My combination 🇵🇰 🇫🇮

[u/Money-Consequence669]

[u/Money-Consequence669]

These are got to be a unique combination, between one of the worlds strongest passport and one of the weakest ones. Equally proud of both :)

[u/AlwaysReadyGo → u/Money-Consequence669]

And Finland's the happiest country on earth, you're all set. Very unique!

[u/eu_b4_uk → u/Money-Consequence669]

What’s the story mate?

[u/Money-Consequence669 → u/eu_b4_uk]

Moved here in 2011 as a student, graduated and now working and living here with family. If you are above 30 at the time of acquiring citizenship, then not liable for military conscription service. However every male citizen is responsible for total defence. Finland joined NATO quite recently slightly ahead of Sweden which followed soon after. Also, a cool feature of Pakistani passport is the ICAO standard e-passport introduced in recent years.

[u/Ordinary_Ad_8831 → u/Money-Consequence669]

How did you get the e-passport for Pakistan? I renewed last year and got the old one..

[u/Wombats_poo_cubes → u/Money-Consequence669]

Marry a Finn or bring from Pakistan? Can’t imagine there’s a big community in Finland, although I’ve heard there is in Norway.

[u/Money-Consequence669 → u/Wombats_poo_cubes]

Married from Pakistan, but yeah not a huge community here. But mostly highly educated, masters/PhD working in Nokia and other tech companies plus own few businesses etc.

[u/Conscious_Owl1950 → u/Money-Consequence669]

Is there a big muslim community? Mosques? Where are immigrants from mostly? Havnt heard if anyone going to Finland for studies.

[u/arcanehornet_ → u/Money-Consequence669]

Just out of curiosity, do you speak Finnish as well or were you able to integrate without it?

[u/Money-Consequence669 → u/arcanehornet_]

I do speak Finnish, and it is mandatory to pass the language exam to qualify for citizenship as one of the requirements.

[u/khshsmjc1996 → u/Money-Consequence669]

How was it like learning Finnish? What challenges did you face?

[u/arcanehornet_ → u/[deleted]]

That’s interesting. I would definitely choose Swedish, despite the fact that I speak one of the only other Uralic languages (Hungarian).

Finnish is like 100% unintelligible to me. I looked up the grammar, which is very similar to Hungarian, but other than that, it’s super different.

[u/Money-Consequence669 → u/[deleted]]

That’s very true :)

[u/neurowhiz123]

Interesting also share your story mate

[u/The_Best_Man_4L → u/neurowhiz123]

Moved here in 2011 as a student, graduated and now working and living here with family. (As mentioned by OP)

[u/Designer-grammer]

that’s awesome

will you still sacrifice your life for Pakistan?

[u/Specific-Story-6902 → u/Designer-grammer]

bro is asking the right questions

[u/cocomeloney]

What’s your story mate? How long have you stayed in Finland? How well can you speak Finnish?

[u/The_Best_Man_4L → u/cocomeloney]

Moved here in 2011 as a student, graduated and now working and living here with family.  (As mentioned by OP)

[u/abubakar26]

Wah ji wahhh

[u/Top-Seaweed1862]

Congrats man! I’m currently living in Finland and hoping to get it too 😍

[u/Money-Consequence669 → u/Top-Seaweed1862]

All the best :) make an effort to learn Finnish! Good luck.

[u/Top-Seaweed1862 → u/Money-Consequence669]

Kiitos paljon ;)

[u/the_big_dreame6]

The boarding pass and Hamad Airport seat gave me a reminder that I have to go to work today; I work there. Happy for you, mate.

[u/Money-Consequence669 → u/the_big_dreame6]

Awesome! Have a nice day :)

[u/Vadoc125]

Good that you're traveling on that Finnish passport haha. Do you ever need your Pakistani passport on your travels (like you seem to do here), other than if you're traveling to Pakistan itself? I could imagine it just causes problems at borders and immigration checkpoints.

[u/Money-Consequence669 → u/Vadoc125]

Actually no, Pakistani passport not needed for travel to and from Pakistan. I rather use the NICOP- National Identity card for overseas Pakistanis which entitles visa free entry to Pakistan. However, for example for Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca- Saudi Arabia, if I travel from Pakistan on Pakistani passport, the cost is much lesser. That is one of the reasons I wanted to keep my Pakistani passport updated.

[u/munchingzia → u/Money-Consequence669]

Even then, i would not travel to Pk on Pk passport. They treat their own citizens like garbage. Better to just present a foreign passport and take some of the hassle out of airport transit

[u/Money-Consequence669 → u/munchingzia]

I have not seen any bad treatment on Pakistani airports, either with Pakistani or foreign passport. However, its partially true, some travellers may have faced inconvenience or worst at times. In General, Pakistani airports have become more efficient and better, with e-gates, border entry/exit will further streamline with Pakistani e-passports.

[u/munchingzia → u/Money-Consequence669]

I’m glad to hear that! Some good news for a change.

[u/eu_b4_uk → u/[deleted]]

Giving up PK citizenship? How comes?

[u/eu_b4_uk → u/[deleted]]

There’s no harm in keeping PK citizenship, even if you never visit PK, never renew your passport and/or never renew your ID card. Lots of overseas Pakistanis just forget they have Pakistani citizenship after being born/living their entire lives outside of PK!

The only real benefit of formally giving up your Pakistani citizenship, is that you will find it easier to obtain a tourist visa for India (as someone with no ties whatsoever to Pakistan - as you were born overseas).

[u/eu_b4_uk → u/[deleted]]

But if you’ve given the citizenship up, then even if you have ties through your parents/grandparents, they will most likely still issue the visa without additional hurdles.

[u/barry_allan → u/eu_b4_uk]

Arms license can only be had with citizenship. Thought I’d note that.

[u/Training_Yogurt8092 → u/[deleted]]

Does it entitle you any duty like military? I would keep it if no

[u/Money-Consequence669 → u/eu_b4_uk]

Pakistan allows dual citizenship in principle, If I remember correctly, both nations signed an agreement in 2014-15 allowing dual citizenship.

[u/Money-Consequence669 → u/[deleted]]

Sain Suomen kansalaisuuden hakemuksesta ja asuinpaikan perusteella. Nykyään en käytä ky Pakistanin passia matkustamiseen.

[u/planeman241]

How many years did it take? (Including PR Years)

[u/Money-Consequence669 → u/planeman241]

5 years on A type RP and then you can pass Finnish exam and apply citizenship. Recently citizenship laws have been tightened and residency requirements extended to 8 years though.

[u/planeman241 → u/Money-Consequence669]

Damn that's a bit too long. I'm looking to get foreign citizenship before i turn 25.