Before arriving

Call to book an appointment at one of the following banks: Nordea, OP, Säästöpankki, Danske Bank

• Students should choose a bank in the city or the place closest to their accommodation.

• Each bank in each city will have different policies for international students. Students can consult with the Student Support Department on which bank to choose.

• Banks will only accept applications when students have registered their residential addresses on the DVV system.

• Authorized Person - AiF will accompany the student to the bank, so students from the same city should make an appointment at the same time (or near each other) so that the AiF can take you all at the same time.

• This process can take 2-3 weeks for banks to process the application and send the bank card to the student's home address in Finland.

• Documents needed for DVV and at the Bank

1. Resident permit card

2. Passport

3. Acceptance letter

4. Birth certificate

5. Consent Form: Download here

6. Power Of Attorney Form: Download here

• Download these applications to make your travel in Finland easier. VR Matkalla is for train transport between cities, Bussiliput and OnniBus is for bus transport between cities, and 02 Taksi is a taxi application similar to Bolt/Uber/Grab. NOTE Taxis in Finland can be expensive, always check the price carefully before requesting for one.

• Keep in mind that local city transport will vary between cities, consult your School Teacher or the Student Coordinator for transport information in your city. 

• Tips: Use Google Maps! They work extremely well, put your location and your destination in the app, and it will show exactly what transportation you will need to use Bus, Train, or Metro. It will also have a text underneath called "Agency info" Once you press this it will also show all the links on how to purchase the tickets.

        d

• Under Finnish law, if a student receives a gift from the same giver with a total value of €5000 within a three-year period, gift tax will be charged.

• 8% - 17% when the recipient of the gift is a relative

• 19% - 33% when the recipient is not a relative

• Gifts can be real estate, valuable movables, cash, savings deposits, company shares, securities, etc.

• How to avoid gift tax? Deposit less than 5000 EUR within 3 years

1. Alternate sending from parents (each person deposits less than 5000 EUR in 3 years, the rest is brought in cash to put in the account).

2. If parents pay the rent directly to the home company, it is not considered as a Gift, so they do not have to pay taxex.

3. If the student has an account in their own country, then he/she can transfer money to Finland in his name and will not be subject to gift tax later.

• Don’t use phone during class time, only for studying purposes (other than that keep it on silent mode)

• There is a time for parents to contact student (1 hour per day - 5:00 pm Finland) due to lack of signal and time of classes

• Emergencies from parents side: parents can contact Finest Future first and we will follow-up with the students

• Emergencies from student side: we (FF) can contact parents anytime, we create a group chat and share the agenda of the day and update w pictures everyday (Marketing team involved to create posts)

• Free time (once or twice in the evening, stay within sight of coordinator): students need to ask for permission to where they want to go and FF will approve it or not depending on how far/the weather etc

• Swimming lessons: if you can’t swim, please avoid getting into water

• Finest Future trained on First Aid, health center nearby the camp area to assist if needed and extra support from local coordinators - where are the stores, hospitals and school will be included in a “tour” for students to avoid them getting lost, everything is within walking distance - if they get lost, they are instructed to memorize our phone number in case of emergency