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Helsinki. How to find a job in the Finnish gaming industry, start working without permission and not violate Russian laws

In December 2018, my wife and I moved from St. Petersburg to Helsinki. There are already quite a few articles and (video) blogs about how life is in Finland and whether it is worth moving here. Instead, I would like to tell the part of the story that is related to the move itself. We had to solve a bunch of questions of varying degrees of importance, many of which arose suddenly and did not always have an obvious solution. We tried to summarize our experience in this, I am not afraid of the word, longrid. It can’t be called an ultimate guide, since any experience is always individual, but I really hope that we were able to replenish the Google search with new keywords, and at least one person will find it easier to find the answers. Here you can find out how you can find a job in the Finnish gaming industry, how to start working before getting a work permit, how to prepare documents before moving, what to draw up after moving and what information you need to provide to Russian state authorities in order not to break the law.



Just KDPV. All photos in the article were made by me and are not associated with the text


Table of contents


Work searches
Preparation of documents in Russia
Paperwork in Finland
How not to violate the laws of the Russian Federation
About border crossing
Conclusion


Work searches


We had serious thoughts about Europe around the spring of 2018. As a basic plan, we looked at finding work in my current profile - I am a programmer in the gaming industry. Once, scrolling on Twitter, I saw news about the Finnish Game Days. These are events attended by representatives of gaming and near-game companies from Finland in search of new employees. They are regularly held in St. Petersburg, Kiev and Helsinki.


To be honest, I got confused in the names, but it seems that now the Finnish Game Day is a business event for networking, and the hiring event is the Games Job Fair . The organizer of both of these are Games Factory Talents .


In the summer of 2018, they came to St. Petersburg - from the companies Ubisoft RedLynx, Yousician, Next Games, Red Stage Entertainment and Critical Force were announced. I targeted the CV to several vacancies and to an open application. A few days later, the Games Factory Talents manager answered me and said that I had to go through a short 15-minute skype interview - something like an initial selection and an adequacy test. It was necessary to tell about yourself and answer a few general questions. In the end, I was invited to an interview with a small studio in Tampere.


Games Job Fair is held in a mini-conference format. Some general presentations with tips for candidates, greetings from company representatives, and company stories. After that, the representatives disperse into separate rooms and the interviews begin. Presentations and round tables with discussions on the gaming industry continue in the main hall. This is not what most people come to for, so I don’t know what was discussed there.


My interview was conducted by CEO, it lasted about 30 minutes. It all started with a general acquaintance and a story about yourself: who is he, where did he study, where did he work, what did he strive for. Then he talked about the project, listed what is used in the project and what they are going to implement from the technologies. He asked which of these I worked with or was familiar with. I turned out to be a sign with nothing (I did not work with their approach to animation and wwise), and in general there was no particular intersection of interests, so I did not get a response from them.


Nevertheless, my resume was in the database and the story did not end there. Three months later, at the end of September, they again wrote to me from Games Factory Talents and informed me that there is one company whose name they cannot yet name and that need a mid level backend java programmer. At that time, I was a Unity programmer, but why not, I had experience with Java, although not quite relevant.


After some time, I was told the name of the company and invited for an interview. The first interview was a general acquaintance and took about an hour. It was attended by Head of Technology and HR Manager. They talked about the company, current projects and working conditions. Once again I talked about myself, the third time it sounded more confident. They asked non-technical questions, for example, what is usually interesting in work and what is annoying. They asked about salary expectations. I was guided by what I found in Google ( payscale.com ), took the average and threw it on top to take into account the fact that I was moving with my wife and she would not have work for some time. In the end I asked them about the technical stack.


Two weeks later they wrote to me again and invited me to a technical interview. It implied practical tasks, so it was necessary to prepare a convenient development environment that supports maven, and a profiler. Half an hour before the interview, two projects were sent. In the first there were two jobs for memory and memory leaks, in the second - threads and synchronization. The interview was attended by Head of Technology and Senior Software Developer. Once again, I briefly talked about myself, and we went on to discuss the tasks. It was necessary to make changes to the code in the shared screen mode so that it worked as expected. Then we just talked in free form about Java 8, Stream API and Optional. It took all together also 1 hour.


In less than a week, I received an invitation to a third interview at an office in Helsinki. Train and hotel tickets are paid by the company. Head of Technology and HR Manager were present, as well as at the first interview. There were general questions about what I think about Finland and whether it is ready to move. The interview was a discussion of the offer and the clauses of the contract. There was a lunch break during which the CEO of the company joined us.


