USA to Finland?

[iloveafinnishgirl]

the love of my life lives in Finland and we are both sure that we are meant to be together cause shes just so amazing! shes my angel

work and money are hard to come by.....





i just really need a way to get there and be able to stay there with her, losing my US citizenship isn't a concern of mine, id do ANYTHING for her!

[TwoThree]

Hey and welcome to the forum (I love a Finnish boy myself )

https://www.migri.fi/etusivu is the place to go for info about migrating to Finland.

Basically, as a US citizen you have the right to visit Finland for up to 90 days, visa-free. As for staying there long-term, you have to apply for a residence permit, for which you need one of three following reasons:

- Family ties: you'd have to be married to a Finnish citizen or having lived with them (with documents proving it) for two years.
- Work: having a job lined up with an employer willing to go through the paperwork, and also being able to prove that no one within Finland or the EU can do the job that you do.
- Student: being accepted in a Finnish university or polytechnic. Just studying Finnish doesn't count as a reason for applying to a student permit. It has to be studying for a degree.

Seeing as you guys never met (at least that's what your profile says) and also how young you are, option one shouldn't be on your priority list. And the job market is crappy in Finland right now, and I doubt you've finished your education anyway, so... I'd think student permit is the way to go for you. Start looking into what kind of school/degree you could get into, and save up money for the financial requirements and health insurance (if you don't have enough of that already, that is) and apply to schools next year. I would recommend trying to visit Finland first before moving, though.

Hope that helps

Oh, and btw, I think both the US and Finland allow dual citizenship, so you won't be losing yours. Although to apply for Finnish citizenship you'd have to live there for at least 5 years straight, plus a bunch of other requirements.

[Moon]

Hiya, my boyfriend is Finnish, I've been to Finland something like 10 times

Firstly, and most importantly, if you move to Finland, you must learn to speak very good Finnish before anyone will hire you, unless you are in a very, very specialized, technical field. Start yesterday! Finnish is incredibly difficult, it's nothing like the two years of Spanish most of us take in high school! It's the second hardest language for a native English speaker to learn. Secondly, people in Finland are generally very well educated, the equivalent of a Master's degree is very common. Also, education is free, so you could go there for studies, in fact a student visa is probably your best bet for relocating.

I recommend visiting there a few times before making ant decisions. Go in Winter, airfare is abut half the price of Summer. Also, if you haven't already found finlandforum.org, start reading, there's A LOT of info there. A word of caution though, they can be pretty brutal there, especially to young Americans, so don't go post happy, until you've learned the forum. Visiting Finland is easy, most people speak excellent English, especially everyone under 40, and it's a safe and comfortable place to go.

In conclusion, visit first, learn Finnish, and have fun! Good luck!

[iloveafinnishgirl]

was wondering if joining the US army and getting stationed in Finland would be a good way? cause id be making money and getting time in Finland to learn the language and my way around, also when i went on leave i could just stay in Finland but go to see her

and id be saving all my money to use to stay there afterwards and marry her and go to school, and by the time i was done serving her and i would be married past the required 2 years (she does want to marry me )

[Moon]

OK, you need to really do some research. There are no active US military bases in Finland, they aren't even part of NATO. So, no, that plan would be impossible. Get a job (if you don't have one), save up for a plane ticket, and go visit first. I know you're young and in love, but there is no quick and easy way to live in Finland, sometimes love just isn't enough, there's work involved, too

[Ahava]

Yeah I've never heard of any American troops here

I think your best bet (after you've visited a couple of times) would be studying over here and start learning the language (I'm sure she wouldn't mind teaching you on Skype). What line of work/studies are you interested in? Where in Finland does she live? In the Helsinki area there are loads of polytechnics and several universities.

Or maybe go straight ahead and learn Russian, if worst comes to worst and they decide to invade us after they are done with Ukraine and the Baltic States. (Joke)

[iloveafinnishgirl]

OK, you need to really do some research. There are no active US military bases in Finland, they aren't even part of NATO. So, no, that plan would be impossible. Get a job (if you don't have one), save up for a plane ticket, and go visit first. I know you're young and in love, but there is no quick and easy way to live in Finland, sometimes love just isn't enough, there's work involved, too

well for her im willing to do whatever it takes <3

Yeah I've never heard of any American troops here

I think your best bet (after you've visited a couple of times) would be studying over here and start learning the language (I'm sure she wouldn't mind teaching you on Skype). What line of work/studies are you interested in? Where in Finland does she live? In the Helsinki area there are loads of polytechnics and several universities.

Or maybe go straight ahead and learn Russian, if worst comes to worst and they decide to invade us after they are done with Ukraine and the Baltic States. (Joke)

im interested in flying(ive taken lessons before), any hands on work, pretty much any kind of work id be ok with, id also be willing to serve in the finnish army


as far as the US army i could get myself stationed in germany and use my leave times to go spend with her, then i could stay in europe after completing my 3 years service and move to finland, would that be an option? (note we would be getting married on my first leave so wed have the required 2 years by the time i finished service, that and id have way more money to start with in finland)

[Ahava]

That's a tough one. I know it is very hard for trained pilots to land a job in this country.
If you would have said you wanted to study economics or biology I could have helped you.

I don't know if you can choose where you get stationed to, if you can, that might work.

But for now I think you should concentrate on getting a job and saving up to go and see her first.

[lyonsgirl]

I'm not military, I have a few friends who are in the Air Force, but I don't know how similar it is to Army. From what I gather, you don't get to choose where you want to be stationed. Once you've been in for a while (2+ years, I think is the "average" from what I've seen), you can pick your top 3 or so, but they still tell you where you go. And you can't say "no".

However- I could be completely incorrect about all of that. And, I have no idea how the Finnish military works, but I imagine you have to be a citizen. Maybe?

[iloveafinnishgirl]

That's a tough one. I know it is very hard for trained pilots to land a job in this country.
If you would have said you wanted to study economics or biology I could have helped you.

I don't know if you can choose where you get stationed to, if you can, that might work.

But for now I think you should concentrate on getting a job and saving up to go and see her first.

like i said any job will do, id go for biology but economics may not be so good

[Moon]

I'm not military, I have a few friends who are in the Air Force, but I don't know how similar it is to Army. From what I gather, you don't get to choose where you want to be stationed. Once you've been in for a while (2+ years, I think is the "average" from what I've seen), you can pick your top 3 or so, but they still tell you where you go. And you can't say "no".

However- I could be completely incorrect about all of that. And, I have no idea how the Finnish military works, but I imagine you have to be a citizen. Maybe?

Actually, Finnish military service is mandatory for all male citizens, the OP would have to do his service if he became one. (And, get a roomful of drunk Finnish guys and they all feel the need to tell their stories )

[iloveafinnishgirl]

Actually, Finnish military service is mandatory for all male citizens, the OP would have to do his service if he became one. (And, get a roomful of drunk Finnish guys and they all feel the need to tell their stories )

thats why i said id be willing to serve in the finnish army, i knew it was mandatory, my SO told me that

honestly id do anything for my SO, cause as long as i am by her side im happy, and when i can finally hold her in my arms and kiss her i will be forever overjoyed <3

[Ahava]

You better start saving then!

[TwoThree]

(note we would be getting married on my first leave so wed have the required 2 years by the time i finished service, that and id have way more money to start with in finland)

Don't get married on the first visit, man. That's never a good idea. Generally don't do any kind of drastic, life-changing plans until you see what Finland is like and you actually MEET this woman.

[iloveafinnishgirl]

trust me when i say she knows things about me i didn't even know and vice versa and she has been there for me always, and what she wants is what i plan to give her