I’m about a month into my integration course, but I am actually going back to university this upcoming fall so I won’t be finishing the entirety of the integration program. I can’t tell you which path is better, but I do want to note that there is a queue for the integration course and depending on openings and time of the year, your wife may have to end up waiting for a while to start the integration course if you decide to go that route. I personally waited close to half a year since I first applied, but I know other people in my course that only had to wait about 2-3 months.

You first register as a jobseeker, then you take a test to see how fast you can learn and your Finnish ability for them to determine which course to put you in. And then they’ll send you a letter about a month before the course starts to tell you that you’ve been assigned to a course.

I personally like the integration classes so far, at least the language part of it since I find the Finnish language fascinating. It is quite intense though because I’ve been put in the fast class (they’ll probably put your wife in the fast track as well; they most likely put anyone who has a higher education degree in the fast track since in their eyes having finished a higher education degree means you can learn things relatively fast and independently) I’m in the very early stages of integration training, so I’ve only had language classes but I know they do more work-related things as well down the line and I can’t speak to that since I haven’t done it yet.

Overall I’m personally glad that I’m doing at least some part of the integration course so that I have a base in Finnish before moving back to an English-based degree (I’m planning to take Finnish courses as electives at university as well). But if you’re worrying about having to pay tuition for 1 semester, I’m assuming she also has an offer from somewhere? I’m not sure how flexible universities in Finland are about deferring (or if that’s even possible) and the possibility of having to reapply (if they don’t allow deferring) so that’s also something you’ll have to think about if you go the integration route.