Citizenship of Finland

Children of Finnish citizens receive citizenship at birth from their parents (parentage principle). However, Finnish citizenship is not automatically transferred to the child of a Finnish father born out of wedlock abroad. The parentage principle is always applied in accordance with the Nationality Act valid at the time of the child’s birth (the current Nationality Act entered into force on 1 June 2003).

The Finnish Immigration Service can grant Finnish citizenship by declaration or by application.

The declaration procedure is available for certain groups of applicants. The following can receive citizenship by declaration:

• children born abroad out of wedlock to a Finnish father
• adopted children aged 12–17 years
• former Finnish citizens
• Nordic citizens
• young persons aged 18–22 years who have lived in Finland for a sufficient period of time

For the applicant, declaration is a less expensive method of obtaining citizenship, and the processing of a declaration is usually faster.

Other people can obtain a citizenship by application (naturalisation). They must meet the requirements for naturalisation in order for their application to be approved.

Children of Finnish citizens and other people who meet the requirements for Finnish citizenship.

The requirements for obtaining a Finnish citizenship are:

• Establishment of identity
• Sufficient language skills
• A period of residence of sufficient length
• Integrity
• Means of support
• Fulfilment of payment obligations

In addition, a person must be an adult in order to apply for citizenship, i.e. they must be at least 18 years of age.

On applying for a Finnish citizenship for a person under 18 years of age, see the Citizenship for a child page.

One of the requirements for Finnish citizenship is that the applicant must have at least satisfactory skills in one of the following:

• oral and written Finnish
• oral and written Swedish
• Finnish Sign Language
• Finland-Swedish Sign Language.

You can demonstrate your language skills in the following ways:

• Language proficiency certificates
  • The National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI) in Finnish or Swedish completed at level 3 or higher (intermediate level).
  • Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate with at least satisfactory oral and written skills in Finnish or Swedish.
• Basic education certificates
  • A leaving certificate issued by a Finnish comprehensive school or a certificate of completing the entire syllabus of basic education. The certificate must show that the applicant has passed the examination in Finnish or Swedish as their native language or as a second language.
• Upper secondary school certificates
  • A leaving certificate issued by a Finnish upper secondary school or the Finnish matriculation examination showing that the applicant has passed the examination in Finnish or Swedish as their native language or as a second language.
  • A certificate that the applicant has completed the upper secondary school syllabus in Finnish or Swedish as their native language or as a second language.
• Vocational qualification certificates
  • Starting from 1 January 2018:
    • A vocational upper secondary qualification, a further vocational qualification or a specialist vocational qualification that has been achieved through studies in Finnish or Swedish (qualification according to act 531/2017).
  • Before 2018:
    • A vocational upper secondary qualification that has been achieved through studies in Finnish or Swedish (qualification according to act 630/1998)
    • A further vocational qualification or specialist vocational qualification, including competence-based qualifications, that has been achieved through studies in Finnish or Swedish (a qualification according to act 631/1998)
  • Only certificates issued for full completion of a qualification are accepted as proof of meeting the language skills requirement.
• Certificates issued for higher education in Finland
  • A degree certificate of studies in Finnish for civil servants or Swedish for civil servants completed at a university or university of applied sciences (the level of Finnish or Swedish language skills necessary for posts in bilingual areas of Finland that require a university degree).
  • A certificate of approval of a maturity test in Finnish or Swedish for the purpose of attaining a degree at a university or university of applied sciences.
• Certificate of proficiency in sign language
  • A certificate issued by the Finnish Association of the Deaf of at least satisfactory proficiency in the Finnish or Finland-Swedish Sign Language. The association tests the person’s sign language skills through an interview.

In some very rare cases, exceptions to the language skills requirement may be made.

No.

No, unless a possible language test applies.

The integrity requirement must be fulfilled in order to obtain Finnish citizenship. Committing a crime or being issued a restraining order may prevent a person from obtaining citizenship.

The nature, recurrence and severity of the crimes as well as the time since the crimes were committed are taken into account in the consideration. An on-the-spot fine for a petty offence is not an obstacle to naturalisation.

A foreign national may be denied Finnish citizenship due to lesser crimes than what would serve as a basis for deportation. A negative citizenship decision does not automatically lead to a consideration of deportation.

No, if the person commits a crime after a positive citizenship decision has been made.

Finns acquiring citizenship in another state will not lose their Finnish citizenship. Similarly, foreign nationals do not need to give up their existing citizenship in order to acquire Finnish citizenship. Finland has accepted multiple nationality (dual nationality) since 1 June 2003.

Losing your citizenship

• If you are a citizen of another state and you have not had a sufficient connection with Finland, you will lose your Finnish citizenship automatically at the age of 22.
• If you have acquired Finnish citizenship through providing false or misleading information in an application or declaration, you may lose your Finnish citizenship.
• You may also lose your Finnish citizenship if you have acquired it on the basis of your father’s citizenship and paternity is later annulled.

Finnish citizens can be released from Finnish citizenship at their own request, if they are, or are about to become, citizens of a foreign state. Finnish citizenship can also be restored.

No. Finnish passports are issued to Finnish citizens by the police, or by Finnish embassies abroad.