Credit Transfer and Various Issues

Dear Friend,
Thanks for your mail. Let me answer your queries individually:

Dear Friend,

I am undergraduate students in finance (3 years) from my home country; that is to say I would be likely to finish the undergraduate in finance programme this year 2009 in take and I am planning to study in Finland for my further studies this year 2009. There is no doubt there is four years undergraduate programme in Finland. I would like to transfer my credits form my home country to Finland for my completeness of my undergraduate in Finland or may be master degree, is it be possible with the same visa? or renewal needed?

 

Practically, Credit Transfer to Finland is not possible. My suggestions would be, complete your bachelor level first and come to Finland for your Master's degree. But, you did not mention your university and degree name, might be that would have gave me more about about the degree that you are trying to transfer. It is because, if you come in Bachelor degree again, you might be able to claim your credits for the degree your completed there after coming here, but still, its all depends upon the polytechnic itself whether to accept your credits or not. Yet again, coming to Master's degree after Bachelor is the best and recommended solution for you.


 

 I have heard IELTS is compulsory to study in Finland, is it so?

 

Yes, it is true. IELTS or TOEFL is compulsory for every applicant from this year, 2009.

 

 I am served for UNHCR for more than 2 years; is this experiences help?

You did not mention how you served UNHCR. Your experience is counted, it is after the degree and on related field of your studies. If it is not so, it might be counted, but is not a very good advantage.

 

 The information I would like to know; the queries are:

• Right time/application intake in this year 2009 for studying in Finland for international students.
• How to choose the right colleges/universities

I think you did not browse through the posts of www.nepalfinland.com. I hope following posts will help you a lot:

• Exploring university website
• European Scholarships for Master and Post Graduate Studies
• Application Process in 2009 for Finland

 

• Right and affordable cost for the colleges/universities although the tuition fee is free of cost; is it applicable for transfer students? What is the minimum credits do international students need for transfer at undergraduate level or master's level?
• No of hours work permit for international students in Finland?
• Scholarships/financial aid for transfer international students.

You can work maximum 25 hours per week under student status. Since transfer itself is not possible for Nepalese students, the rest of the queries are not applicable.

 

• Do visa is provided for one year or for the whole period of study?
• Student visa to resident permit in Finland, is it possible? How?

Resident Permit itself is the name of the visa awarded to students who come here for degree, both Bachelor and Master's. It is primarily issued for one year and you need to renew it each year. If you mean Permanent Residency by Resident Permit, I suggest you to go through the website of Finnish Immigration Service (http://www.migri.fi/netcomm/content.asp?path=8,2474). As much as I know, you need to be a tax paying civilian living here in Finland for at least 5 years to apply for Permanent Residency.

Some very useful links you must visit to know Finland

- Prem Raj Adhikari
http://www.premraj.com.np

In recent years, there has been significant increase in the number of students who are willing to study abroad. Finland has been a hot choice of many students to study for various reasons. Most prominent of them being that education is free for all. There are always a lot of questions asked about studying in Finland and information related to it. So, here I have tried to compile a list that includes many links that can be suitable for the students willing to pursue their higher studies in Finland.

1. Nepal-Finland: This website is the single best website especially for the Nepalese students because it is created and maintained by a anonymous Nepali student studying in Finland. It has almost every information. It therefore answers almost all of your queries.  The website is a blog and if you feel you have more information in one topic then you can always add your comments. Link: Nepal Finland

2. Finland Forum: This website is a forum and many international and Finnish people participates in this forum. It is a forum and information are given inform of questions and answers. So, you may have to spend quiet sometime in this website. Since this forum generalizes the information for all international students, it sometimes gives much broader view of the information you required which is always good while you are thinking about studying in Finland. Link: Finland Forum

3. Finnish Embassy in Nepal is a great source of information for everything including the studies information. Link: Finnish Embassy in Nepal

4. Discover Finland has vital information for students who are planning to study in Finland. It also contains the collection of Study Programs offered in English Medium through out the Finland on all of the academic Institutions of Finland including Universities and Polytechnics. So, you should thoroughly scan through this web if you really wanna know about Finnish education system. Link: Discover Finland

5. List of Polytechnics and Universities in Finland:

• Universities, Ministry of Education, Finland
• 
  
• Polytechnics, Ministry of Education Finland

6. CIMO, the Center for International Mobility has its own website. You must visit it if you are thinking about Finland. It also provides various kinds of scholarships. Link: CIMO

7. Joint Application System: For bachelor level education in Polytechnics, the admissions issues is handled by a centralized admission system. Remember that to study Bachelor's in Finland in English, it is almost always the case that you will end up in polytechnics and there are some issues related with it. You have to be aware of that. All the applications, selections and publication of results is handled through admissions.fi. Link: Admissions.fi

8. University Admissions: For masters degree admissions, not all universities participate in centralized admission system. So, you have to apply to individually to the universities. However, the following websites gathers the information about all universities of Finland and provides you from the same website. Link: University Admissions

9. Google translate: Many websites has information in Finnish, so you can translate that to English using translate.google.com, select Finnish(or Suomi) to English from two drop down lists. Link: Google Translate

10. Learn Finnish: If you want to learn Finnish, then here are more than a couple of links:

• Tamy
• Tampare University of Technology Links
• I haven't gone through all but one of my favorite is Finnish for Foreigners, University of Helsinki
• There are some links here as well: TKK's Finnish Course Links"> TKK's Finnish
  

11. Want to know Finland more closely? Browse through following links:

• There is an online community for everyone interested in Finland: Finland Live
• Here is the blog that I always feel like reading as it shows you how does it feel like studying in Finland: Finland from a Foreigner's eye
• For more information about Finland, stats, history and politics visit Finland.fi

12. Nepal Related Associations and works in Finland:

• Community of Nepalese and well-wisher of Nepal living in Finland: Suomi-Nepal -seura, Finland-Nepal Friendship Association
• A Research paper: Indian and Nepalese Women Living in Finland