UK National moving to Finland. Finnish wife. Process?

Pariah · Post by **Pariah** » Thu Sep 22, 2016 1:15 pm

Terve Suomalainen

I am recently arrived in Helsinki and a UK National

My Wife is Finnish and we have been married for some time. We have a flat in Helsinki but I have not stayed here for any length of time as I work overseas.

However I am staying in Helsinki for a few months this time. What is the correct process to follow in respect of registration as an EU national?

I would also like to register a UK motorcycle here. I understand vehicles are no longer allowed in the personal goods import duty exemption but I cannot find an example of a similar bike/year tax assessment by Tulli.

Advice most welcome

Kind regards

Richard

**Sponsor:**

Beep_Boop · Post by **Beep_Boop** » Thu Sep 22, 2016 1:23 pm

https://poliisi.fi/licences_and_permits ... _residence

http://www.tulli.fi/en/finnish_customs/ ... 008_en.pdf

Pariah · Post by **Pariah** » Thu Sep 22, 2016 1:27 pm

Cheers, I found the Poliisi after a google search. This seems to to be the page:

https://poliisi.fi/licences/licences_an ... sh_citizen

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Thu Sep 22, 2016 3:56 pm

Pariah wrote:Cheers, I found the Poliisi after a google search. This seems to to be the page:

https://poliisi.fi/licences/licences_an ... sh_citizen

That or the one Beep_Boop linked. You are, for now, EU citizen. They don't need permits, but they do need to register.

Beep_Boop · Post by **Beep_Boop** » Thu Sep 22, 2016 6:48 pm

Pariah wrote:Cheers, I found the Poliisi after a google search. This seems to to be the page:

https://poliisi.fi/licences/licences_an ... sh_citizen

This one is different. This is a residence permit, and you don't want that. This one means you'll wait several months. Upside is that you don't have income requirements, though.

With the one I linked, you get EU registration. Virtually no processing time compared to residence permit.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Thu Sep 22, 2016 8:15 pm

The thing is though - how many is the "few months"? And do you intend to bugger back overseas after the few? Because then once you get registered as a "resident" you'll be taxed for your income, you can't ride your bike on the brit plates the moment you are a resident, so you must get it taxed/registered and you know you'll have to pay road tax on it now, nevermind the price of insurance?

There are the in's and outs... If you are "staying"... but if you are "going"...

plombiersos · Post by **plombiersos** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 9:45 am

Residence permits are issued by the Finnish Immigration Service.

leisl · Post by **leisl** » Tue Oct 04, 2016 12:02 am

plombiersos wrote:Residence permits are issued by the Finnish Immigration Service.

As was stated by others already, he is an EU citizen therefore the correct procedure is not a residence permit but registration with the Police.

Pariah · Post by **Pariah** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 1:47 pm

Thanks Beep-Boop, Yes, I need to register with the Poliisi.

I first tried to do this online (EU Citizen registration) on https://enterfinland.fi/eServices/ however after filling in pages of details and scanning documents I need a Finnish bank account to pay the 50 Euro registration fee... which I don't have at present

So I tried making an appointment with Poliisi online services at https://asiointi.poliisi.fi/ajanvaraus/ ... wTbLM/info however this has no availability for next 21 days and does not allow booking in advance.

So do I have to go to Pasila and wait in a queue for several hours?

Pariah · Post by **Pariah** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 2:04 pm

Pursuivant wrote:The thing is though - how many is the "few months"? And do you intend to bugger back overseas after the few? Because then once you get registered as a "resident" you'll be taxed for your income, you can't ride your bike on the brit plates the moment you are a resident, so you must get it taxed/registered and you know you'll have to pay road tax on it now, nevermind the price of insurance?

There are the in's and outs... If you are "staying"... but if you are "going"...

I am here for the immediate future maybe another three months or more, and longer term my home base will be in Finland, so I will be coming and going. I currently do not pay tax on overseas earnings as I am a UK expatriate working in the Middle East. I have assumed that I would not be subject to Finnish taxation if I was registered here in Finland but working overseas.

I understand the bike process.. Tulli assess the value (and the problem is I can't find a similar bike of this model/year so have no idea what Tulli will estimate) and I pay the tax, about 24% of assessed value..

Beep_Boop · Post by **Beep_Boop** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 3:54 pm

Pariah wrote:So do I have to go to Pasila and wait in a queue for several hours?