So I found a job, and we got a reason to move to Finland. I also periodically monitored these sites: https://www.indeed.fi and https://gamesjobs.fi . I did not send the resume anywhere, so I can not say anything about their usefulness and effectiveness. In addition, Games Factory Talents not only organize events, but are also a recruiting company, so you can directly send them a resume.



Christmas city center


Preparation of documents in Russia


The offer was signed, which means that it was necessary to start collecting documents and preparing for the move. The company did not have experience in relocating employees from Russia, so Games Factory Talents advised on all issues and accompanied us until the move and some time after it, while we checked out in Helsinki. According to them, the consideration of the application at the consulate should have taken no more than a month, therefore, they indicated on December 1, 2018, i.e. one month after signing the offer.


The main document to be obtained is a residence permit. I suppose this is called a residence permit in Russian, but we are not sure of that, so in the text I will call it permite - it looks strange in writing, but in words we always called it that. To receive it, you need to fill out the form, attach to it all the necessary documents with translations and take it to the Finnish consulate.


Documents can be submitted either physically through the consulate, or through the site https://enterfinland.fi/ . The second case is preferable, since the application is considered faster and the consular fee is less, but you still need to go to the consulate to confirm your identity and show the original documents.


The collection of documents (or rather, their translation) took longer than expected. Therefore, after consulting with the manager from Games Factory Talents, we decided to apply to the consulate in St. Petersburg, go to Helsinki on a tourist visa and wait for a decision already there, starting to work. Here is a proof that you can do this: https://migri.fi/en/article/-/asset_publisher/erityisasiantuntija-voit-tulla-toihin-suomeen-kolmeksi-kuukaudeksi-ilman-oleskelulupaa


Residence permit application for a person employed as a special expert


Forms are different. In my case, this is OLE_TY2, residence permit application for a person employed as a special expert. Here is the pdf file with the form: link . It can be used for preparation, but it is not necessary to fill. EnterFinland has its own online form, which almost coincides with this file.


A special expert is a person who has been hired to work in Finland in duties requiring special expertise ('highly skilled worker'). In general, this means that you are required to have a Master's degree or equivalent qualification.

- From the description on migri.fi

Of the formal criteria - a salary of more than 3,000 euros. Higher education is not necessary, but qualification confirmation is needed. I have a master's degree, so I used it. As far as I know, if there is no education, you can attach a translated copy of the work book. With the same form (OLE_TY2) you can apply to the EU Blue Card, but this is not my case, so I don’t know the details about it.


At the end of the form OLE_TY2 (and any other) there is a list of documents that can be attached to the application. Some of them are always required, some are needed only in certain cases. It is best to apply pdf, there is a limit of 4MB per file. You can either scan documents or take pictures - the main thing is to be readable.


Copy of a valid passport
Scan of all pages of a foreign passport. Permit cannot give for a period longer than the valid passport.


Certificate concerning the principal terms and conditions of the employment relationship
I do not know what the principal terms and conditions of the employment relationship are, but I have attached an employment contract.


Employment contract or binding job offer that specifies your duties and your salary
Employment contract.


Certificate of job-related benefits from the employer or principal
In my case, this is also in the employment contract: the company issues a mobile phone with a sim card and pays for the connection.


Job description
Attached is a job description that was sent to me before the interview.


Certificate of university degree completed
Master’s diploma, grading insert and translation of all pages of the diploma into English. Everything is combined into one pdf file.


Document showing that you are legally staying in the country where you submit the application
The document that caused the most questions. We thought it was a residence permit on a Russian passport. We went to the consulate for a consultation, there they replied that yes, this is a Russian passport, it is necessary to attach it, which means that you need to translate it. When applying to EnterFinland, there was another description:


This document must be attached if you are not a citizen of the country where you submit your residence permit application. You must prove that you reside legally in the country under the legislation of the country in question. The document can be, for example, a residence permit or a visa.

In the OLE_TY2 form itself, which we used for the reference, this explanation does not exist, therefore, until the very end, we considered this document to be mandatory, and the consulate was even more confused with its answers. Anyway, we attached the translated copy of the Russian passport - whether they looked at it, we do not know.


Response to possible refusal of entry and prohibition of entry (form MP_1)
A document that also raised my questions. It is needed if applied for a permit in Finland, and is a pre-prepared response to a possible refusal and deportation from the country. We submitted in Russia, therefore the document is not needed, but we were already waiting for the results in Finland. It seems that the letter of the law is respected, but the spirit is not very - we can be rejected while in Finland. But in general, nothing serious, they did not fill out, there were no problems.


