Marrying a Finn

Julichka · Post by **Julichka** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 5:05 pm

I come from a non EU country and me and my Finnish boyfriend are planning to get married.

How long will it take me to get a residence permit here?
can i live here with a non permanent residence permit without applying for a finnish citizenship? how does it work?

Ive heard that i should be applying automatically for a citizenship too when im applying for a residence permit and this process takes 4 years (i need to live in finland for 4 years) and can not go out of the country...Cant i leave the country even for a short time to visit my family??. is that really so or can i live here with a temporarily permit??

**Sponsor:**

ailema4ever · Post by **ailema4ever** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 2:08 pm

Hey, Julichka, tummansininen is RIGHT!

I'm from Indonesia and my husband and I got married in Indonesia. My husband had to get a letter of statement that he's single from the local authority and then sent it to me (and the darn thing is that the letter is only valid for 4 months if I'm not mistaken). Then I had to go to the Finnish Embassy to get it stamped so that I could get our marriage certificate from the civil registration office in my hometown, Bandung.

Then I had to legalise the papers to some departments in Indonesia and then go back to the Finnish Embassy to get it stamped. Then the Finnish Embassy could report our marriage to Finnish government.

After that, I tried applying for a tourist visa (so I could be together with my husband more quickly as I heard that applying for a residence permit would take a longer time). They declined my visa right away after my interview and told me to apply for a residence permit from my own country. GLADLY the permit was done in 2 months only and we didn't have to undergo any interview (we had to submit any proof we have about our relationship before the wedding and any photos of our meetings).

Well I've read some people who got married in Finland and then applied for the residence permit there, but you better check out what requirements you have to bring with you before you can get married in Finland.

Better contact your local Finnish Embassy (I asked via email) and ask about such things. Make sure you know what to do before you get married (either in Finland or in your own country).

If you're from non EU country, I THINK (not sure) you can only live in Finland for 3 months using a tourist visa (you can state that you want to go to Finland to get married). If you can get married within 3 months in Finland and then apply for a residence permit before your visa runs out, maybe you can do it. But if you don't get the permit, then you have to go back to your own country. I think you can only get the one-year residence permit after you get married and after you can prove that you're married to a Finn (like myself, I get a one-year residence permit).

Beware of the bureaucracy!

AMEL

ailema4ever · Post by **ailema4ever** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 2:11 pm

Oh, I forgot something.

I did ask UVI (via email) about if I could get a residence permit for a year before we got married. He said yes, but I had to prove that I had sufficient fund ----> 900 Euros per month...meaning you have to have at least €10,800 to get a one-year residence permit.

Just make sure you ask lots of questions to your Finnish Embassy and to UVI as well if you're not sure about everything. Or just visit their website and read all the info you can get.

AMEL

Julichka · Post by **Julichka** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 2:08 pm

Hey thanks a lot!!

Im from israel actually, and i asked in the finland embassy there about the waiting time when i apply for the residence permit.. they said it takes about 120 days until i get it, and that i can stay in finland meanwhile... hmm,, maybe its different in every country??

What other paperwork do we need if we want to get married in finland?

raamv · Post by **raamv** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 2:28 pm

Check
http://www.maistraatti.fi/en/index.html
and
http://www.maistraatti.fi/en/frameset/f ... iminen.htm

oreign nationals can also be married at local register offices. Prior to the marriage ceremony, the foreigner must provide the local register office with a certificate from the authorities of his or her own country stating that there is nothing preventing the planned matrimony. As a rule, either this certificate must also be accompanied by the Apostille Certificate, or the certificates must be certified. Exceptions to this general rule are certificates granted by the authorities of other Nordic countries.

Also check this out from the ministry of Justice:
http://www.om.fi/20501.htm

medo · Post by **medo** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 3:50 pm

ailema4ever · Post by **ailema4ever** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 3:56 pm

Well, I did ask Finnish Embassy about whether it'd be best to get married in Indo or Finland and they said it was up to me. The law also said that I could have come to Finland using a tourist visa and applied my residence permit there, but then they refused to give me the visa even though we had our marriage certificate already. Weird stuff.

Make sure you check all the sites that Raamv gave you. Most important thing is whether there's an expiry date to the certificate of non-impediment (stating that you're single). I think it'll expire in 3 or 4 months if I remember correctly. And do bring every proof of relationship you have together to Finland: copies of emails/snail mails and pictures in a CD or regular photos. They'll send them back to you once they're done with the investigation for residence permit application.

)))

GOOD luck in preparing for the wedding and hope all'll be well, Julichka!!! Dealing with the bureaucracy part is intense he he he...

AMEL

ailema4ever · Post by **ailema4ever** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:01 pm

Medo,

You don't have to get a Finnish wife to get a tourist visa to come to Finland, do you???????

AMEL

medo · Post by **medo** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:41 pm

ailema4ever wrote:Medo,

You don't have to get a Finnish wife to get a tourist visa to come to Finland, do you???????

AMEL

At least need invitation for visa to visit finland i can not get a tourist visa you can help me

stewy · Post by **stewy** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:26 pm

maistraatti.fi tells you everything you need to know if you want to get married in finland. just be sure to have a certificate of proof saying that you're not married already and that it has the apostille stamp. once you're married you can apply for a residence permit within finland at the police. things can be easy if you do them correctly and make sure you know what you need to do.

raamv · Post by **raamv** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:00 pm

medo wrote:Can you help me to obtain a Finnish wife to get a visa to enter Finland

Well I surely cannot help you with that..
But then you can always try for a Finnish *Husband* if you cant Find a Wife..

enk · Post by **enk** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:27 pm

And as a word of warning, please find the threads about JimmyBang's
case and take them to heart!

-enk

COBHC · Post by **COBHC** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:29 pm

maybe medo could come and run away with a gypsy

raamv · Post by **raamv** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:34 pm

enk wrote:And as a word of warning, please find the threads about JimmyBang's case and take them to heart!
-enk

Ah JimmyBang...He is now in Finland...after a loong battle with the authorities ( and Hes from the US too)..
He is a classic Textbook learning case..and Enk is correct..
Check his posts..

medo · Post by **medo** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:59 pm

stewy wrote:maistraatti.fi tells you everything you need to know if you want to get married in finland. just be sure to have a certificate of proof saying that you're not married already and that it has the apostille stamp. once you're married you can apply for a residence permit within finland at the police. things can be easy if you do them correctly and make sure you know what you need to do.

thanks a lot for you

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