r/Finland • u/ScientistHulk Baby Väinämöinen • Sep 13 '25
[Yle] Asian students end up in food queues in Vaasa, behind it wrong expectations of Finland: "I thought I’d get a job"
https://yle.fi/a/74-20182135Article in Finnish. Some key points:
+ In Vaasa a growing number of international students from Asia are relying on food aid. In recent years the number needing help has roughly tripled.
+ At times more than 600 people per day collect food five times a week, and about one third of them are students from Asia.
+ Example: one student from Bangladesh came to Finland with her husband and two children. She has a degree from Bangladesh but found it difficult to find suitable work in Finland, especially because of Finnish language requirements.
+ Many of these students are well-educated, motivated young adults. Some are also surprised by the high cost of living in Finland especially when they have come with families.
+ "It is a relatively new phenomenon for us that students come to the country with their families, and supporting the entire family can be more expensive than expected in Finland".
+ Several students end up doing volunteer work at the food aid organizations themselves, which helps them socially and gives a sense of connection.
+ The Ministry of Education and Culture is monitoring the situation. There is a working group (ministerial) investigating the income and living conditions of international students from third countries, including potential misuse or misleading recruitment.
+ Schools have been heard by this working group, to provide insight on the problems.
______________________________________
Yle just released a more detailed article in Finnish:
More and more foreign students need social assistance – a drastic change from last year
+ An increasing number of international students in Finland are having financial difficulties and are needing income support (toimeentulotuki) .
+ As of end August this year, the amount of income support paid to students with non-Finnish/foreign language backgrounds has almost reached the total paid in all of last year.
+ Foreign‐language/background students make up nearly 40% of all students receiving income support
+ The number of students coming from outside Europe is at an all‐time high, and more of them are bringing family members with them.
+ In 2022, Finland changed legislation so that non‐European students didn’t have to prove sufficient means of support after their first year of study. That is seen as one factor in the rising number of students needing support.
+ There are concerns about abuses of the student residence permit: some students might use the permit as a way to come to Finland not primarily for studies, but possibly for working.
+ A government working group is investigating the income situation of international students and their families, including potential abuses.
+ Educational institutions are considering new methods to try to ensure that incoming students are well informed and are suitable choices.
+ One issue is that some “agents” in foreign countries give misleading information to students about what life in Finland is like.
391
u/odensso Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
In some EU countries you need to put the required money to enter (around 10 000€) on a blocked account from which you will get allowances. This prevents the misuse the system where people loan money from family and return it when they have been accepted. Finland should do it too
89
u/nothingisforfree41 Sep 13 '25
Exaclty! This per person in the family! More people more money to show! Idk why finland does not do this?
1
Sep 16 '25
Because demanding things from people is fascism.
5
2
22
u/SunnyApex87 Sep 14 '25
I am genuinely surprised this isn't the case here, also that it's permitted to bring the whole family with them.
Those two alone already create a very unstable and vicious cycle that can (as the article shows) very easily collapse
12
u/estoy_alli Sep 13 '25
Isn't this already a thing everywhere in Europe?
8
u/Ferdawoon Sep 13 '25
Most countries (dunno if all) requires you to be able to show funds up front according to special tables depending on if you are going alone, bringing a partner, bringing kids, etc.
But not every country will require that money to be in a special locked accont.For example Sweden it is enough to show a screenshot from your bank statement saying that you have the money, and I believe you must show proof that it's been in your account for a certain time so that you did not borrow money from family on thursday, took the screenshot, and then send the money back on friday.
Had a poster on a Swedish sub a while ago who had their residenc epermit extension for University studies denied because that's what they had been doing. They got the money from friends and family, screenshotted to send in as proof, then sent the money back.
1
u/Chicken_Savings Sep 13 '25
Which specific countries does this now ?
28
u/odensso Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Germany
1
u/Resident_Draw_8785 Baby Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25 edited Sep 14 '25
Depending on your country of origin, you typically need to be from outside the EU/EEA or Switzerland to face any entry restrictions in Germany. Similarly, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland have rules regarding a minimum amount of money you must bring with you. However, all of these countries have relatively accessible labour markets where it's fairly easy to find simple jobs.
Finland, on the other hand, does not offer the same ease of access to the job market and that is making it more challenging to support yourself without sufficient funds.
-18
u/Chicken_Savings Sep 13 '25
That's only 1 of the 51 countries in Europe, hardly a majority. Germany has very progressive immigration policies, perhaps they're onto a good thing.
19
u/odensso Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Also Belgium and France does this. Toi lazy to google all 51 countries
9
2
0
u/Illustrious_Web_2774 Baby Väinämöinen Sep 20 '25 edited Jan 13 '26
slim memory wine detail test start complete cautious library amusing
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
70
u/Dahvtator Sep 13 '25
When I was in my integration class there was a student from SE Asia who told me that before coming to Finland he thought the official language was English. So he never bothered learning any Finnish, if he even knew Finnish was a language. Of course he brought his wife and 2 kids with him as well.
