Period of residence
You can become a Finnish citizen if you live in Finland and if the total time you have lived in Finland (your period of residence) is long enough.
You have lived in Finland long enough if
- you have lived in Finland for the past five years without interruption (continuous period of residence), or
- you have lived in Finland for seven years in total, with the last two years without interruption (accumulated period of residence). Read more about the accumulated period of residence.
If you have had a temporary residence permit (a B permit):
- Half of the time you have lived in Finland with a B permit before getting an A permit will be counted towards your continuous period of residence.
- When you apply for Finnish citizenship, you must have either a valid continuous residence permit (A permit) or a permanent residence permit (P permit).
- You must have lived in Finland with either a continuous or a permanent residence permit (A or P permit) for at least one year before your citizenship application is decided.
In certain situations, living in Finland for less than five years is enough
The period of residence required of you is shorter if any of the following conditions applies to you.
If you have the language skills required for becoming a Finnish citizen, you need to have lived in Finland
- for the past four years without interruption (continuous period of residence), or
- for six years in total (accumulated period of residence), with the last two years without interruption.
- Only the time you have lived in Finland after reaching the age of 15 will be counted towards your accumulated period of residence.
If your spouse is a Finnish citizen, you need to have lived in Finland
- for the past four years without interruption (continuous period of residence), or
- for six years in total (accumulated period of residence), with the last two years without interruption.
- Only the time you have lived in Finland after reaching the age of 15 will be counted towards your accumulated period of residence.
You must have lived together with your spouse for at least three years. If your spouse has died, you need to have lived together with your spouse for at least three years before he or she died.
‘Spouse’ refers to your husband or wife, your cohabiting partner or your registered same-sex partner.
If you are a citizen of Denmark, Iceland, Norway or Sweden, you need to have lived in Finland for the last two years without interruption.
If you have refugee status in Finland or if you have been granted a residence permit on the basis of subsidiary protection or humanitarian protection, you need to have lived in Finland
- for the past four years without interruption (continuous period of residence), or
- for six years in total (accumulated period of residence), with the last two years without interruption.
- Only the time you have lived in Finland after reaching the age of 15 will be counted towards your accumulated period of residence.
Your period of residence is calculated from the date when you submitted your asylum application in Finland.
If you have arrived in Finland as a quota refugee, your period of residence is calculated from the date when you moved to Finland.
If you are stateless against your own will, you need to have lived in Finland
- for the past four years without interruption, or
- for six years in total (accumulated period of residence), with the last two years without interruption.
- Only the time you have lived in Finland after reaching the age of 15 will be counted towards your accumulated period of residence.
In some very rare cases, it is sufficient if you have lived in Finland for the past two years. In that case, one of the following conditions must be met:
- You have permanent full-time work in Finland and it would be unreasonably difficult to be engaged in this work without Finnish citizenship.
- You have been erroneously considered a Finnish citizen for a minimum of 10 years, which has led to a serious consequence related to the rights or obligations of a Finnish citizen.
- There are otherwise very weighty reasons.