Webservice ”Finnish Citizenship?” opened
The Finnish Immigration Service has increased its electronic services. Persons interested in acquiring Finnish citizenship may use the service “Finnish citizenship?” as a tool when applying for Finnish citizenship. The service gives information on the requirements for naturalisation.
The aim of the service “Finnish citizenship?” is to help persons who are interested in acquiring Finnish citizenship. The service gives information on facts and circumstances that are examined when processing an application for citizenship. The user gets a picture of his or her situation by means of the service and can assess whether he or she meets the requirements for naturalisation. The service also informs of the facts that may be an obstacle to naturalisation. The service helps the applicant to understand what he or she should do in order to acquire Finnish citizenship or when the required period of residence will be fulfilled.
The service “Finnish citizenship?” has been implemented by Accenture in close co-operation with the Finnish Immigration Service as part of a large development project regarding electronic communication in the Directorate.
“We wish by means of the service “Finnish citizenship?” to serve our clients more efficiently. Clients who are interested in the requirements for naturalisation may find out their situation easily by means of the service. The clients do not have to wait on the telephone because they can get answers to their questions when it is convenient to them,“ says Tiina Suominen, Nationality Unit Director.
“The service “Finnish citizenship?” is a good example of how the customers of administration can be better served by making the facts and circumstances relating to decision-making easy to understand. The administration also saves time as the number of unnecessary applications falls. There are many uses for this kind of service, in the permit administration in particular,” says Marko Rauhala, a leading consult at Accenture.
It is easy to use the service and it takes only a few minutes. The service asks questions of the residence in Finland, language skills and integrity. The result is approximate, so it is not a binding promise of acquiring Finnish citizenship. The user can use the service anonymously. The information given by him or her is not registered by the authorities.
If the user decides to apply for Finnish citizenship he must use a form which can be printed out from the websites of the Finnish Immigration Service. The application cannot be submitted in electronic form.
The service “Finnish citizenship?” was announced on 20 June 2005. In the autumn the service will also be available in Swedish and in English. The service can be found on the websites of the Directorate of Immigration: www.migri.fi/kansalaiseksi
---
About The Finnish Immigration Service
The Finnish Immigration Service implements official Finnish immigration and refugee policy, which has the promotion of controlled immigration as its central aim. The Directorate handles and decides matters relating to aliens’ entry into and residence in the country as well as refugee status and Finnish citizenship. The Directorate also maintains the register of aliens.
The number of applications submitted to the Directorate and other similar matters amount to some 40,000 annually. The number of employees is 230. The Directorate functions in four different locations: Helsinki, Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, Kuhmo and Lappeenranta. The home page is www.migri.fi.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With more than 110,000 people in 48 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$13.67 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2004. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
21.6.2005