TEM054
Form filled out by the employer. It contains legal information about the company, about the hired specialist and his working conditions. EnterFinland has the ability to connect a company account, then add the necessary information to the application. We didn’t succeed in doing this, so they filled out the usual form, signed, scanned and sent it — I attached it in the Other attachments and clarifications section.


A photo
For a personal appearance at the consulate, you need two, although in practice they take only one. Format as a regular visa.



Muse - 'Simulation Theory' 2019 World Tour


Residence permit application for the spouse of a foreigner resident in Finland


My wife needed to fill out the OLE_PH1 form - residence permit application for the spouse of a foreigner resident in Finland ( pdf ).


This form is for you if you are applying for your first Finnish residence permit on the basis of family ties. Your spouse has a Finnish residence permit and you intend to move to Finland and to lead a family life with him / her. Your spouse is your husband / wife, your registered partner of the same gender or a cohabitee with whom you have lived in a marriage-like relationship for at least two years, or with whom you have joint care of a child.

- From the description on migri.fi

Copy of a valid passport
International passport.


Form for clarification of family ties (PK1_plus)
In the paper version of OLE_PH1, this item has an addition: to be filled in and signed by your spouse living in Finland. We thought that this was not our case, therefore, it was not necessary to fill out, but the electronic form marks this document as mandatory. I had to fill out, print, sign, photograph, convert to pdf and upload to the site. There is nothing complicated in it, just once again you need to indicate your personal data and explain who the applicant is. It is filled not by the applicant himself, but by a relative to whom you need to move, i.e. me.


Document on family ties - you and your spouse do not have former spouses
Translated apostilled marriage certificate. All documents associated with the registry office must be affixed with an apostille. We decided to put the apostille through a translation agency - they can go where they need to for an additional fee and do everything right. Rather, not as it should, but as you say. Since I first learned about a phenomenon such as the apostille, I said it was wrong - to apostil the translation and attach the apostille to the translation. All this was done for about two weeks, I even had to postpone the trip to the consulate. At the same time, when submitting documents, the consulate said that everything was wrong - the apostille should be attached to the original, and then all this should be submitted for translation. Fortunately, it is enough to attach the corrected document to the application at EnterFinland, you do not need to come to the consulate a second time. I immediately went to the registry office, since he was within walking distance from the consulate. The conditions are as follows:



The registry office told me that this means "up to 5 days", they have few applications now, so they will put an apostille on the same evening, you can pick it up the next day. Given the transfer, all this took 2 days. It turns out that the trip to the consulate was postponed for 2 weeks, due to the fact that we were waiting for a document that was still made incorrectly and was not needed in the end.


Clarification of income
Proof of income sufficient to support all migrant family members. We have enclosed my employment contract, which indicates the salary. Here you can find a table and calculate the necessary income depending on family size: https://migri.fi/en/income-requirement-for-family-members-of-a-person-who-has-been-granted-a- residence-permit-in-finland . One special expert salary (the minimum is 3000 euros) is enough for two adults and several children, so there should be no problems, at least for documents.


Document showing that you are legally staying in the country where you submit the application
Translation of a Russian passport, which, it seems, was not needed. I already wrote about this in the section about OLE_TY2.


In addition, a consular fee is required. For a special expert - about 400 euros, for a family member - 420 euros. Prices may vary now. You can pay on the EnterFinland website. About 15,000 rubles were spent on translation of documents, although not all of them were eventually needed.



Typical residential area


Visit to the consulate and consideration of applications


There are 4 places in Russia where you can apply for a permit:



Since we lived in St. Petersburg, the choice was obvious. For other cities it can be more difficult, since a personal presence is required when submitting documents. You must make an appointment in advance. Depending on the load of the consulate, this can be from a few days to weeks. Each family member (at least an adult) must make an appointment.


It is better to submit documents on the same day and follow each other in turn in one window. In this case, both applications receive a common number, are considered together and a decision will be made for all at once and relatively quickly. Here you can estimate the time it takes to process the application: https://migri.fi/en/processing-times . In November 2018, when we submitted the documents, the time for considering a permit for a specialist was 1 month, if submitted via EnterFinland (3 months if offline), for a family member - up to 9 months. If submitted together, then both applications are considered for 1 month. Now (July 2019), the link above shows the review time for a specialist - 3-4 months. Either it’s a more busy season, or the flow of applications has increased over six months, or something else.


