non-EU permanent resident marrying an non-Finnish EU

che77 · Post by **che77** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 11:26 pm

hi, i have browsed the forum regarding residence permit based on marriage/family ties. im hoping someone could shed some light to these issues.

i've been living in Finland for the last 10 yrs and i have acquired my permanent residency 5 yrs ago. I have been on the same job for the last 8 yrs and i have a permanent work contract. i have bought my own apartment and i earn closer to 2k before tax per month (if any of these matters). my boyfriend who is from France and i want to get married. he has been here in Finland living with me for the last 3 months but now has to leave and then re-enter the country since he cannot register with the police yet because he has not found a job so far. he has been attending Finnish language class regularly for the last 2 months which was offered to him when he registered at the employment office.

now my question is if we get married....

-what are the chances of him getting a residence permit since i'm not a Finn?
-do we need to prove that we have been dating for a certain period of time for them to consider our marriage genuine? (not
that it's fake but just wondering if this is a factor they will consider)
-if he gets a residence permit, will he also get social security number and can apply for kela?
-while his residence permit is still in process, does he need to continue to exist and re-enter Finland every 3 months?

please share your knowledge/experience on this matter if you have any. thanks a bunch!

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onkko · Post by **onkko** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 1:26 am

che77 wrote:-what are the chances of him getting a residence permit since i'm not a Finn?

Well EU means that if you can support him and he has insurance its nearly automatic. 900e+630e=1530e after taxes.

che77 wrote:-do we need to prove that we have been dating for a certain period of time for them to consider our marriage genuine? (not
that it's fake but just wondering if this is a factor they will consider)

Of course they consider it but since France isnt exactly known as 3rd world country and moving to finland isnt that big benefit so i doubt it.

che77 wrote:-if he gets a residence permit, will he also get social security number and can apply for kela?

This i have no idea, i hope they make you to support him instead of kela. Marriage means youre responsible of your spouse.

che77 wrote:-while his residence permit is still in process, does he need to continue to exist and re-enter Finland every 3 months?

Well needing and needing, no one can say how long he has been here so while law says 3 months its empty letter because its impossible to enforce it.

CatNip · Post by **CatNip** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 7:31 am

As an EU he does not need a residence permit, but must register in the police station if the stay lasts more than 3 months:

EU citizens and citizens of Liechtenstein and Switzerland do not need a residence permit to Finland. However, they must register their right to reside in Finland at a police department, if their stay lasts for longer than three months.

There is neither exact financial requirements for EU citizens:

As a starting point, a precondition for registering a right of residence is that the applicant has sufficient income to support him/herself and his/her family. No fixed amounts have been laid down for the income requirement, and the individual circumstances of each applicant are taken into consideration when making the decision.

che77 · Post by **che77** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 11:22 am

we have been to the police station to register but we were told that he cannot register until he finds a job since his grounds for coming to Finland was to seek employment and not because of the relationship as i am not sure if he can register based on that.

he also does not have any savings that can be considered as a funding to support himself while staying in Finland and register based on that.

Rodwen · Post by **Rodwen** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 11:55 am

Well you get married, and then go to the maistraatti and register him, it's as easy as that. I doubt you have to show funds.

Fitz · Post by **Fitz** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 1:59 pm

CatNip wrote:As an EU he does not need a residence permit, but must register in the police station if the stay lasts more than 3 months:

EU citizens and citizens of Liechtenstein and Switzerland do not need a residence permit to Finland. However, they must register their right to reside in Finland at a police department, if their stay lasts for longer than three months.

There is neither exact financial requirements for EU citizens:

As a starting point, a precondition for registering a right of residence is that the applicant has sufficient income to support him/herself and his/her family. No fixed amounts have been laid down for the income requirement, and the individual circumstances of each applicant are taken into consideration when making the decision.

I'm an EU citizen living with my non-Finnish girlfriend, and every place I go to (local police station, immigration police, maistraatti), they tell me the same thing: I need a job. They don't mention anything about "right to reside," they just say they can't "register" me, whatever their definition of that is, until I have a "reason" for living in Finland. In other words, until I have a job, or become a student, which is impossible until next September. The lady at the immigration police office did say that if I have sufficient funds (she did not say exactly how much that is, just "enough to last at least a year") they could grant me residency but I need an official bank statement, which I can't get because my bank is in Canada and I can't get an account here because I can't register. It's a beautiful cycle.

Oh and the lady also mentioned that after three months of looking for work, if I haven't found a job I have to leave and come back and try again. But that's extremely vague. Does a day-trip to Estonia count? As Onkko said, it's impossible to enforce since there are no stamps in my passport. If they dug really hard they could find flight records of when I arrived but that's a lot of work for one measly (EU) immigrant. Che77, if I were him, I wouldn't worry about having to return and come back every three months, especially since you said he doesn't have a lot of savings to begin with.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 2:00 am

By the EU you have "right to reside" i.e. sit and scratch your ass for 3 months bit nobody cares if you do it longer.
EU does not give you "right for residence" which is you get social welfare - just for buttscratching.

onkko · Post by **onkko** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 2:59 am

che77 wrote:we have been to the police station to register but we were told that he cannot register until he finds a job since his grounds for coming to Finland was to seek employment and not because of the relationship as i am not sure if he can register based on that.

he also does not have any savings that can be considered as a funding to support himself while staying in Finland and register based on that.

If you marry you are legally responsible of him so your funds are his funds, literally.

che77 · Post by **che77** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:28 am

we were told exactly same thing when we attempted to register. it can only be done if he's got the income to support himself while in finland or he finds a job. i ask what if he doesn't find a job after 3 months and the lady at the police station told us that he's supposed to leave Finland and re-enter to renew 3 months but she also said that "but whether he leaves Finland or not nobody will really know because they don't check this kind of thing". but still i can't just take her word for it because i am worried this will be taken against him when he applies for a residence permit based on family ties after we get married. yeah sure they dont check but who knows he might be one of those odd cases where they ask for a proof of the duration of his stay in finland. he's been registered at the employment office right after he arrived and has a regular meeting there with somebody and he attends finnish class offered by the employment office so yeah it's traceable.

i've been pondering whether he really needs to leave and re enter finland every 3 months. it costs money and we don't want to do it if its something we can get away with but not doing so also doesn't feel right. i'm torn...

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 9:03 pm

He doesn't have to "apply" anything - just "register" himself.

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