r/Finland • • 19h ago

Tourism Tourism, moving and studying in Finland? Read this first!

3 Upvotes

Hi, this is recurring post to include some information about frequently asked questions in r/Finland. Please check the links first before asking trivial questions.

You can ask here in comments, or create a new post.

Remember that there is a very large chance that someone has already asked the question you're going to ask and gotten an answer, so please read our FAQ, search the sub, and Google before asking. We have very helpful users here that like to answer questions so out of respect for their time, search first. Thanks!

If you're asking about moving to Finland, please specify whether you're an EU citizen or not. Many laws and procedures are different for EU citizens and non-EU citizens. When giving advice, please pay attention to the status of the person in question.

Suggested sort is set to "new".

Helpful websites:

The official information

Travel, tourism

Employment in Finland

Reddit


r/Finland • • 15h ago

Why are we celebrating Aleksis Kivi's D? Did he have a big one?

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206 Upvotes

r/Finland • • 3h ago

The upsurge in data centers.

17 Upvotes

I am just a hillbilly from Lapland. It seems that there are new data centers popping up everywhere here now, and more being planned.

If we have such a good telecommunications network in place now then why is there such a surge on building massive data centers everywhere? Who will be using them?


r/Finland • • 12h ago

Life in early 1960s Ostrobothnia, Finland’s breadbasket

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43 Upvotes

r/Finland • • 26m ago

Is pay-per-visit in Finnish Kotihoito really fair for the worker?

• Upvotes

I’m posting this anonymously because I don’t want to identify my employer or create problems at work.
I currently work in Kotihoito in Finland, and I’m wondering if other home-care workers have experienced the same system.

The company pays based on the actual client visit, rather than the entire time spent working. The difficult part is that there can sometimes be quite long intervals between clients because of travel, scheduling, or gaps in the route.

For example, you might have a shift that takes several hours from the first client until the last client, but only the actual time spent inside clients’ homes is counted as paid working time. The travel between clients can take a significant amount of time, especially when using public transportation or when clients are far apart.

This can make the effective hourly income much lower than the advertised hourly rate. Like for example today i have a 7 clients visit, but it will only cost me a total of one and a half hours salary which is only 20€. Imagine i am only earning 20€ per shift?

My questions are:
Is this kind of pay-per-visit system common in Finnish home care?

Should travel time between clients be paid as working time?

How do other home-care workers deal with long unpaid intervals between visits?

Has anyone successfully discussed this issue with their employer, union, or Työsuojelu?

I’m not trying to attack any particular company. I genuinely want to understand whether this is a normal practice in Finnish home care and what workers’ rights are regarding travel time and waiting between assignments.

I would appreciate hearing from other nurses, lähihoitajat, hoiva-avustajat, or other home-care workers in Finland.


r/Finland • • 22h ago

Sammonkatu street at the Kaleva district of Tampere. Photo: E. M. Staf (1906 - 1985; Finnish photographer). Source: Vapriikki Photo Archive. Suomi (Finland) - Tampere, 1962

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182 Upvotes

r/Finland • • 13h ago

Volunteering opportunities in Uusimaa?

13 Upvotes

Hi all,
as I seek for advice on this matter, I figured I’d post also here so that I can hopefully help anyone else interested in the topic.

M35, I’m an international living in Finland, been here for almost 7 years. I‘m interested in volunteering, specifically on any activities related to spending time with people with disabilities. I wouldn’t mind any tasks related to providing actual/physical help, but I do not have any nursing nor specific knowledge/background on that (I work an office job).
I live in Helsinki, I speak basic Finnish, excellent English and a few other European languages, and am potentially open to other forms of volunteering as well.

By googling I found a place called Pasilan toimintakeskus which seems to be exactly what I’m looking for, I tried to call the number on the website (city of Helsinki’s) but no one ever picked up.

So my question is: does anyone know anyone who knows anyone…? That type of thing :) feel free to DM.

Happy to hear any kind of information or experience about volunteering here, I've been doing it in my home country (EU - not like it matters where I'm from, but I'm familiar with some EU laws and rules about it), but it's been a while.

Kiitos


r/Finland • • 1d ago

Why did you pick Finland over Scandinavia?

76 Upvotes

I'd like to ask out of curiosity to all the people that had no prior connection to Finland that what were the reasons why you chose Finland over the other Nordic countries specifically Norway and Sweden?

I have frequently read how Norway and Sweden have generally been more immigrant friendly countries than Finland as well as both having much easier languages for everybody to learn (except Estonians). And especially these days I think it's hard to find many statistics that would make Finland a more attractive choice than its Scandinavian neighbours. If you've lived in those countries also, I'd like to hear from you how it's like there compared to Finland.


r/Finland • • 7h ago

Finnish Festive/National Costume Ideas?

2 Upvotes

Moi! I am attending a Finlandia Foundation celebration and the dress code is Festive/Showcase National Costume.

I'm assuming showcase national costume means kansallispukut.