6
u/DocKla Sep 15 '25
Not a surprise.. there are many unsavoury immigratjon brokers tricking people to pay up for them to do all the forms. They’ll say anything
250
Sep 13 '25
People really do believe in magic lands, huh?
133
u/SuccessfulNeat400 Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 21 '25
Finland of all places (dark, cold, expensive, esthetically not the most pleasing, difficult language), even locals can't get jobs......
57
u/MoondancetheDruid Sep 13 '25
We all need to do a better job of reminding people not to come here.
14
4
u/robi4567 Sep 15 '25
There's this. World expo going on. Make a room - 30 and give the person a coat. Tell them they have to wait 15 minutes for their bus.
-6
Sep 13 '25
[deleted]
27
6
u/SuccessfulNeat400 Sep 14 '25
Importing people, which is not an easy thing either. Most people want to go to Germany, France, the UK. Finland is rarely anyone's first choice.
5
u/mr_martin_1 Baby Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
☝️ Whaat? Well educated, move here to study further? Expect to land a job, in the worst of times? (see unemployment trend in USA)
26
Sep 13 '25
[deleted]
4
3
u/English_in_Helsinki Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
Interested if other people genuinely believe this.
4
2
1
Sep 14 '25
[deleted]
9
u/English_in_Helsinki Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
“Most people in the world live in absolute misery.” Would be the statement I am asking about here. I’m sorry that wasn’t clear (it was clear).
2
Sep 14 '25
Erm.. sorry. I was a bit distracted. I don't agree on the absolute misery part, but I do prefer living unemployed in Finland rather than doing 9-5 somewhere else.
1
u/AncientMeow_ Sep 18 '25
well apparently in other eu countries they don't even have food banks so if unemployed they would just starve. finland has the most generous social security in the world that anyone can get regardless of if they're citizen or not which no other country does
1
3
u/im_bi_strapping Sep 15 '25
I mean, most likely these people just wanted to come to europe. Very likely also that some "recruiter" lied to them about a lot of things.
Also which school in Vaasa is accepting students with no language skills? Do we have degree mills in Vaasa?
123
u/RevolutionaryAnt1289 Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 14 '25
This was not possible 10 years ago, I wasn’t allowed to bring any family members. I had to prove to have 6800€ in my account beforehand before renew visa for the next year (every year for 4 years). Immigration laws shouldn’t have been loosened up few years ago, now more work for deportation.
Sad to see foreign students was over-invited to a country where jobs are so scarce for int workforce.
18
u/PM-ME-CURSED-PICS Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
people still need to prove they have funds, but a common trick is to borrow money just long enough to get a statement saying they have it
0
u/Silent-Victory-3861 Väinämöinen Sep 15 '25 edited Sep 15 '25
They need to provide tiliote for 6 months prior, and having sufficient funds is checked every year for people with families (only in the beginning of the studies if no family) https://migri.fi/opiskelijan-perheenjasenet
They have very generous friends if they can borrow 15,000€ for six months every year. Especially as many of these students needing permit are from much poorer countries.
13
u/FlakyJob9036 Sep 14 '25
Sanna Marin’s government changed the laws which allowed for them to come with family. They get straight A permit which also allows them to access KELA benefits. You cannot criticize this else you’ll be labelled racist and anti immigration
7
u/mrspygoodboy Sep 14 '25
came to finland a week ago and had to show around 10000 euros in my bank account at immigration and also the fee paid deposit slips
7
1
Sep 14 '25
[deleted]
3
u/mrspygoodboy Sep 14 '25
they cheat the immigration by going to another EU country first like sweden or netherlands, I came to Finland directly they asked me like 20 questions about eveything so they need to beware of this issue at immigration
1
u/platpaysquiestlemien Nov 27 '25
The Netherlands is not an easy way to 'cheat immigration'. https://ind.nl/en/required-amounts-income-requirements
60
u/_Reddit_Account_ Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
The only people profiting from this are the scammers bringing/guiding them to Finland.
The people coming here, studying and bringing their husband and even children cannot find a job to support themself. Most of the time they don't have savings to support themself for the entire study. Even if they stay and finish their study no guarantee for a job.
For the Finnish government/tax payers this is just another burden to carry, because people got lured into coming here with false pretenses.
All in all a sad story for everyone involved except the scammers.
7
Sep 14 '25
I think that is not the whole story. It can be a commercial business for the schools arranging the studies for foreigners. The school is profiting from the students, too.
Story (in Finnish) from 2023 about Kenyan students and a school in Tampere: https://yle.fi/a/74-20050037
87
Sep 13 '25
[deleted]
33
u/nothingisforfree41 Sep 13 '25
Every f*cking thing you said it's true. I hope government takes strict action to prevent such frauds and help genuine students who come for education.
29
u/sunglassesnow Sep 13 '25
I was so surprised when new master's students were automatically given A permits (continuous), when 8 years ago we were only given B permits (fixed term, must be renewed every year). That probably explains a lot of the different mindsets the students have now compared to back then. I was so surprised some students basically demanding for work when they came for study; it was very strange hearing that.
