Ukraine

If the parents of a family arriving from Ukraine are employed or admitted to a study programme in Finland, the City provides a place in early childhood education and care (ECEC) for the family’s children under the school age (six-year-olds and younger). Please note that you must apply for an early childhood place for your child no later than 14 days before you need it.

The City organises pre-primary education the year preceding compulsory schooling. The right to pre-primary education is not dependent on the employment of guardians. Guardians of six-year-olds arriving in Kokkola are requested to contact Kokkola Early Childhood Education and Care services.

Contact person: Kaisa Wacklin (kaisa.wacklin@edu.kokkola.fi)

The City of Kokkola arranges basic education for children of compulsory school age.

Guardians of children and youth of school age are requested to contact Kokkola Education Office.

Contact person: Sari Koskinen (sari.koskinen@kokkola.fi)

The Ministry of Education and Culture has published basic information on early childhood education and care and school education in Ukrainian. The purpose of the Ukrainian-language summary intended for immigrants is to provide information about early childhood education and care as well as education and training services in Finland and the possibilities for participating in them.

The library has computers and offers internet access for customers to use free of charge. Customers can also use a printer, scanner and copier at the library. Using the computer and scanning is free of charge.

The national Finnish libraries webpage has a section Libraries and the war in Ukraine that is updated as new information becomes available. The page is in Finnish, but by scrolling down on the page you can find an information brochure on public libraries in Finland in Ukrainian and Russian.

Under the section Multilingual library you will find links to free Ukrainian electronic literature.

E-books in Ukrainian (free of charge):

• Osvitoria offers access to 70 electronic children’s books in Ukrainian, some books are bilingual (Ukrainian- English).
• The Old Lion Publishing House offers 27 books for the whole family free of charge.
• The publisher BARABOKA has a collection of free ebooks for children.
• KNIGO GO has children’s books for free download.
• Digital Library of Ukrainian Literature has collections and audio recordings.
• The National Library of Sweden has compiled a page with links to service providers of free Ukrainian-language literature. The page is in Swedish, but by scrolling down on the page you can find links to the different service providers.

Audiobooks for children and adults (free of charge):

• 4read.org
• Kazkowyjswit by Storytel, including streamed storytimes in Ukrainian.

The Welcome Office Kokkola provides information of the language training and courses for beginners.

Language courses and course providers

Information about the courses and course providers in Ukrainian:

Коккольський районний коледж

Iнформатцію можете отримати по електронною поштою kso@kokkola.fi

Language courses at Kpedu:

• Finnish elementary course
• Finnish course for them who know Finnish already
• Finnish course for people who need to study for example Latin alphabet

Language courses at Kvarnen:

• Language courses, Finnish and Swedish, beginner and advanced level

Read more about language courses available at My Kokkola

If you need an early childhood place for your child because of a language course, please note that you must apply for it no later than 14 days before you need it. Contact person: Kaisa Wacklin (kaisa.wacklin(@)edu.kokkola.fi)

Central Ostrobothnia Conservatory: free music and dance education for Ukrainian children and young people

Центральна Остроботнянська консерваторія пропонує всім українським дітям можливість займатися діяльністю  безкоштовна музика та танці.  Навчання відбувається в приміщенні консерваторії.  Адреса: Pitkänsillankatu 16, 67100 Коккола.  Викладачі – Таня Кудрик та Маріанна Окі.  Додаткова інформація: Таня Кудрик, телефон +358- (0) 40 585 7073 e-mail: ivoniuk94@gmail.com

The Finnish Red Cross, Finn Church Aid and UNICEF  are well-known, reliable organisations through which help you can be offered to a country at war.

•  SPR
•  UNICEF
•  Kirkon Ulkomaanapu (Finn Church Aid)
•  Pelastakaa lapset ry (Save the Children)

Primarily the organisations hope to get help in the form of money, because financial aid can be efficiently channelled to people or for the purchase of necessary supplies. . You can sign up to the organisations’ volunteer registers to be available for future needs.

• Instructions on arriving in Finland

Temporary protection and municipality of residence

• If you have lived in Finland for one year and have been granted temporary protection, you can apply for a municipality of residence. In some cases, you may be entitled to a municipality of residence even earlier. Submit the application to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.
• You can apply for a municipality of residence based on one-year residence online. You can apply at the earliest on 1 March 2023.
• Read more >>>

Those who are granted residence permits on the basis of temporary protection are covered by the Reception Act and receive the same reception services as asylum seekers. They can accommodate in reception centres or live in private accommodation.

• Persons under temporary protection may arrange their residence themselves and accommodate in private accommodation if they so wish. Persons under temporary protection residing in private accommodation are also registered as reception centre clients

Reception centre

A Finnish Red Cross reception centre has been established in Kokkola. The reception centre is a decentralized reception centre, which means that its clients are accommodated in rental apartments in different parts of the city.

