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 follow the progress of your application with the help of our chatbot, Kamu, by giving Kamu the diary number of your application. Kamu will also tell you the expected processing time of your application. 

For more information, see: What affects the processing time of your application