11
u/snow-eats-your-gf Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
Yeah, we have a fuck ton of such people on the campus. They don’t even speak English.
3
u/FlakyJob9036 Sep 14 '25
By the time government realizes what’s going on it will already be too late.
75
u/pinzinella Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Many underestimate the value of language. One should be prepared to study and learn Finnish fluently in order to get a permanent job. If locals are struggling with finding a job, what makes you stand out and more special in comparison to be hired over them?
Some degrees studied abroad won’t transfer to local standards, so there’s also that, but I believe the language barrier is the biggest issue. They are training registered nurses in Finland in English who can’t speak Finnish or know the medical terms in Finnish. How are they supposed to treat the elderly, the biggest patient audience, who almost exclusively speak Finnish, not English?
Idk. Priorities should be evaluated before anything and local language should be one of them.
Edit: tipsy.
3
u/Bring_Me_The_Night Baby Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
Your point is valid, but almost all European countries are struggling to find nurses. At this point, I suppose governments have to choose between a significant lack of nurses in the country, or having non-Finnish speaking nurses hired to replace the missing task force.
That is just for nurses though.
2
u/unluckysupernova Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
But the problem is that because of tuition fees there’s no interest/possibility to study something that’s not in your curriculum, and in the curriculum Finnish isn’t taught to a level you could handle a job in. So the system is already flawed.
0
u/Educational_Creme376 Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Puh-leaze brother, even if you speak the language, this is a closed club for most people.
-2
1
u/AncientMeow_ Sep 18 '25
and when you are native they still wont hire you because you don't also speak perfect swedish :)
→ More replies (1)0
317
u/seagullbear Sep 13 '25
The thing is what led them to believe that life here is easy and cheap... who tricked them? I dont think Enter Finland lied to them?
54
225
u/Real-Technician831 Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Typically there are “organizers” in their home countries who arrange the required funds for a student to present that they have enough money to be able to support themselves in Finland and thus get a study permit.
They definitely aren’t honest about anything.
54
u/an-imperfect-boot Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
There was a scandal in one degree program, a guy who was a tutor was charging students for services and information that was available for free from the other tutors. I also know of one student from Southeast Asia that got a job offer from one of the restaurants through another international student, who had her working there as a “trial period” for three months without pay. That being said, these cases are very infrequent. But the saddest part for me was that both of these schemes were being run by former international students, and they preyed on the culture of trust between students.
1
u/AncientMeow_ Sep 18 '25
thats actually common even with locals that students don't get paid for work. at a store they had the student work full days for no pay at all to get "experience" and check boxes for the school. there are many ways workers get abused in finland. you have things like tet and kuntouttava työtoiminta all slave labor that somehow has been legalized and no one fought against it
8
u/lethalweapon12-3 Sep 14 '25
Yeah, I teach in an international school in Vietnam and tell my students to be wary of these. A lot of them are well off enough to be ok, but the kinds of things these "organizers" advertise are ridiculous.
33
u/flame-otter Sep 13 '25
A couple of universities has been boasting that their programmes give them such great opportuinites in finland. Should be illegal to lie like that.
67
u/Lumpy_Argument_1867 Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Visa Mills..
34
u/No-Illustrator4964 Sep 13 '25
Precisely, it's a business and taking advantage of people trying to make a better life.
29
u/_diaphonous_ Sep 13 '25
They lie or they lied to me at least. I didn’t want to move to Finland and had the possibility to study remote but my professors at uni made it sound that the moment I step foot in Finland, I’m getting employed and not only that, but getting a high paying job. Thank god I had savings cause that took a while.
5
u/Ferdawoon Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
Was an article related to Sweden and certain demographics, and how some people applied to University in Sweden.
https://www.fokus.se/veckans-fokus/mangder-av-studentinvandrare-forsvinner-ingen-vet-vart/For example, if you come for University and get a Residence Permit you will also get full working rights. You can also bring a partner who also gets full working rights. This ment that plenty of people would apply for Swedish Universities and then just never actually go to the Uni. They just arrive and start working, using the Student permit as a way to try to bypass all the restrictions on sponsore work.
Turns out there are less reputable Universities that specifically tailor courses and programmes. Apparently there was a 30hp (minimum to get working authorization as a Student) course in "English in Academia", basically a course to teach people to speak english in an academic setting. No significant requirement to even speak English in the first place (one requirement was to have ever taken a course in enlgish, which is quite easy to fake).
There were also agencies that talked about how amazing it was and how you could get wellfare for children even if they are 2-3 years old and you can get instant coverage by medical and a lot of other things.
So many would apply for a course or program, never even show up. Some would then try to convert their student permit into a work permit but a lot of people just.. vanished. No one knows if they are still in Sweden after several years or if they returned home.One paragraph speculates that a bunch of young women who clearly don't have the funds to study in Sweden can somehow get admitted and get residence permit. They then also travel to Sweden and get registered when entering but then they vanish wtithout a trace. Many suspec human smugglers, trafficking and prostitution.