After arriving in Finland, Ukrainians need to register with a police authority. The registration is made in person at Pietarsaari police station. Contact information and opening hours.  

• Some Ukrainians are staying with family members or friends without any help from officials. Those travelling with a passport, can stay in Finland for a period of three months visa-free.

Instructions:

• Migri: Instructions on arriving in Finland from Ukraine

Private accommodation

Persons under temporary protection, including unaccompanied minors, are registered as reception centre clients.

Staying in private accommodation is not financially supported. If it’s no longer possible for someone to stay in private accommodation, it is important to contact the reception centre where they are registered.

Livelihood

The livelihood of persons under temporary protection is secured in accordance with the Reception Act with a reception allowance and spending money. As a rule, persons under temporary protection are not entitled to social assistance or residence-based benefits. Granting residence-based benefits is based on an overall assessment by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (KELA) of each person’s circumstances.

Persons will have the right to work and study as soon as they register their application for temporary protection with the police or a border control authority. However, they are not entitled to labour market subsidy. A person under temporary protection can register as a jobseeker at the Ostrobothnia TE Office (employment office).

Under these exceptional circumstances, pets traveling with their owners from Ukraine or under force majeure circumstances from Russia are authorized to enter Finland without prior application or permit. This exception does not apply to citizens of Russia and Belarus.

• Register with Customs immediately at the Finnish border. You can get more information at the border crossing from the Finnish Immigration Service, the Police and the Border Guard.
• If your dog has not treated against Echinococcus multilocularis -tapeworm before entering Finland, the customs officer will provide you the treatment tablet for you to give to your dog under customs supervision. Collect the dog’s feces for 24 hours and disposed it as general waste.
• Contact a local veterinarian within 3 days after arriving in Finland. If your dog, cat, or ferret does not have a microchip and / or does not have a rabies vaccination, the veterinarian will place a microchip on the pet and vaccinate the pet against rabies. The veterinarian will also take a blood sample to determine antibodies to rabies. These procedures will be performed at no charge to pets of Ukrainian refugees.
• You need to keep your pet isolated from other animals and humans for 30 days after vaccination. The isolation time is 30 days also when the vaccination has been given before entering Finland. Contact with other animals and humans should be minimized. Pets can be walked on a leash during isolation.
• The animals may spend the isolation period in private accommodation or in a reception center that allows pets.  The Finnish Food Authority may prolong the isolation period.

People fleeing Ukraine may start working immediately after applying for temporary protection. People who have applied for temporary protection have the right to work in Finland as soon as they have submitted their application. In other words, they do not need to wait for a residence permit or a residence permit card to be issued to be able to work. A certificate of registration is sufficient.
https://intermin.fi/-/ukrainasta-paennut-voi-aloittaa-tyonteon-heti-tilapaista-suojelua-haettuaan?languageId=en_US

• If you have fled Ukraine and have applied or are planning to apply for temporary protection in Finland, you can now get the right to work more quickly:
  https://migri.fi/-/ukrainasta-paennut-oletko-hakemassa-tai-oletko-jo-hakenut-tilapaista-suojelua-suomessa-voit-aloittaa-tyonteon-nyt-entista-aikaisemmin?languageId=en_US

Ukrainians can register as jobseeker at the employment office and receive employment support services at the Ostrobothnia TE Office. Without a registered municipality of residence, they cannot become a customer in a local government employment pilots. They are, however, entitled to the services of TE Offices.

• the Ostrobothnia TE Office provides on a centralised basis services for Ukrainians who are interested in employment.
  Contact information: Perttu Kellomäki perttu.kellomaki@te-toimisto.fi

After you have got a job, you need a Finnish tax card. If you work at a construction site or a shipyard, you will also need a tax number. The number will be printed on the card. The tax card that you give to your employer makes it possible that you receive wages and have the taxes taken care of (an amount is withheld). Your employer pays the amounts on to the tax office.

After you have got a job and you need a Finnish tax card – here is what to do:

CALL THE TAX ADMINISTRATION’S TELEPHONE SERVICE AT 029 497 050
You can then find out from the Tax Administration’s employee what you need to do to get a tax card, a tax number that may sometimes be necessary, and the Finnish personal identity code. If you need to come to the tax office yourself, you will get an appointment.

More information:
https://www.vero.fi/en/individuals/tax-cards-and-tax-returns/arriving_in_finland/work_in_finland/temporary-protection-to-persons-fleeing-ukraine/

The guide As a foreign employee in Finland has been published in several languages

TEM: Instructions for Ukrainians on working in Finland (videos)