Moving to Tampere in March!

[SoonToBeAFinn]

Hey! I am a UK citizen, still living in the UK with my Finnish girlfriend(she has lived here for about a year). We are moving to Finland in March(2006). I cannot speak Finnish or have any ideas for a job yet(maybe an english speaking kindergarten). Any advise to give me on how a UK citizen gets along in Finland, especially in Tampere. Where and how can I claim benefits(before getting a job of course) and what is the best place to look for English speaking jobs or schooling in English? Thank you!

[Hank W.]

What makes you think you are entitled to claim benefits?
bb/viewtopic.php?t=12660&highlight=jobcentre
There is a thing called "integration allowance" but I wouldn't drool on that prospect either.

[SoonToBeAFinn]

We are moving to Finland because of my girlfriend, who is Finnish. We have worked here in England but have now finished work and we're ready to move. Like I said I don't have a job yet, neither does my girlfriend, so of course we would need help in order to start our lives in another country. She knows what benefits she will get, but she doesn't know what I will get, that's why I asked. Thank you for your answer anyway!

[sinikala]

We are moving to Finland because of my girlfriend, who is Finnish. We have worked here in England but have now finished work and we're ready to move. Like I said I don't have a job yet, neither does my girlfriend, so of course we would need help in order to start our lives in another country. She knows what benefits she will get, but she doesn't know what I will get, that's why I asked. Thank you for your answer anyway!

What benefits will you get? Probably not many. Most unemployment benefit is handled by the unemployment fund of whatever union you are in. As you haven't been in a Finnish union you won't get access to that.

Hank provided a link to a thread where many of these unemployment issues have been discussed before, check out the links there.

When you get here make sure you get yourself registered with the Police & Magistrate for a residence permit, get a henkilötunnus (NI number) & get yourself down to Kela (= Finnish DHSS or whatever it is called nowadays) so that you are in their system. From what I've heard things can take time.

As for how do you get along...

If you are coming in March and aren't currently working, you should start learning some of the language ... like yesterday.

Go to your local Waterstones - or any of the big city academic bookshops (used to be Dillons / Blackwell) & seek out "Teach Yourself Finnish by Terttu Leney
# Paperback (May 2005)
# Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
# Language: English
# ISBN: 0071451080"
shouldn't set you back more than 20 notes for book + CD.

As for jobs... depends on what you are qualified to do...? Finland has it's fair share of unemployed people... about double the UK rate if I remember right, so you'll have plenty of competition from native speakers.

[Hank W.]

So both of you are moving, with no jobs, just "because she is Finnish"? Yeah, that one we've heard before - it is one of the common reasons to move to Finland to find yourself freezing your nads off - atleast you're moving to a "city" the prospects of finding a job are not as dire as your usual "Hot Blonde Syndrome" cases moving to obscure villages where the unemployment of the natives hits 40%.

You should try concentrate getting a job - or atleast interviews lined up *before* you move in. Even if you manage to carry the dole from the UK for the three months; you need to have a job to be able to be properly registered. Its a catch-22 situation sometimes. If you have a niche job, you might strike lucky.