I have enough money to support myself and to prove it to Migri to get registered and get an ID number. I also have an apartment, a car and a working Finnish partner. As I said, the argument wasn't over getting work nor about being able to support myself.

[interleukin]

Still doesn't change the fact it is unusual.

Well not so unusual that at least two other countries I know of in Europe have exactly the same system. You non-nordic Europe people tend to think that your ways are the norm, whereas in this part of the world the Finnish system is actually the norm.

[Pursuivant]

I would start my own Finnish company as soon as I arrived if I could. But guess what? You have to be registered to work to do that...

"When registering his or her right to reside in Finland, the self-employed person must present a certificate of the registration of a trade or other reliable account of self-employment."

As I said, the argument wasn't over getting work nor about being able to support myself

So your argument is that UK is worse organized than Finland, we can agree on that.

[Nicely]

EU citizens and equivalent persons can freely engage in business in Finland after they have registered their right to reside in Finland with the local police department. Service providers and receivers, such as doctors and hairdressers, may also belong to this group. They do not need a separate residence permit.

EU citizens and citizens of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerlandand can freely engage in business in Finland after they have registered their right to reside in Finland. The right applies to those who are either private entrepreneurs or self-employed persons (those with a right of establishment). Also, service providers and receivers, such as doctors, hairdressers, and those seeking medical care at their own expense, may belong to this group. They do not need a separate residence permit.

Yes, I'll agree that both countries have their faults when it comes to organisation.

[Pursuivant]

See the thing is you have to be somewhere present so the tax office can come sieze your assets... they don't want runners.

[Nicely]

It's ok, I already feel as though they've seized me by my assets, and I haven't moved yet...

[Pursuivant]

The small bits on the pension insurance and such... see now why they really don't want people to "think" they just pop in and say "oi i gots a business, wanna pavin?"

[Nicely]

How did you know I do driveways?

[skandagupta]

[quote="Nicely"]
they just want to be allowed the same opportunities a Finn has if he/she went to, for example, the UK

Trading "jokamiehenoikeus" for trespassing.

[interleukin]

After hearing how "fun" it is for nordic people to try to get the bureaucracy in Australia sorted and to be allowed to do anything there, I feel that I can with a good conscience laugh at anyone complaining about the Finnish system. Of course the Finnish system pisses you off, it is an alien system to you. My point is that people don't realise how fu-ked up their own countrys system is. I happen to really like the magic ID number system, I am raised in this system. It is your problem, not the Finnish peoples' problem if you are not able to get into that system.

[Nicely]

I wasn't going to get back on this again but, I'm sorry, you can't go comparing the Finland to Australia immigration policy with EU to Finland. Australia is a completely separate non-EU country. The hurdles will be akin to someone from Russia or the US applying for residence in Finland. i.e. difficult. EU countries are supposed to be working to the same game plan and the majority of these issues aren't supposed to exist, but they do. Not in theory, of course, but in practice it can be a complete nightmare.