Our waiting time took more than a month. The full timeline was like this:



Either this is all a ridiculous coincidence, or we simply forgot about our statements and returned to consideration only after we reminded ourselves of them. Conclusion: no need to be afraid to ask if the expected time has already passed.



More modern residential area


Paperwork in Finland


Local registry office


The local registry office (aka the magistrate or maistraatti) is the place where the majority of the services migrants need are gathered (at least in Helsinki). Here you can register, get a tax number (Vero), health insurance (Kela) and register for unemployment (TE-palvelut).


The first thing you need to get after moving to Finland is a Finnish ID number (Finnish ID, aka Social security number). I did not have Permit at that time, therefore, as evidence that I was not a camel, I used an employment contract and a printed certificate from EnterFinland that my application was accepted and is being considered. I got the number in 15 minutes. After a month and a half, when we already received permits, we had to come to the Local registry office again to update information about me and register my wife - all this time she was without registration. In her case, it was still necessary to present a translation of the marriage certificate. Her number was supposed to be ready in 2 weeks, but in the end 3 passed.


Then you had to get a tax number or tax card (verokortti). To do this, in the same local registry office, you just had to go to another window, name your annual income and get a document that you then need to take to the employer. Despite the name (tax card), they do not give any plastic cards. Some additional bonuses are also tax deductible. For example, in my case, the bonus is prescribed in the employment contract - payment for mobile communications at the expense of the company, which is equivalent to an additional income of 20 euros. Finland has a progressive tax scale, but I don’t know how all this is calculated. In my case, monthly payments are as follows (figures taken from the payroll):



I heard about life hacking - claiming income more than it really is. In this case, at the end of the year, a tax recalculation is made and the overpayment is returned.


To get Kela health insurance, you need to have a job and work more than 20 hours a week. They told me so at their local registry office, but later my wife received this insurance without a job. It has not yet been put into practice.


Bank


As a bank, managers from Games Factory Talents recommended Nordea. Unfortunately, the bank managers did not accept the help from EnterFinland, so I had to go to the nearest Migri office and take confirmation that my application was under consideration. The managers from Games Factory Talents accompanied us in completing all the documents and helped in solving problems, such as with this help. I did not really understand what they were discussing at Migri, since they switched to Finnish to expedite negotiations, but we received a certificate (in Finnish) and went back to the bank.


We spent 40 minutes in line, but in the end I got an invoice and ordered a card. The account should have been activated in 1-3 days, and the card should be mailed in two weeks. Since at that time I had not yet received a permit, the account was issued for only 3 months. There, on the spot, a mobile bank was installed and activated for me, so that I could monitor the status of the account and wait for its activation.


In the next 3-4 days, the account was not activated. The application displayed a master account and a card. but there was an error selecting the card. When going to the bank, it turned out that the account was already active, it’s just not tied to the online bank, you need to bind it, here’s your ticket for the queue, there are only 4 people in front of you, it's about 15 minutes. After 40 minutes, the queue still reached me, and after a little In a conversation with the manager, my account appeared in an online bank.


I needed to deposit money in my account so that I could pay for renting an apartment, but only a few Nordea branches are involved in cash. Fortunately, one such unit was nearby. By the type of department and people in the queues, I decided that they would give pensions and benefits there - people were quite specific. After standing there for another 40 minutes, I was able to deposit money into the account. At the same time, they asked me where the cash came from. They were satisfied with the answer that I withdrew them from my account in Russia; evidence was not needed.


After 2 weeks, the card never arrived in the mail. The bank address was written down correctly, because I received an envelope with the contract and general information. Once again I had to go to the bank. We found out that the card was sent, but didn’t get it; not everything is perfect with the Finnish post. They blocked the sent card and ordered a new one, wait another two weeks. The bank helped to attach the card to Google Pay, so that you can start using it. A new card arrived in the mail two weeks later without any problems.


After receiving the permit, you had to visit the bank again to renew the contract (which was only 3 months before) - nothing special, just another 40 minutes in line.



The beach is 5 minutes from the apartment. You can often see geese and hares in the city.