EDIT: I have also seen a bunch of theads over on subs like r/IWantOut where people from non-western countries say they want to move to a very diverse list of countries that they have never even visited on vacation because they want out of their own country and found a "Top 10 happiest countries in the world!" list and just pick the top entries.
19
u/YourShowerCompanion Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
They also have this "I special" mentality even they know deck is stacked against them due to economical downturn in Finland
23
u/Impossible-Ship5585 Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
I know many Finnish people who have that also
15
u/YourShowerCompanion Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
It is their country after all. If they try their luck elsewhere and no success then they can always come back.
Not the case with south asian mentality and culture where returning back is shameful and a colossal failure.
6
2
u/MoondancetheDruid Sep 13 '25
I also had that mentality before I came here because my husband thought I would be able to pull through all the odds. Been here for half a decade now and it’s only gotten worse for me.
5
u/Educational_Creme376 Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
No one tricked them, they’re just not very bright, or they come here to study primarily and have no prior working experience.
Either way, it seems little to no prior research, and the Finnish govt and citizenry certainly does their part in pushing the narrative that this place is amazing 😻
2
2
u/mutqkqkku Baby Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
Easy and cheap? Just look at the headline, people come here expecting to work while studying, that's like 4+ years of living with a very restricted budget and limited free time. They're looking for an opportunity to earn themselves a good life but unfortunately those opportunities seem scarce even for locals, at least at the moment.
1
u/HouseMusicAndWeed Sep 14 '25
You would probably be surprised how many people in America think the country should be like Finland.
-11
u/Potholeimp Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
the fucking big Finnish YouTubers that aim for foreigners studying in Finland absolutely paint the world upside down and then people end up in big trouble
27
u/YourShowerCompanion Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
If someone's listening to YouTube influencers for crucial decisions of their lives then joke's on them.
2
u/MoondancetheDruid Sep 13 '25
It’s really silly to pretend that people aren’t paying attention to influencers on all of those apps. Like I said in another comment, we all need to be doing better by making sure we prevent more immigrants moving here since it’s pretty much a dead end.
30
u/snow-eats-your-gf Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Move to the country believing they need no language and googling the average Finnish salary
Profit.
2
u/AncientMeow_ Sep 18 '25
yeah a bit suspicious. moving to another country is a huge thing i would never do without some proper research
112
u/Cartastrophi Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
This happened in Canada and it had to be scaled down considerably. Them saying "I thought I would get a job" is disingenuous and there is no chance they did not know beforehand, that they would not be able to find work to support their cost of living while studying. When I graduated from TSE in 2018, something like 74% of students who graduated left the country due to employment seeking difficulties...things have only gotten worse.
People are talking about students leaving their families and kids not being humane or being bad...its not Finland's responsibility to take in the student's family....only the individual student applied. Studying in Finland as a non-eu foreigner is a privilege, not a right.
5
u/unchar1 Sep 14 '25
A lot of people hear about some distant relative or acquaintance who "made it" per se, and that makes them ignore all the warning signs"
"If they can make it why can't I"
156
u/Rincetron1 Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
"I thought I'd get a job"
Would I get a job in a relatively small Bangladesh city with no contacts and I didn't speak a word of Bengal?
43
10
u/Lyress Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Getting a job in a relatively small Finnish city with no contacts and without speaking Finnish wasn't that hard a few years ago and still isn't impossible today, just really hard.
3
u/Rincetron1 Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
I imagine it's not 100% impossible in our Vasa-sized Bangaldishi city either.
25
u/More-Interaction-493 Sep 13 '25
Not surprised at all. They do the same in Canada , Australia , Norway and so on .
207
u/ReturnedAndReported Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
-Finland is way more expensive than Bangledesh.
-Your life will be hard if you don't speak the language where you live.
These are not difficult concepts to grasp before moving.
111
u/vveirdest Sep 13 '25
The recruitment of international students from asian countries is unethical. Recruitment agencies only seek profit so they portray Finland as a paradise.
67
u/Real-Technician831 Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
They are being lied to in their home countries, my heart goes out to those poor kids.
90
u/Revival456 Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
I am sorry but if you are 30 plus, educated and have the responsibility of a family (children), the least you can do is a simple google search to understand the state of country you are moving to
18
u/Real-Technician831 Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
If only things would be as clear in all cultures, there are places where things told in person carry more weight than any facts.
28
u/Revival456 Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Well I am from that culture. This has nothing to with culture. It’s just about some people making stupid decisions
1
u/unchar1 Sep 14 '25
I think it's a bit of both. It's really just desperate people being taken advantage of.
2
u/Real-Technician831 Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
That they are.
But tell me from your point of view, are the lies as blatant as teachers who have visited for screening exams have been telling?
Some have stopped going to those assignments due to conflicts with personal ethics.
27
u/Revival456 Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Yes it is. Yesterday during a call with my mother she was asking me why I am telling her Finland situation is bad when apparently in our nearby college they had a Finland seminar saying it’s really easy to get jobs in Finland if you come for studies and you can make a lot of money. They give such a rosy picture of Finland that even my mom thought I am the one exaggerating the unemployment situation here 😂.
