1st Time, Tourism Visa to Residency

alabama · Post by **alabama** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 2:27 am

Hey everyone,

We are new to this Forum and would be very happy if we can receive some advices on our situation.

I am Turkish and my girlfriend is Finnish. We met in Tokyo in May 2011 and have been dating since. We decided to live permanently in Finland. We are thinking that the best option would be for us to get married in Finland. We don’t know what route to follow. Here are our concerns:

1. I want to get to Finland ASAP so that I can look for a job etc. What visa purpose should I ask in my visa application to get to Finland? To see my girlfriend, to get married, to live etc. ? I do not want to scare the visa people but I want to have a sufficient time.

2. If I choose tourism/special visa grounds purpose and say that I want to visit her. It says on the website that tourism/special visa is possible and can be granted up to 90 days. But I need to specify the duration of my stay on the application form. If I put 2 weeks, then do they give me 2 weeks or full 90 days?

3. If 2 weeks, would this be sufficient time to get married in Finland and lodge a RP application? After lodging a RP application, am I allowed to stay in Finland and wait it to be concluded?

Your help would be much much appreciated.

**Sponsor:**

Flossy1978 · Post by **Flossy1978** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 4:53 pm

Just come on a visa and then apply for a permit after you get married LOL. It seems to be a very popular choice for people nowadays. Means you'll be sitting on your arse for how ever many months without work, without healthcare, without anything, until immigration makes their decision. And they could still say 'no' after it all. Good luck.

But I guess since you are coming from Turkey, getting a visa alone will be a job in itself.

Be honest on the visa. I don't know if they give them for two weeks. Never heard of it. Maybe someone else can say.

Have you been living with your fiance all this time? Usually you need to prove the relationship has been for two years. And since you only met last year, it's not a long relationship. And if you've not been living together or visiting constantly, who knows. I think it's up to the person processing your application, whether they're having a good day or not LOL.

Flossy1978 · Post by **Flossy1978** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 4:54 pm

tista · Post by **tista** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 10:46 am

Selam kardes,

herkes anlasin diye ingilizce cevaplayayim.

I am turkish myself married to a Finn. We married in Turkey and registered the marriage in Finnish consulate in Ankara and at the same time I applied for tourist visa( we didnt plan in that time to move to Finland) I said to them I will stay in Finland for one week for holiday. They decided in about one month and Even if I wanted for 1 week, they gave me visa for one month. after that i stayed in turkey and my wife in Finland because she was pregnant. at birth of my son i wanted to come to Finland and i applied for visa again. This time they gave me visa for about one year(but I could spend only 90days in Finland in this one year)

Later, When my tourist visa still goes on, we decided to move to finland. I entered the country with tourist visa. I was very lucky, I got a job offer immediately when i came here. So I applied here for residence permit, I had many reasons to get it, finnish wife and son, work contract.. so I got my RP in about one month.

Well, what i want to say, if it is better for you, you can marry in Turkey too and register it in Finnish consulate and then apply for visa or RP whatever you want when you go there for registration. But they ask at registration every kind questions.. like where did u meet, since when u are together, how did u make wedding, how many people came etc.

Good luck with everything,

kib,
tista

alabama · Post by **alabama** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:40 pm

thanks both. your answers shed some light over the issue.

alabama · Post by **alabama** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 10:20 pm

Well, I submitted my application today under the reason to visit her. Only fear I have is that they would reject me under the grounds of incompletion of my military duty (it's due on the 25th of October and I told the embassy that i would leave the country on the 24th).
Keep you updated of the situation in case it will help someone in future.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Sat Oct 13, 2012 12:28 pm

I don't know if they'd refuse the visa as what do they care of Turkish military service. I'd be more worried of the Turkish border guards letting you out of the country. Your passport in any case needs to be valid for 6+ months.

Myrica · Post by **Myrica** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 7:25 pm

for schengen visa,finnish embassy asks papers regarding army service.Not all consulates do that for example.
So,there is a possibility that they might refuse your visa application cus of that.
Plus,you need to wait 3 weeks to get visa.They give you a date anyway.But i waited 2 weeks in 2010,now they say you need to wait 3 weeks to get it processed.

Police will let you out of the country,they dont check army service anymore(law has changed in 2010)

Prepare for big culture shock.

alabama · Post by **alabama** » Tue Oct 23, 2012 7:49 pm

They gave me 30 days visa to be used within 3 months. Thanks to everyone for their comments.

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