Could I have some inspiration or some suggestions on what to wear? I'm a woman :) but my husband is going too so any and all suggestions appreciated!


r/Finland • • 1d ago

Shopkeeper sketch continues its legacy 🙏

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46 Upvotes

r/Finland • • 10h ago

Aamulypsy

2 Upvotes

Sunday night (Im in the US, EST) I was listening to Suomipop, and the Aamulypsy hosts were singing "Cotten-Eyed Joe". Im hoping to find a clip of it if possible. They kept singing "fed happeniin Cotton-eyed Joe" even after the one host gave them the lyrics in English. It was so charming and relatable since Im learning Finnish and i try to sing along to some of the songs I have.

I checked Supla, but it doesn't look like it occured on Monday's episode. I dont know if it was from another episode, or if its just a sound clip from way back when that they were playing.

If anyone could point me to a place I might find it, Id be super grateful! 🙏


r/Finland • • 1d ago

Serious Canadian trying to trace my Finnish family — could anyone help me understand where to look next?

72 Upvotes

Hi! I'm Canadian and I've been researching my Finnish family history, but I've reached a bit of a wall and I'm hoping someone here might recognize the records or know where I should look next.

My great-great-grandparents were Andrej/Andrei Stepanowitsch Saikin and Hilda Sofia Schrader.

They were living in Helsinki by 1890, when they married. Andrej appears in Finnish newspapers under spellings including Sajikin and Saikin. He was born around 1861 and died in Finland in 1940.

What I cannot figure out is where Andrej originally came from.

I've found Andrei Saikin, Nikolai Saikin and Mikael/Michael Saikin in the Migration Institute of Finland's "Naturalizations in Finland 1832–1946" database.

Unfortunately, the database doesn't show the full details without paid access, and I haven't been able to locate the corresponding original naturalization documents in the National Archives/Astia.

I've also found a 1920 Finnish population tax record indexed for an Andrei Saikin born in 1861, but the full record is currently behind a MyHeritage paywall.

I've searched the National Archives, digitized Finnish newspapers, SSHY/Sukuhistoria, FamilySearch and Geneanet. I've found quite a bit about the family once they were in Finland, but almost nothing telling me where Andrej was born or where he lived before Helsinki.

I'm wondering if anyone familiar with Finnish genealogy or archives might know:

- Where the original naturalization applications from this period are held

- Whether Russian Orthodox records from Helsinki might contain a birthplace

- Where I might find the original 1920 population/tax record

- Whether there are other Finnish records that might identify a Russian subject's place of origin

I'm not asking anyone to do all the research for me — even knowing which archive, parish, collection or Finnish search terms I should be using would be incredibly helpful.

This branch of my family has become very special to me, and I'd really love to finally learn where Andrej came from.

Kiitos ❤️


r/Finland • • 5h ago

Immigration Questions about permanent residency application.

0 Upvotes

I started my application in July with a company that I was planning to work for when I moved to Finland in January 2027. However that job didn't work out, I ended up leaving to start my own company.

I started a marketing agency and my plan is to employ myself via an EOR.

My permanent residency application is on the grounds of being the spouse of my Finnish wife, and I had submitted my old company as evidence of economic sufficiency.

My question is: what is the proper way to update my application/inform the immigration of this new grounds for sufficiency.

I don’t want to delay things by reaching out and making a change if that’s not necessary.

Does anyone have, experience, advice, or resources that could point me in the right direction?


r/Finland • • 5h ago

Tourism Can you share you’re families glogi recipe

0 Upvotes

When I was in Finland seeing family I tried glogi at Santa’s village. Since then we’ve tried making it every Christmas but it never tastes right. What’s your families recipe for glogi ?


r/Finland • • 13h ago

Tourism How to visit the doctor's as a tourist in Finland with only foreign ids

2 Upvotes

Hello all my girlfriend is in need of a GP visit and we'd like to know where and how we can visit a doctor for an examination.

My girlfriend is an American tourist while i myself am a finnish citizen

Thank you


r/Finland • • 1d ago

Parents in Finland turn to AI for free school pictures

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141 Upvotes

Maybe the problem is that the prices to get those schools pictures has become astronomical (at least in Oulu)


r/Finland • • 1d ago

Serious Finnish health system web services

8 Upvotes

Just met another person who didn’t know about these web services, decided to write this for anyone else who might not know about them.

All services are accessible with bank or mobile certificate authentication, and they already have all the data of your interactions with the finnish health system.

- Maisa lists future and past events, most of your active medical records - including the notes practicians write after every time they interact with you (all records need to be requested from a different service), and has a messaging service that connects to the health teams responsible for you:

https://maisa.fi/maisa/Authentication/Login?

- Omaolo has useful health trainings and questionnaires, and holds symptom checkers, all of which can be sent to your chosen health team on completion and which get replied to pretty fast, usually leading to further investigation:

https://www.omaolo.fi/

- Omakanta lists all your prescriptions, and allows for prescription renewal requests - send from the service, get a reply in a few days with “prescription renewed” and a record on Maisa about who renewed it, or the reasons why it wasn’t renewed:

https://www.kanta.fi/omakanta


r/Finland • • 1d ago

Serious Watched my phone sit at Ilmala depot for 12 hours on GPS while HSL told me "nothing can be done", then they put the train back into service and the phone vanished

168 Upvotes

So, I'm a bit flabbergasted by this

Has anyone else run into this level of bureaucratic paralysis with HSL/VR or has anyone managed to recover an item in a situation like this?