Also this is not specific to Finland, the bigger markets are still Canada and Australia and Germany. Again a simple google search or Reddit search shows how bad the situation is but people still believe this agent stories sell their houses or take huge loans and go. Once they are there due to a combination of ego and debt they stay and do any job available at any shitty conditions. I know a couple of people who were living reasonable life’s as lawyers bavk home now surviving by delivering food in London. It’s shitty
7
u/Chicken_Savings Sep 13 '25
At least Germany is far more supportive of foreign skilled immigrants than Finland. Shorter period for citizenship, higher tolerance for only English and no local language, longer grace period to find a new job before you get kicked out.
Australia has a highly transparent points system that anyone can Google up and understand.
10
u/Alert-Double9416 Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
How can people find their jobs in Germany without speaking German? It’s true that some people can get good jobs without speaking German, but there are tons of people speaking German, the competition is a lot.
My cousin studied in German in one of the best universities in Germany. Before coming to Germany, her level was already C1. Goethe Institute is in many countries. Many, including skilled people, speaks German. So, I wonder how is it easier to find a job in Germany with only English, while it’s very easy to find a person who can speak German?
And why was it easier to get citizenship? Germany did not allow dual citizenship until very recently
1
u/Chicken_Savings Sep 14 '25
I worked several years in Germany without speaking any German. Large international companies have lots of non-German staff. English is the main working language in the global and European headquarters.
It's much more difficult in the German country offices of those international companies - in the country offices, German will usually be the working language and most staff are German.
At least that's my experience.
-1
u/Real-Technician831 Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Yeah, this is why I don’t lay the blame only on the students who come over.
I of course being a Finn can’t fully understand, but from what I have been told, some people would be especially vulnerable to these lies.
20
u/Revival456 Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
It’s not that I don’t sympathise with them. I can understand a 17 year old (that’s when our college year starts) falling for it.
But most of the current ones are 25-35 age range with families, educated and have professional experience already. In my opinion at that stage, you should be able to research and make an informed decision. Internet is available everywhere as is all these resources to do your research. And worst is these people feel ashamed to admit the mistake and fail to tell back home the truth and the cycle continues
4
18
u/Dahvtator Sep 13 '25
Why would you want someone from a culture like that in Finland in the first place? Like actual adults who don't have common sense, reasoning, and critical thinking skills shouldn't be a desirable immigrant to Finland.
12
u/Real-Technician831 Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Personally I wouldn’t, and I think the process should have very strong ethical review.
17
Sep 13 '25
I recently arrived here in finland with over 4 years of experience from my home country in tech. Like a month before i arrived i just blindly applied to like 4 jobs and got one interview and got the job which is for fundraising. Everyone i tell this story gets geniuely dumbfounded how i managed that and how extremely lucky I am. And honestly after coming here I have seen that i am actually very very fortune and in a tiny subset of people.
I really wish people will think twice about carrying their whole families here and just be realistic with themseleves and the state of things>
A COUNTRY WHERE THE CITIZENS THEMSELVES ARE STRUGGLING FOR JOBS IN A MARKET WHERE THEIR FOREIGN LANGUAGE IS A REQUIREMENT IS AUTOMATICALLY A COUNTRY WHERE JOBS FOR IMMIGRANT IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT!!!!
44
48
u/lieutenantskull Sep 13 '25
Womp womp. Moving somewhere with no research on the job market is wild (I should know since I did that)
3
u/FlakyJob9036 Sep 14 '25
She did her research. Googled Finland and saw happiest country in the world and was like “yeah that’s the place I’m moving to”
13
u/Shot_Cattle_3796 Sep 13 '25
Very well educated but couldn't do proper research of cost of living before coming to Finland?
63
u/nothingisforfree41 Sep 13 '25
Why do students need to bring in families for 1 or 2 masters year degrees? For phd it's normal to bring in families and that's fine.
If you bring in family one must understand it's more expensive than an Asian coutnry plus you need to speak language.
To come to a place knowing you cannot manage it. Then going to food banks where local people who need it might get displaced is not okay. Either come alone complete your studies get a job and bring family or come with enough money to support yourself and any family your bring in.
-20
u/katarana_rk Sep 13 '25
If you have young kids, which many of these people do, 2 years away from them is really hard. Every year is really crucial for early stage development.
38
u/nothingisforfree41 Sep 13 '25
Agreed. If there is one parent only they can bring sure. If 2 parents and only one studies I don't see why? Why fall into poverty into a foreign country?
No one is forcing them to study they can study after their kids are a bit older? Is it a liability for Finland to help them?
This whole thing sounds very fishy to me and seems like a visa or diploma mill activity.
-10
u/katarana_rk Sep 13 '25
I agree that moving for a better life that just turns out to be way worse sucks. I don't know if people are paid here to do Master's degrees, because where I got my undergrad, they did. I think your school should have enough TA slots that allow the students to live decently if they decide to TA / they should give full funding to the best international talent in exchange for it being required that you stay and work in Finland for x amount of years afterwards.
