Moving to Finland to get married to my Finnish boyfriend....

mmjoy15 · Post by **mmjoy15** » Wed Aug 04, 2004 6:33 am

I am planning to move to Finland in October, and my finnish boyfriend and I are planning to get married soon after my arrival to finland. I know i can stay in Finland for up to 3 mo. on a tourist visa, but I'm getting married, so is obtaining the tourist visa necessary, and do I gain Finnish citizenship once we are married? Is it possible that I only buy a one way ticket, meaning, will I be allowed to enter the country if I don't have documentation that I will return to the U.S. eventually? Should I NOT specify that I will be getting married if I don't have a visa? If we decided to move to the U.S. for a while would he be considered a citizen there as well? Is it possible that we move to another country like Sweden or the UK shortly after we are married? Someone pleeeease help us!!!

**Sponsor:**

bohica · Post by **bohica** » Wed Aug 04, 2004 6:35 am

Don't take this the wrong way, but why don't you contact the Finnish consulate/embassy nearest you. Their information is bound to be more reliable than something from an Internet message board.

alloydog · Post by **alloydog** » Wed Aug 04, 2004 7:18 am

As Bohica says, contact the Finnish embassy with these questions, or rather, the Finnish embassy for the finish issues & the US INS for the 'coming to America' bit.

But generally, no you will not become a Finnish citizen, unless you specifically apply for it. You can be a Finnish resident for the rest of your life, whilst still being an American citizen, though.

OK, it doesn't quite pertain to your situation & you have done some homework, but have a browse of this:
http://www...com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=6465

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Anyone wanna start a book on how long until the next posting titled "Help, I'm stuck in Finland!"

dusty_bin · Post by **dusty_bin** » Wed Aug 04, 2004 10:20 am

I wonder how much bounty the Finnish government pays for each foreign scalp?

Is there a training camp for 'homesick blonde' acting?

Does going mean that one does not have to do national service in the army?

Why not just reduce tax rates and make the place more attractive to live?

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Wed Aug 04, 2004 10:30 am

mmjoy15 wrote:do I gain Finnish citizenship once we are married?

Not "once", read the rules regarding citizenship from http://www.uvi.fi

Is it possible that I only buy a one way ticket, meaning, will I be allowed to enter the country if I don't have documentation that I will return to the U.S. eventually? Should I NOT specify that I will be getting married if I don't have a visa?

Does marriage mean an automatic residence? No it doesn't necessarily. And they seldom ask anything these days at the passport control. And it might be helpful if you have all the necessary paperwork required for getting married (like a cartificate from home you are not married etc.) De facto you will get an A5 permit - getting one may take even 3-6 months. During which time you have to "sit home and wait".

If we decided to move to the U.S. for a while would he be considered a citizen there as well?

No, but the magic word is 'Green Card'. Read the rules. http://www.usembassy.fi/servlet/PageSer ... sular.html

Is it possible that we move to another country like Sweden or the UK shortly after we are married?

The crystal orb is cloudy. Maybe we have to read the tarot on this.
... I see a blonde man in your future... and travel... I see moose, moose and marmite... or is that vegemite...

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Wed Aug 04, 2004 10:38 am

dusty_bin wrote:I wonder how much bounty the Finnish government pays for each foreign scalp?

They pay on the density.

dusty_bin wrote: Why not just reduce tax rates and make the place more attractive to live?

How does reducing taxes make the climate Mediterranean?

alloydog · Post by **alloydog** » Wed Aug 04, 2004 10:40 am

Hank W. wrote:
dusty_bin wrote: Why not just reduce tax rates and make the place more attractive to live?
How does reducing taxes make the climate Mediterranean?

Well, most the Med countries have low taxes, either sales taxes, or income tax, or both & they have decent weather: QED low taxes mean nice warm climate

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Wed Aug 04, 2004 10:57 am

I thought it was in the Med you *avoid* the taxes...

SediaAmore · Post by **SediaAmore** » Wed Aug 04, 2004 5:05 pm

mmjoy15 · Post by **mmjoy15** » Wed Aug 04, 2004 7:42 pm

Hank W. wrote:
mmjoy15 wrote:do I gain Finnish citizenship once we are married?
Not "once", read the rules regarding citizenship from http://www.uvi.fi

Is it possible that I only buy a one way ticket, meaning, will I be allowed to enter the country if I don't have documentation that I will return to the U.S. eventually? Should I NOT specify that I will be getting married if I don't have a visa?

Does marriage mean an automatic residence? No it doesn't necessarily. And they seldom ask anything these days at the passport control. And it might be helpful if you have all the necessary paperwork required for getting married (like a cartificate from home you are not married etc.) De facto you will get an A5 permit - getting one may take even 3-6 months. During which time you have to "sit home and wait".

If we decided to move to the U.S. for a while would he be considered a citizen there as well?
No, but the magic word is 'Green Card'. Read the rules. http://www.usembassy.fi/servlet/PageSer ... sular.html

Is it possible that we move to another country like Sweden or the UK shortly after we are married?

The crystal orb is cloudy. Maybe we have to read the tarot on this.
... I see a blonde man in your future... and travel... I see moose, moose and marmite... or is that vegemite...

De facto you will get an A5 permit - getting one may take even 3-6 months.

The A5 permit is what? Don't I automatically get an A5 permit upon marriage?

alloydog · Post by **alloydog** » Wed Aug 04, 2004 7:50 pm

it means you are automatically entitled to an A5 visa/permit as soon as you are married, but the 3 to 6 months is the speed of paper oozing through the system ...

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Thu Aug 05, 2004 10:35 am

You're automatically entitled to *apply*... it also requires a few things to having been done to pass. And it is not "automatically" granted - theres always the "paper marriage" test.

TrishPaakkonen · Post by **TrishPaakkonen** » Thu Aug 05, 2004 11:12 am

Two comments:

1. You will find it is MUCH much cheaper buying a round trip ticket from the states to here than a one way one.

2. My experience obtaining an A-5 visa:

You will need to contact the Finnish embassy in the states. You'll receive a large envelope filled with a variety of forms in Finnish and English. We had to provide information on where we would live, where my husband will be working ( his job in Finland), who would support us IF he lost his job,bank account information ( asking the balance of your accts) ....even questions as wild as how we met.

My visa took about 4 months to obtain.

Later, upon arriving here, we did find out that we could have just moved here ( kids and all) and applied for the visa ( instead of the kids being away from their dad for many months).The nice thing about having the visa though before arriving, is that within a week of moving the whole family received KELA cards , enrolled in school and so forth....with no problems at all.

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