Amendments to Citizenship Act enter into force on 17 December 2025

The requirements for acquiring Finnish citizenship have been made stricter. The amendments to the Citizenship Act which enter into force on 17 December 2025 concern the requirement for sufficient financial resources, the integrity requirement, and the loss of citizenship. The amendments to the Citizenship Act apply to all citizenship applications submitted on or after 17 December 2025.

Stricter requirements for financial resources and integrity 

The requirement for sufficient financial resources will be stricter than before: as a rule, the applicant must not have received unemployment benefit or social assistance for longer than three months in total during the past two years. This is a new requirement. 

The amendments extend the waiting period that is imposed on the basis of criminal offences. As a rule, Finnish citizenship cannot be obtained during the waiting period. The waiting period that is imposed on an applicant in connection with a negative decision may in future be 1–8 years. Before the amendments, the maximum waiting period has been seven years.

Amendments that reinforce national security have been made.

“Moving forward, the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service and the National Bureau of Investigation may issue security statements also on citizenship declarations. Earlier, such statements could only be issued on citizenship applications. Even if the applicant meets all the requirements for becoming a Finnish citizen, citizenship can no longer be acquired by declaration if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that granting of citizenship would endanger national security,” says Mari Luukkonen, Process Owner, who is responsible for the citizenship applications process.

Lower threshold for loss of citizenship 

Serious offences, including terrorist, treason or high treason offences punishable by six years of imprisonment, may lead to the loss of citizenship.  

“Under the new Act, loss of citizenship is possible if the applicant has committed this type of offences and has been sentenced for such offences to unconditional imprisonment for at least two years or to a combination sentence of at least two years. Before the amendments, loss of citizenship was possible if the punishment that was sentenced was at least five years,” says Luukkonen. 

The amendments double the period during which a decision on loss of citizenship on the basis of provision of false information may be made.  

“Before the amendments, the matter concerning loss of citizenship must have become pending at the Finnish Immigration Service within five years of the decision on citizenship. Moving forward, the matter should become pending within ten years, and also the decision must have been made during that period,” says Luukkonen. 

Media enquiries 

• Mari Luukkonen, Process Owner, Citizenship Applications, email: firstname.lastname@migri.fi, tel. 0295 433 037 (Finnish Immigration Service phone number for media representatives)
• Press release by the Ministry of the Interior, 23 October 2025: Sufficient financial resources to be required for Finnish citizenship – Ministry of the Interior (intermin.fi)
• Website: Finnish citizenship | Finnish Immigration Service (migri.fi)
• Website: Citizenship declaration | Finnish Immigration Service (migri.fi)