If you don't want to book (or can't wait for an availability), the yes.

leisl · Post by **leisl** » Wed Oct 19, 2016 4:59 am

Go early, take snacks, and do not allow yourself to be told to go home and do it online. Just smile and state that you know you've a right to do it in person as you've already waited in the queue. (We have unfortunately had instances of people being "recommended" to do it online, and they left and went home, not knowing the wait time is too long and they have the right to be seen in the queue. Finnish bureaucrats are VERY fond at playing dumb and will NOT tell you stuff that would be "nice to know" - it's not in their job description that they have to do it, so they just don't. Police, MOL, everywhere, they will give you whatever information gets rid of you as fast as possible, so you need to know the procedures, show up, state the procedures to them, hand over absolutely everything needed, smile, and then they're stuck doing their job.)

Pariah · Post by **Pariah** » Wed Oct 19, 2016 11:48 am

I'm struggling to understand the correct process for declaring my motorcycle and paying car tax.

I am currently a 'tourist' and visiting Helsinki with my motorcycle. This is UK registered, taxed and insured. I have been here six weeks, travelling and visiting places.

My understanding is that if I stay longer than three months I have to register with the Police. No problem there. I am going to start Finnish language classes and may be here for another six months. I have my own income.

For my motorcycle:

Tulli Bulletin 5 'temporary tax exempt use of a vehicle in Finland' article 1.1.1 'Vehicles for tourism purposes' allows a maximum of six months for a non resident and this may be extended by Tulli on application:

http://www.tulli.fi/en/finnish_customs/ ... 005_en.pdf

So am I correct in assuming that I can keep my UK bike here for up to six months as long as it is insured with all paperwork in order as long as I am registered with Poliisi after three months?

After six months, I would then request an extension or consider importing it and paying road tax, BUT am I even allowed to import it if I am only registered here with the Poliisi ?

Many thanks for your helpful feedback on this subject, I appreciate it.

Piet · Post by **Piet** » Sat Oct 22, 2016 5:53 pm

Pariah wrote:I'm struggling to understand the correct process for declaring my motorcycle and paying car tax.

I am currently a 'tourist' and visiting Helsinki with my motorcycle. This is UK registered, taxed and insured. I have been here six weeks, travelling and visiting places.

My understanding is that if I stay longer than three months I have to register with the Police. No problem there. I am going to start Finnish language classes and may be here for another six months. I have my own income.

For my motorcycle:

Tulli Bulletin 5 'temporary tax exempt use of a vehicle in Finland' article 1.1.1 'Vehicles for tourism purposes' allows a maximum of six months for a non resident and this may be extended by Tulli on application:

http://www.tulli.fi/en/finnish_customs/ ... 005_en.pdf

So am I correct in assuming that I can keep my UK bike here for up to six months as long as it is insured with all paperwork in order as long as I am registered with Poliisi after three months?

After six months, I would then request an extension or consider importing it and paying road tax, BUT am I even allowed to import it if I am only registered here with the Poliisi ?

Many thanks for your helpful feedback on this subject, I appreciate it.

As I recall from my own situation, as soon as you register with the police (as a resident of Finland so you are no longer a tourist) you are not allowed to drive a car with a foreign license plate any more.
If you declare your bike at that same day to Tulli as imported goods, you get 5 days driving allowed (when it is still insured), in this period you can drive to katsastus to start your import traject, you will get temporary plates (stickers with red numbers and letters) and you will have to choose a Finnish insurance (I recommend IF) . With these temporary plates you can drive for 3 months and within this time the decision about your car tax will be made by Tulli (customs), after you receive the decision on the car tax, you have (I am not sure how long) a limited time to finalize your import application by paying for the car tax as stated on the decision and with prove of payment you go back to katsastus and finalize the registration for the Finnish road tax and get your permanent plates.

This was for my car, for my motor bike, I just waited with officially importing it when the driving season started again. for the motorbike, the insurance does not need to be the whole year, you can have a special insurance something called a seisontavakuutus, the company IF offers this too (not many do) this is cheaper if you drive your bike less than 5 or 6 months, the insurance company can tell you all about it.

I have no idea about exemptions but remember that when you register as a resident of Finland, you are no longer a tourist so tourist rules no longer apply.

If you however want to stay a tourist, no need to register anything, just leave the country after 3 months for a day with your bike (Tallinn) and return the next day, for another 3 months

If I am wrong, betelgeuse will probably correct me

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Sat Oct 22, 2016 10:50 pm

Thats what I was saying. The moment you have an ID number, you can't legally drive that bike any more.

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