Moving to Finland with family
It is normal that players are coming to Finland with a partner or family with kids. If you have family with you when you arrive to Finland, you have to make sure that every family member has a residence permit in Finland too.
Kela and its services are more and more important for them how arrive in Finland with family. Kela provides many benefits for families with children. The most common family benefits are shown below.
- Visit a maternity and child welfare clinic and submit a certificate of pregnancy
- Claim the maternity grant no later than 2 months before the expected due date
- Maternity allowance during the maternity leave
- Child benefit
- Child’s Kela card
- Childcare leave
Read more about benefits to the families here: https://www.kela.fi/web/en/families-quick-guide
Municipal services
Municipalities provide many kinds of services for their residents. Municipal services include, for example, health care, education, and early childhood education. If you have a municipality of residence in Finland, you are usually entitled to use the services of that municipality.
You should find out whether you and your family members have the right to a municipality of residence in Finland. The right to municipality of residence in Finland is determined according to the act on the municipality of residence. You can check at the local Digital and Population Data Services Agency whether you have the right to a municipality of residence in Finland.
To get a municipality of residence in Finland, you must move to Finland permanently. If you live in Finland temporarily, for example moving to Finland for up to one year for studies or work, you usually cannot get a municipality of residence in Finland. Read more about municipality of residence in Finland: https://www.infofinland.fi/en/moving-to-finland/registering-as-a-resident/municipality-of-residence-in-finland
If you have a municipality of residence in Finland, you can apply for a place in municipal early childhood education for your child after the period of parental leave. At that point, the child will be approximately nine months old. If you do not have an official municipality of residence in Finland, you are considered a resident of the municipality in which you reside.
In general, children and young people receive comprehensive education in comprehensive school. A child usually starts school in the year when he/she turns 7. Comprehensive school usually lasts nine years. Comprehensive school is free for everyone. Children must be enrolled into school by their parents. The municipality sends a compulsory education notice to appropriate homes at the beginning of each year. The largest cities have international schools and schools where the language of instruction is English. There are
also private schools in Finland where the language of instruction is German, French, or Russian. Read more about early childhood education and a school system here: https://www.infofinland.fi/en/education/the-finnish-education-system
