I'm not Finnish but I've always wanted to visit and plan to do so for 6 months. While I'm there, I'd like to volunteer through WWOOF.
Is this even possible? I can't find information about visas for this type of situation in particular.
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4Asking the organization is always the best idea in cases like this. They will have experience in terms not only of what type of visa is required, but will also often have plans or agreements in place with the government to make obtaining the visa easier.– DocJul 10, 2014 at 6:39
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3It would be helpful if you explain briefly what WWOOF is.– Nate EldredgeJul 10, 2014 at 7:16
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1Here's the Wikipedia page. I've suggested to tack on the tag too.– Nick StaunerJul 10, 2014 at 7:32
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@Doc thanks - I'll ask WWOOF and add their answer here.– mariachimikeJul 10, 2014 at 14:13
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@mariachimike any success?– Mark MayoNov 18, 2014 at 0:44
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1 Answer
Finland is part of the Schengen area, thus generally the same visa rules apply as with any other Schengen country.
With a Schengen visa you can stay in the Schengen area for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Some Schengen countries issue national long-stay visas but Finland does not.
The police may extend the visa validity under exceptional circumstances but this does not apply to this situation.
Thus, it is not possible to legally stay 6 consecutive months with just a visa.
You need a residence permit unless you are EU, EEA or Swiss citizen or a family member of a EU, EEA or Swiss citizen.
BTW, when asking visa questions you should always state your citizenship, as many countries have special bi-lateral agreements.
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1It's obviously possible to stay in one of the countries in the Schengen area for more than 3 months, only not with a Schengen visa but, as you wrote yourself, with a residence permit or long-stay visa. So why even mention the Schengen area and post an answer if you have nothing of substance to say about those?– RelaxedMar 24, 2015 at 17:43
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2@Relaxed: I answered the question. The question was not about a residence permit. It is a separate topic. As I wrote, long-stay visas are not available for Finland, thus there is not much else to write about that. Would you care to elaborate, what kind of substance you would like to see me add?– snapMar 24, 2015 at 18:05
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Whether it's a visa or a residence permit is a small detail, an answer would explain what specific type of visa/residence permit is needed and what the requirements are. Merely stating that it's a long-stay visa or residence permit is trivial and not very helpful, as there are dozens of different documents falling into that category. And then the first few paragraphs are misleading, precisely because of that. For stays longer than 90 days the rules are different between countries and in many cases, it's perfectly possible to stay with a visa, just not a Schengen visa.– RelaxedMar 24, 2015 at 20:41
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I have already explained that a visa is not possible in this situation. I do not understand why you are repeating about a non-existing long-stay visa. This is a specific question about Finland and a visa, not a general question about different ways of legally residing in various Schengen countries. Explaining all the different types of, and ways of getting, a residence permit would be off-topic and too long to describe here. I also did not write about the possibility of becoming an asylum seeker in Finland because that would be off-topic as well.– snapMar 24, 2015 at 20:58
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I mention long-stay visas because they exist in many countries and your first three paragraphs imply that they do not and go at length over something that's not relevant (i.e. Schengen regulations). Beyond that, the rest feels like merely saying “you need something else than a Schengen visa”, which is certainly true but rather unhelpful. The question is indeed much more specific than that and that's what's missing from your answer.– RelaxedMar 24, 2015 at 21:40