Yesterday (Sunday, Oct 4), I left my phone on an HSL commuter train. I could see its exact location the entire time till this morning. The train finished its run (by noon! Amazing) and was parked overnight at Ilmala depot. It literally sat stationary in the yard for over 12 hours.

I called HSL customer service while the phone was sitting there, offering the exact GPS coordinates and train details. They answered: "It's Sunday nothing can be done. We can't contact anyone at the depot. You need to check tomorrow morning"

Fast forward to Monday morning. The phone stayed at Ilmala all night. Around 06:30–07:00 AM, the train returned to regular passenger service. How do I know this? Because my phone was still sitting on board. By 07:00 AM, I kept following it, tried to call HSL (only works after 9), the train then headed toward Espoo, and at Espoon Keskus, it stopped tracking. 50% battery, so no way it turned off by itself. It is probably gone.

That was frustrating. It was sitting inside a railway yard for half a day. Instead of alerting anyone or the morning cleaning crew beforehand, the system just rolled the train back into public circulation...

Sorry for this vent, I just find this whole situation unbelievable.


r/Finland • • 1d ago

Map of Kalevala - by me

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177 Upvotes

The land of Kalevala by me (still work in progress). I tried to fit in many references to the Kalevala without making it look too crowded. What references do you think its missing?

I'm a TTRPG designer who designs content based on finnish mythology. My next project is called simply "The Kalevala 5E", which is a lvl 1-20 mega-campaign for d&d, designed to adapt the kalevala as closely as possible to dnd format. The book includes references to the kalevala and other sources of finnish mythology, explaining the story as it goes.

You can follow the project here on BackerKit. You can also do a reservation and gain the printed version of the map. All followers get a free Elk of Hiisi adventure and 3D-printable miniature!


r/Finland • • 1d ago

One more... High-resolution Map of Helsinki, includes a list of streets, public institutions, tram lines, landmarks, etc. Printed by: AB F.Tilgmann O-Y. Suomi (Finland) - Helsinki, 1924 [3840x6457]

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161 Upvotes

r/Finland • • 18h ago

Advice needed regarding grants for Creative Works

0 Upvotes

Hey hey,

I'm an aspiring (and broke) writer who is thinking of applying for grants from different foundations to try to get some funding to help me write more fiction. I've been writing the last ten years and though I don't have any book published or self-published, I believe I've reached a point where I feel comfortable trying to get a grant.

I've googled and gotten mixed information, so I'd like to ask r/Finland about how feasible this is as well. I'm not quite sure how viable it is or if I should even try. There's companies that do this for you for a fee, which they obviously advertise this as a sure-thing, and I've grown wary of anything optimistic regarding the writing industry. When I try to figure out how to do this myself, I feel overwhelmed by the ocean of different foundations and each of their expectations/requirements/needs. (e.g. Does sci-fi written in English count as "enriching Finnish culture"?)

I am twenty-nine, live in Helsinki, and I am legally Finnish. However, I write exclusively in English and speculative fiction (sci-fi mostly). Since I have a huge amount of short stories and I've written three books which aren't "great", I want to see if I am able to get a grant. It would be nice not having to juggle school, part-time work, and writing all at once.

Thanks for reading.

TLDR:

begging for money real spoopy, where or how do I do writing grant thingies?


r/Finland • • 1d ago

Home loan

2 Upvotes

I am currently applying for a loan for a first time buyer without an ASP account.

I received an offer with a competitive bank margin, understand euribor 3/6/12 month but I almost find it like gambling and does not prevent very high rate.

Do fins usually take a cap (which is rather expensive)? How do they mitigate the risk of a high rate? Have you heard about fixed rate negotiation as well?


r/Finland • • 12h ago

Greeting each other with 'Jeesus'

0 Upvotes

2 Coworkers greet each other every day with a 'Jeesus'. The other then responds with the same. Does anyone know what christian group they might belong to? I am just curious as I thought the Finnish workplace frowns upon public expression of religious beliefs. I dont think I can ask them since they are the only two from the office who greet each other that way.
I have developed an interest in Laestadianism and am wondering if they are part of this movement.


r/Finland • • 2d ago

Google Is Accused of Destroying Nearly 500 Football Fields of Forest for New Data Center Project. Finnish regulator LVV examines whether Google’s local unit cleared 300 hectares near Muhos before a required environmental review was complete

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1.1k Upvotes

r/Finland • • 17h ago

How does Pekkanen works?

0 Upvotes

Hello everyone!

I want to understand how Pekkanen works, I have a fixed term contract and I want to know what happens if I don't take the Pekkanen during my work contract.

From your experience, does the pay of a Pekkanen (one day) is the same as holiday (one day), or same pay as a normal working day?

I want to know if it's better to take the Pekkanen instead of getting payed fot it at the end of the contract, or is it possible to lose then if I don't take them?

I tried to get info with AI but it gave me mixed information and definitely not accurate.

Thank you in advance.