ID card and Online ID


Despite the fact that I already had an ID number and a bank card, some things were still not available. I could not buy a monthly public transport ticket in a mobile application, buy insurance for a rented apartment, buy movie tickets on the Internet and use most of the online services. All these actions have one common attribute - they need to be authenticated using one of the allowed methods. To do this, you can use a bank account or get a special usb device that reads an ID card. I had a Nordea account, but he did not have rights to authenticate in other services. I went to the bank to get these rights, but for this I needed a physical ID-card issued by the police. The presence of an ID number from a magistrate and a Russian foreign passport or permit is not enough, you need a document that has both a photograph and an ID number - this is an ID card or henkilökortti.


Theoretically, it can be done without leaving home, filling out an application via the Internet and attaching a photo, but for this you need to authenticate. Irony. There was another option - make an appointment, go to the police and do everything the old fashioned way. It was February 23rd, the closest free date for recording was April 5th.


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, LAN party Assembly Winter 2019


About border crossing


Usually, when you cross the Finnish border, they ask about the purpose of the visit, its duration and the hotel (with proofs). Therefore, it was a little uncomfortable due to the fact that we traveled on a tourist visa, without a return ticket, with a hostel reservation for a week to work without receiving a work permit. In practice, it turned out that there are practically no problems, although it depends on which border guard you get into.


Trip 1
The third interview I had on Monday morning, I went to Helsinki on Sunday morning Allegro, as the daytime and evening were already sold out. The return ticket was on Monday afternoon. When I showed the hotel reservation and tickets, the Finnish border guard had a question whether this trip was ordinary or business. I went on a tourist visa and I don’t know what the rules are for business trips, so I said that I was a tourist and I was going just for a couple of days. At the same time, I have no idea through what service the hotel was booked (it was provided to me from the company), so maybe there was something in the reservation header that was issued by Stirlitz. Nevertheless, there were no problems, drove normally.


Trip 2
For the move, we decided to take tickets to Allegro, as it is easier and more comfortable to go through customs control there. Border guards check documents and things while the train is moving, so no extra time is wasted, as in the case of the automobile border. This is even more convenient in that if you are traveling in a group, they check and interview everyone at once, so only one person can speak and answer questions. We had two suitcases with us, but they were not checked, they simply asked if there was anything that needed to be declared. About the purpose of the visit, we said that we were going to work, that there was no permite yet, but there was a certificate from EnterFinland and an employment contract. The border guard checked the papers, checked something for a long time or wrote down on his tablet and missed it.


Trips 3 and 4
We traveled by bus, so the border passed on foot in a live queue. When in addition to the employment contract, a lease for six months appeared, it became even easier and faster. Perhaps because border guards already had some information about us. My wife was in line for me and simply said that we were together, they did not check anything.


Ride 5
Bus again. The Finnish border guard looked at the certificate from EnterFinland, at the employment contract and said: “Do you know that since you applied for a permit and are waiting for a decision, now you have no right to work?” I referred to that article from Migri, which says that you can work 90 days without permits. I'm not sure I convinced him, but in the end he missed it anyway, since my work does not affect the decision to cross the border, and with a tourist visa and a rental agreement everything was in order with us.


After that we got permits. It was necessary to return to St. Petersburg to pick them up at the consulate, but border crossing from Finland to Russia almost always goes without question. When showing permits on the Finnish border, questions about the purpose of the visit are not asked. They also stopped stamping their passports, but only scan barcodes on permits and passports (they still put them on the Russian border).



D&D at the office every two weeks. Our game designer is a great master


Conclusion


Now, a few personal value judgments in conclusion. When in September 2018 they wrote to me from Games Factory Talents, I was scared. We already thought about moving, but our actions came down to easy monitoring of vacancies. In this mode, moving is perceived easily and effortlessly, as something far and fake. But when a real opportunity arises, the attitude changes a lot. This is not just a step from the comfort zone, as when changing work - here you are completely pulled out of your usual environment. Everything changes: people, language, culture. It got to the point that I thought about whether it was necessary.


As a result, we decided that we could go for an interview and gain experience in communicating with a foreign company. This does not oblige to anything, it is not necessary then to agree. When they called for a second interview, I still tried to think so - this does not oblige me to anything. But when they called for the third, it became already more difficult, it was necessary to make a decision. A positive decision would be followed by months of preparation and big changes, and a negative decision by possible reflection and regrets about a missed opportunity.


Now that we have already dealt with all the documents, settled in a permanent apartment, and my wife found a job, all these difficulties seem justified. The standard of living has grown, there have been fewer anxieties and there is more free time that you can spend on yourself. We believe that this was a great opportunity, and we took advantage of it correctly.

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/461229/

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