Citizenship declaration for an adopted child

• The child is 12–17 years of age.
  • An adopted child under the age of 12 will automatically acquire Finnish citizenship if at least one of the adoptive parents is a Finnish citizen and the adoption is valid in Finland.
  • The Digital and Population Data Services Agency will enter the citizenship in the Finnish Population Information System.
• The child’s adoptive mother or adoptive father is a Finnish citizen.
• The decision on adoption has become valid in Finland on 1 June 2003 or later.

• Decision on adoption or, if the child has not been registered in the Population Information System, a registration information form from the service provider.
• Documents proving that one of the adoptive parents holds Finnish citizenship at the time when the declaration is submitted: 
  • a copy of the adoptive parent’s Finnish passport; and
  • a copy of the adoptive parent’s residence permit in the country of residence; or 
  • a certificate issued by a competent authority in the country of residence, showing that the adoptive parent has not become a citizen of the country of residence.
  • These documents are not required in the following situations:
    • The Finnish adoptive parent has not lived outside Finland or outside the Nordic countries.
    • The adoptive parent has become a Finnish citizen on application and has resided in Finland until the applicant was born.
    • The adoptive parent has become a citizen of another country on 1 June 2003 or later.

You can fill in the application online in Enter Finland. 

If you cannot use Enter Finland, fill in a paper application. You will find a link to the application at the bottom of this page.

To pay the processing fee in Enter Finland: 

• pay the fee with a credit card or Finnish online banking credentials when you submit your application. 

To pay the processing fee for a paper application:

• pay the fee when you visit a Finnish embassy or consulate abroad or a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service in Finland to prove your identity.

• If you are abroad, book an appointment to visit a Finnish mission (embassy or consulate).
• If you are in Finland, book an appointment to visit a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.

For more information, see: 

• Handling your matters at a Finnish mission
• Handling matters at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service

• If you applied online in Enter Finland, you will receive notifications of your application's progress and of any requests for additional information by email and text message.
• If you applied on paper, you will receive notifications of your application's progress and of any requests for additional information by email.

For more information, see: Processing of applications

• You can receive a message from us when the processing stage of your application changes. For more information, see: Automated messages.
• Processing Time Checker will tell you the expected processing time of your application. 
• For more information, see: What affects the processing time of your application?