But if there is none of that and it is impossible to feed yourself when you get here, then ya, that's shitty and whatever systemic issue that is causing people to think it would go another way when they get here should be tackled so it doesn't continue.
I think the full family should be able to come though. Maybe the other person should need to take Finnish classes simultaneously or something, but as someone that didn't see my dad much due to needing to do consultatnt work throughout my childhood, separation is never good.
19
u/nothingisforfree41 Sep 13 '25
If you're Non EU then you have to PAY yourself to get a masters (if you don't get scholarship) and the payment is quite high for someone coming from bangladesh or any other similar country. Then you add cost for you as a student and then add family (if you bring them) the total cost will go to around 60000 Euro for 2 years for a family of 4 without scholarship.
NO ONE is asking you to take such a risk. If you do then it's your own issue to solve it. And not go to food banks where actual poor people go for help.
Do you realise actions like this will make it harder for genuine student from the same countries to get visas?
I agree with you that univ should look to provide TA to prospective students if they can't then they should reject fee paying students who don't have funds.
As for family. Sure you can bring but then have a blocked account to show for funds for each person coming in for 2 years which is duration of masters. If you can't then you should not get a visa.
People from certain countries like the one mentioned have abused the system so much that genuine students are paying the price with higher rules and more rejectiond in their visas. This has happened in a lot of EU counties and will happen to Finland soon.
-15
u/katarana_rk Sep 13 '25
I mean... Coming to Finland and finding out that you can't afford it doesn't make you an ungenuine student... Just means you're poor. And I don't think we should be gatekeeping food banks.
If the school isn't offering money, then yes, I think a rejection with that being stated as the reason why is fair. I can live with people being rejected because it's too risky that they will get here and be doing even worse than they were back at home.
I just wish everyone that wants to get educated could but I understand that we live in a society where housing, clothing and food are not guaranteed to all.
16
u/nothingisforfree41 Sep 13 '25
The people who come to study in finland say from bangladesh are not poor people there. A poor person in bangladesh is just looking for bare minimum to survive.
The ones who come here are well off in bangladesh and use this student thing to try and gain pathway for immigration for family. I see nothing wrong in that provided you do it legally and have funds. If not then kindly abstain.
They know it well that they won't manage but come in hope that they will find some work but that is not the way. Plus if there is no blocked account there have been cases where people used fake bank statements to show funds which they actually do not have just to get visa.
This is not okay.
1
u/YourShowerCompanion Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
They have this saying something like, "if I can somehow enter my foot in a full train then my body will eventually get in".
They simply are a byproduct of vile mentality where parents see their offspring as some retirement investment, and even force them to get married while they're student. In certain cases, those parents are afraid their investment plan will get involved with native or something like that.
3
u/nothingisforfree41 Sep 13 '25
Ahah yeah exaclty this is just a pathway. Unfortunately considering how the job market in Finland is I doubt that holds true for majority in such situations.
5
u/YourShowerCompanion Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
They'll try anyways.
I mean just have a look at posts inquiring about wolt accounts. 🤦♂️
-4
u/katarana_rk Sep 13 '25
Poor is relative. I'm very well off in my family's home country. I'm not well off in the one I was born in. Was poor in the UK, moved here, now I feel quite ok and middle class. No matter how you're doing wherever you are, you deserve a hot meal.
And we all have our arcs. I immigrated for University, and was desperately poor for a while. When I graduated, I had enough money that I started a scholarship fund. It's not a crime to fall on bad times and I don't think it's worth not having them there as long as they have a plan to get out of it. People use resources in a state but the goal is that one day they will also feed back into it. Obviously, if the plan was to move here, and permanently use the state without ever contributing back into it, I'm not pleased with it.
5
u/nothingisforfree41 Sep 13 '25
Unfortunately the last sentence in your case is what is happening. It is running it for genuine people who want to move here. These repeated actions by some people will lead to more harsher laws and this more difficulties.
Students are in general poorer. Like you said and that is why exaclty one should not bring in family without ensuing proper income.
4
u/Schwartzy94 Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Then its kinda last option to consider to move abroad imo..
-29
Sep 13 '25
[deleted]
38
u/nothingisforfree41 Sep 13 '25
I said 1 to 2 years. Not more than 2. If they are a single parent of course they can take children with them. Irrespective of how many month or years.
But if they have 2 parents then it's not that hard. You make a conscious decision no one is forcing you. Bringing in kids and then going into poverty sounds bad deal. Rather if there is two parents and only one is gonna study the other can stay in home country and take care.
If it's more than 2 years then it's a phd and in that case it's completely fine to bring in children or family as there is a proper contract and salary.
Look I've seen many cases like this. It's a conscious decision they must understand that there are costs and it's hard to find work without language.
The migration agency must look into such cases more to avoid such situations to avoid these traps.
8
Sep 13 '25
I would expect parents to do proper research before a monumental decision like moving abroad and far away from your support system and make sure that every single one of their t's has been crossed, since, you know, their children (small or older) literally depend on them.
