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A child born in Finland

A child who is born in Finland to parents who are foreign nationals may only in exceptional cases become a Finnish citizen alone, without a parent obtaining Finnish citizenship. In these cases, the child acquires Finnish citizenship based on his or her place of birth.

A child will get Finnish citizenship based on his or her place of birth if:

  • the child does not get citizenship of any other country on the basis of his or her parents’ citizenship;
  • the child does not have even a secondary right to citizenship of another country on the basis of birth, for example through the confirmation of paternity or by declaration;
  • the child’s parents have refugee status or they have been granted protection against the authorities of their country of nationality; and  
  • the child would not be granted the citizenship of either parent without the assistance of the authorities of their country of nationality.