A guide to freelancing in Finland

Re:A guide to freelancing in Finland by euro_expat on Thursday January 30, 2020 @02:20PM (#22194444)

I have no idea about Finland, but in Europe in general, you can't open a business cleanly without a permanent residence permit, which takes usually 5+ years to get. In Denmark where I've lived, it's about 9+ years last I checked, but Danes are super xenophobic, so they don't want you there period. The link you sent describes being forced to be approved by some board they have, so it also sounds like Finland has hurdles too. In my experience, Europe is happy to skip out on the next Google if it means only the local get to play and win.

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Re:A guide to freelancing in Finland by ivanhoe on Thursday January 30, 2020 @04:37PM (#22195976)

I know for Slovenia that you can start a company there as a foreigner, and then get a work visa simply by employing yourself, it's a fairly simple procedure. After 5 years you qualify for permanent residency (I believe that's the same everywhere in EU).

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Re:A guide to freelancing in Finland by Hamuko on Friday January 31, 2020 @03:19AM (#22199998)

>In my experience, Europe is happy to skip out on the next Google if it means only the local get to play and win.

Wasn't Google founded by two citizens of the United States of America?

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Re:A guide to freelancing in Finland by markdown on Thursday January 30, 2020 @04:11PM (#22195637)

> in Europe in general, you can't open a business cleanly without a permanent residence permit

What about that e-Residency thing Estonia created?

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Re:A guide to freelancing in Finland by egman_ekki on Thursday January 30, 2020 @05:09PM (#22196331)

afaik, if you are EU/EEA or Swiss citizen, you can do it online in no time.

If you're from outside, then you need to get a startup permit from a panel of experts (and fulfill a couple more conditions), which quite difficult I guess.

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Re:A guide to freelancing in Finland by iagovar on Thursday January 30, 2020 @02:33PM (#22194571)

Spain and France have entrepreneur visas.

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Re:A guide to freelancing in Finland by euro_expat on Thursday January 30, 2020 @04:10PM (#22195632)

So if I am rich or can convince the people that I have the right sort of idea, I can try there? I don't think that's quite the same thing as letting a person succeed on their own merit in the free market. It sounds like much the same as what I saw elsewhere in Europe - the state or a group of rich people picking winners, who more often than not don't win.

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Re:A guide to freelancing in Finland by iagovar on Thursday January 30, 2020 @07:50PM (#22197807)

Then, like anywhere else, you can try to become a citizen. I mean, it's not like Spain has very strict requirements.

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Re:A guide to freelancing in Finland by ivanhoe on Thursday January 30, 2020 @04:40PM (#22196015)

But US has far stricter visa system than EU?

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Re:A guide to freelancing in Finland by HatchedLake721 on Thursday January 30, 2020 @02:48PM (#22194744)

Estonian e-residency?

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Re:A guide to freelancing in Finland by egman_ekki on Thursday January 30, 2020 @05:17PM (#22196411)

Estonian e-residency is not a true residency. It's mostly just marketing.

> Please be aware that e-Residency does not confer citizenship, tax residency, residence or right of entry to Estonia or to the European Union. It is not a visa or residence permit. via: https://apply.gov.ee/

So while you can start a company in Estonia, you can't legally work there or stay in the EU as far as I know.

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