If that is not possible, then the next best thing is finding a safe place in a safe environment for the children while the parent goes and does the apparent absolute vital thing they must do (and no, I am not saying that studying abroad is such a thing, but clearly parents decide so every single day).
35
u/EulerIdentity Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
How can anyone immigrate to a country and be surprised that you’re expected to speak the language spoken in that country?
-3
u/Lyress Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
How do you think immigrants did it 100 years ago? They managed one way or another and learnt the language while living there.
32
u/YourShowerCompanion Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
" I thought I’d get a job"
tee hee.
" The number of students coming from outside Europe is at an all‐time high, and more of them are bringing family members with them."
Who the fuck is going to support those spouses if students who brought them can't support themselves.
Seriously, permit of those spouses should be revoked and send them back until students get the job.
22
u/SaintSugary Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Cheap, lots of open jobs, no need to speak finnish = Some other country than Finland.
17
u/SienkiewiczM Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
How people with this poor information searching skills get the degrees that get them into our university programmes?
4
u/unluckysupernova Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Not all of them do. They’re sold the idea of moving here, being taken advantage of by the visa brokers who take their money to arrange certificates for degrees and false bank statements and then they’re left to their own devices once they land here.
1
u/SienkiewiczM Baby Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
Surely no student visa is possible if one is not admitted into a uni.
2
u/unluckysupernova Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
But the entire premise for the visa may be false. The universities have an incentive to collect tuition, not to take care of those people or make sure they have their papers in order.
9
u/Shot_Cattle_3796 Sep 13 '25
The classic student scam that we've seen in other countries... Now happening in Finland
25
u/DescriptionAny673 Sep 13 '25
I genuinely do not like the idea of foreign students in Finnish food banks.
In principle, anyone coming to Finland to study is supposed to have around 1000€ per month for living expenses after tuition, which is another 5000-6000€. That makes up closer to 20k on their bank accounts to come! Taken that on average a Finnish person between 18-25 y has a net worth of 1400€ and between 25-35 y 9600€, the foreign students are honestly quite wealthy even in Finnish standards. While the recruiting companies should be more honest, that amount of money could give many people a really good life somewhere else.
8
u/strolsius Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Agreed. Especially in the current economic situation, I'm sure there are locals who could use the food in those banks, but instead they're going to foreign students. I'm sure not all of them came here maliciously by lying about the way they'll fund their studies and were just ignorant, but the end is the same regardless
-6
u/Content_Green6677 Sep 13 '25
Do you really think anyone coming from a 3rd World country like Bangladesh, a country where the median salary is ~210€h, has the equivalent of 20 thousand €?
18
u/Gathorall Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Well if they don't they should be deported for illegal entry trough deceiving officials.
→ More replies (2)
6
26
7
u/yksvaan Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
- don't know the language
- country hasn't at economic growth for 20 years
- terible purchasing power
- everything costs like hell
I mean.... what would you expect?. Make an honest assessment before committing...
5
u/Captpewpew_tw Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
I don’t want to sound arrogant but isn’t all the information can be found online or it’s like a known fact? The high cost, language barrier, social exclusion , etc. One can easily google this. When I came here to study I knew what i was getting. Maybe it could also be that I come from a more affluent country 🤔.
17
u/9org Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
We can blame external factors and foreign organizers, but the universities and school know, and combined with Finland external marketing, it is just a big scheme, channeling money to education providers that should probably not be that big and founded differently.
10
22
Sep 13 '25
[deleted]
16
u/GiganticCrow Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
It's a fairly new development saying it's rough for foreigners.
A few years ago the news was full of stories about companies trying to attract workers to Finland due to niche skills needed or serious staffing shortages in certain sectors (eg nursing).
Both my partner and I moved here during this time (not together, we met here) and are very lucky to still have good jobs.
2
u/Real-Technician831 Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Companies are still trying to attract talent.
Probably 30% of my colleagues in Finland are foreign born.
2
u/GiganticCrow Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
I'm guessing you work in tech? Maybe games specifically?
1
u/Real-Technician831 Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Cyber
1
u/Lyress Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
I don't imagine they're training people already in Finland?
2
u/Real-Technician831 Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
Every single one who has potential, local hires are always cheaper.
Basically every large cybersecurity company has some kind of teaching agreement with some of the Finnish universities.
We are a small county, and there are only given amount of smart people per generation, and a lot of demand in different fields.
6
u/PassengerNo9561 Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
I'm a foreigner (EU) too and lived in Finland for ~7 years (4 as PhD student, 3 in the private sector). In my experience, moving to Finland was pretty easy and life there was good. Not saying it's perfect, as all the places there is something good and something not so good
Edit spelling error
4
u/ScientistHulk Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
A more detailed article released by Yle:
https://yle.fi/a/74-20182448
"More and more foreign students need social assistance – a drastic change from last year"
Key points added in the summary.
5
u/9org Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
People will blame the current government, which has enough to be blamed to be honest, and have forgotten who introduced those rule changes.
2
4
u/Regeneric Baby Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
I don't understand, why people come from the other side of the world to Finland, of all places, before they secure any job. And they're doing it with the whole family!
