Period of residence becomes longer when amendments to Citizenship Act enter into force on 1 October 2024
The Finnish Parliament has approved the first set of amendments to the Citizenship Act, which will enter into force on 1 October 2024. The legislative reform will extend the period of residence required for acquiring Finnish citizenship. It also includes changes that only apply to some applicants. You can read more about these changes in this bulletin.
All citizenship applications that have been submitted before 1 October 2024 will be processed in accordance with the current Citizenship Act. In other words, the amendments to the Citizenship Act will not apply to your application if you have submitted your application before 1 October 2024. If you submit your application on 1 October or later, we will apply the new period of residence when making the decision.
General changes
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The required period of residence will be eight years in general.
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The applicant may reside outside Finland for one year in total during the required period of residence, of which no more than three months during the year that precedes naturalisation.
Changes that apply to specific applicants
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Applicants who meet the language skills requirement
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The required period of residence will be five years.
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Applicants aged 15–17
- The required period of residence will be five years.
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Spouses of Finnish citizens
- The required period of residence will be five years.
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Stateless persons
- The required period of residence will be five years.
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Applicants who have received international protection
- The period of residence starts on the date when the residence permit on the basis of international protection was granted, not on the date when the application was submitted.
We will update our website as soon as possible with information about all the changes to the requirements for acquiring citizenship that will enter into force on 1 October 2024.
Check the requirements for acquiring citizenship before you apply
It is important to make sure that you meet all the requirements for acquiring Finnish citizenship before you apply for citizenship. If you apply for citizenship before you meet the requirements, you may receive a negative decision. A large number of citizenship applications that do not meet the requirements will also make our processing times longer.
Backlogs in the processing of applications and limited availability of appointments
There are currently backlogs in the processing of citizenship applications and a limited availability of appointments to visit our service points. If you need to visit a service point to prove your identity but cannot book an appointment within the next three months as required, book the first available appointment.
You may not have to visit a service point when you apply for citizenship
You may not have to visit a service point when you apply for citizenship if:
- you are at least 18 years old and apply for citizenship for yourself by submitting a citizenship application
- you use the online service Enter Finland to submit your application
- you use strong electronic identification (for example online banking credentials) to log in to the online service and
- you pay for your application before you submit it.
For more information, see the page Identification.
Further information
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Press release by the Ministry of the Interior: Stricter requirements for acquiring Finnish citizenship: the required period of residence to be extended (intermin.fi)
The second and third phase of the reform of the Citizenship Act are still to be completed. You can follow the reform on the website of the Ministry of the Interior. We will publish information about upcoming changes when they become relevant.
