My DCF Experience, Helsinki, Finland

[Tupuna 0]

Overall, it was pretty painless. That being said, we were extremely organized and prepared going in. The American Embassy website in Helsinki is not really helpful, so I checked Stockholm, London, and Denmark DCFs just to make sure we did not miss anything. Of course, you still need to read the instructions the Helsinki AE sends you, but this helped. The office itself is kind of small and loud and it's a bit awkward because there is a TV blaring and you have to shout your personal business for everyone to hear, but so be it. It's hard to hear because you have to speak thru the glass.

The Finnish people working there were very nice and organized. The questions were pretty basic and not mean or trying to trick you.

If you need things notarized in Helsinki, you have to go the Maistraatti (Albertinkatu 25). It is expensive (I think 4E each doc) and the only place that will do it is this office. You can also pick up your virkatodistus (official register/birth cert./wedding cert.) there and make sure to get the name of BOTH parents (of the Finnish spouse) on it. They will only do it if you ask. You can get the police cert by going to the Finnish police website and downloading a form. This can be paid via bank transfer and was something like 10E. It came in about a week.

Even though I had a job, and it paid enough for the spousal support proof, since it was a new job, they wanted to see extra assets. I knew this would happen and tried to show them, and at first they said they didn't need it, but then after they reviewed my papers they wanted it. Good thing I brought it. I learned to always bring all the info you can to help your case.

I was able to prove domicile by showing I had a job in the US, a bank account that I kept, and a place to live (even though it was my parent's address). I had been in Finland for four years already.

You have to make sure you get the right photo size for the documents (US, not European). We got ours at Tunnelin Kuva across from the railway station. If you ask for the American size, they can easily do it. Cost: about 30E. Ouch.

The I-864 was a PITA to fill out. You have to show that you have been paying or filing US taxes. You can order a copy of your tax transcript straight from the IRS and they will mail it to Finland for free. The embassy didn't ask me anything about Finnish taxes or my Finnish bank account.

If your Finnish spouse has his/her list of vaccinations, you might be able to save some money and not have to get re-vaccinated for everything. So bring that to the doctor's appointment.

We didn't get the visa the same day. In fact, they were a little vague about the whole thing and didn't say anything like: "You are approved." We didn't get any kind of pink paper. They just said it would take a week and we didn't know if "it" was the approval process or the visa. "It" turned out to be the visa and we got it three days later. We had to go in person and pick it up. They did not mail it.

As a footnote, almost everything I needed to know I either found on 1) the consulates website (London, Stockholm, etc.) OR VJ. Our case was pretty straightforward, though, no kids, no prev marriage, etc. So overall, I recommend it. Far easier than any other option. Took about 3 months including the initial document gathering and a few weeks of not doing anything. So, it's possible one could do it in two months. Also, be aware that Finland is closed during July so that might delay processing times.

[redglasses 1]

Pretty good report

Congratulations and enjoy your new life in the US!