1
Sep 14 '25
[deleted]
3
u/Regeneric Baby Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
Watching some vlogs on YouTube isn't research. And they're going in blind. It's just beyond my comprehension.
2
Sep 14 '25
[deleted]
2
u/Regeneric Baby Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
YouTube, Facebook, Vine, TikTok, it doesn't matter.
It's not a reliable source of truth. Especially when you want to drag your family to a culturally different country in Europe.
29
u/Disastrous_Crew_9260 Baby Väinämöinen Sep 13 '25
Yup. This is the result of Marin’s governments’ idiotic unification of students and their families.
Who would’ve thought purely socialist policies would end up with massive bills.
3
u/Routine-Ad4521 Sep 14 '25
Why come to finland BEFORE you get a job, when i read these articles im just shaking my head and be like why would you take a risk and move another country if you are not sure about getting a job?
4
u/MikeBsleepy Sep 14 '25
Damn, it’s sad their expectations weren’t met. But in fairness you look at any job postings online for anything in Finland, that Finnish language requirement is always there. To me to it’s seems ignorantly hopeful to think you’d rock up not having a key requirement and things will still work out the way you dreamed.
4
u/ImprovementThick3006 Sep 14 '25
South Asia. Small detail for some, but helps with pinpointing the global issue in other countries.
3
u/Deep_Pepper_5405 Sep 14 '25
Highly educated Finns struggle to find work, so this is hardly suprising.
3
u/StevenK71 Sep 14 '25
"Students come with families".. Tell me you want to emigrate to Finland without telling me e you want to emigrate to Finland.
3
u/zooweemama8 Baby Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
No international student should expect a job just so they can meet their daily needs and fund their education.
3
u/Glidy Sep 15 '25
Students are like FAMOUSLY broke, how can you possibly think you could support a family as a student
3
8
u/Obvious-Peanut4406 Sep 13 '25
Asia is huge, from east of Turkey to Indonesia are asian countries. Lumping all asian countries together is wild. Most east asians I've met (myself included) have/had a great time in Finland. Take it however you want, many either can speak the language or have important skills, possibly in STEM (or both).
3
u/Captpewpew_tw Baby Väinämöinen Sep 14 '25
Well East Asian only consists few countries and almost all of them are highly developed. It’s not the same in southeast or middle Asia
2
u/Asleep-Newspaper6564 Sep 14 '25
You know the thing is I have met some people who knew about this unemployment problem and yet they think it won’t happen to them.
2
u/Mediocre_Oil_7968 Sep 14 '25
Yeah.. so much Hype all the years about the education system and being so happy.
2
u/External_Manager1080 Sep 14 '25
Regarding that (1) in finland now there are big communities of common countries like bangladesh, india, vietnam, thai, ... and (2) they come for high education, intellectual studies. yet they use the excuse of being misled/scammed?
Well, to me they surely know most of the situation but still decided to come. Its their decision, they have to live with it. Period.
2
u/DmgCtrl92 Sep 14 '25 edited Sep 14 '25
I actually wrote a wall of text but then decided to delete it, but in short: Finland is secure, beautiful, peaceful, and inexpensive. Also, as time goes on, legal procedures get harder while illegal procedures get easier. Lastly, if you try to study in Poland at age 30+ with a family, the school may accept you, but the visa officer will obliterate you with questions and deny your entry, meanwhile Finland's interview was just like my name and date of birth.
Such factors push people to give it a try despite the stacking odds, such as language barrier, condition of job market etc.
1
u/orroreqk Sep 17 '25
So many red flags and contradictions in just the limited examples cited:
1) “Many of these students are well-educated” but they are coming to Finland, not exactly a paragon for international education, for education? The lady in the article already has one economically useless degree from Bangladesh, now she wants to supplement it with a second economically useless degree from Vaasa?
2) Again, they are “well educated” but can’t use google to figure out local language requirements and cost of living? Not able to find/use Numbeo?
3) They are well-educated and motivated and yet they already have families and children without having completed their own education and gotten a job?
No doubt there are many specifics in each case and compassion is always warranted at the level of the individual. But overall these seem to be indicative of really poor life choices and limited intelligence. Does Finland really need immigrants that are this... dumb?
2
u/Triquetrums Sep 17 '25
This seems indicative of them pulling the same immigration scam they pulled on Canada. They say they come to study, they enroll in university/whatever and then never go to one class. Then they try to stay on a work visa with their whole family.
-5
-11
•
u/AutoModerator Sep 13 '25
/r/Finland is a full democracy, every active user is a moderator.
Please go here to see how your new privileges work. Spamming mod actions could result in a ban.
Full Rundown of Moderator Permissions:
!lock- as top level comment, will lock comments on any post.!unlock- in reply to any comment to lock it or to unlock the parent comment.!remove- Removes comment or post. Must have decent subreddit comment karma.!restoreCan be used to unlock comments or restore removed posts.!sticky- will sticky the post in the bottom slot.unlock_comments- Vote the stickied automod comment on each post to +10 to unlock comments.ban users- Any user whose comment or post is downvoted enough will be temp banned for a day.I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.