Citizenship application
Apply with this application for Finnish citizenship for yourself and for minor children in your care. A minor cannot apply for citizenship on his or her own with this application. If you also apply for citizenship for a minor child you need a supplement form for him or her. Which supplement form you need depends on the age of the child.
This is what you should do
1
Make sure you meet the requirements for becoming a citizen.
Make sure you meet the requirements for becoming a citizen.
2
Make sure you have all the attachments needed for the application and that they are up to date. If necessary, have them translated and legalised.
Make sure you have all the attachments needed for the application and that they are up to date. If necessary, have them translated and legalised.
3
Fill in your application.
Fill in your application.
4
Pay for your electronic application in the e-service Enter Finland. Pay for a paper application at a service point.
Pay for your electronic application in the e-service Enter Finland. Pay for a paper application at a service point.
5
Book an appointment for a visit at a service point. To submit a citizenship application, you must visit a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service in Finland.
Book an appointment for a visit at a service point. To submit a citizenship application, you must visit a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service in Finland.
6
Wait for a decision. The Finnish Immigration Service will contact you if necessary.
Wait for a decision. The Finnish Immigration Service will contact you if necessary.
Requirements
Make sure you meet the requirements for becoming a citizen before you submit an application.
In Finland, a person becomes an adult when he or she turns 18. You can establish your identity by showing us reliable documents (such as your passport) or by giving us reliable information about at least your name, date of birth, nationality and family ties. When we are determining your identity, we will also take into account any information you have given us earlier about your identity. Read more on the page Determination of identity.
You must have at least satisfactory oral and written skills in the Finnish or Swedish language or, alternatively, satisfactory skills in the Finnish or Finland-Swedish sign language. You can prove your language skills in many ways, for example with a National Certificate of Language Proficiency or a leaving certificate issued by a Finnish comprehensive school. Read more on the page Language skills.
You need to have lived in Finland for
- the past five years without interruption (continuous period of residence) or
- a total of seven years after you turned 15 (accumulated period of residence). Out of these seven years, you need to have lived in Finland without interruption for the past two years.
In exceptional cases, a shorter period of residence is enough. Read more on the page Period of residence.
Integrity means that you have not committed any punishable act and that no restraining order has been issued against you. However, offences for which you have been punished by petty fines do not prevent you from becoming a Finnish citizen. If you have committed a punishable act, you may have to wait for a certain period of time before you get Finnish citizenship. It is also possible that the Finnish Immigration Service finds that you cannot be granted Finnish citizenship until further notice. Read more on the page Integrity.
One of the requirements for becoming a Finnish citizen is that you must have paid your taxes, fines, student loans and hospital fees, for example. You must also take care of your obligation to provide maintenance. Read more on the page Payment obligations.
You must be able to reliably inform the Finnish Immigration Service about the source of your means of support. You must list your sources of income for your entire required period of residence. Read more on the page Means of support.
General attachments
- Valid passport or another identity document if you do not have a passport
- Certificate of language skills
- Statement on current and earlier income. You do not need to send us a statement concerning information that the Finnish Immigration Service receives from the tax authorities or from the operator that has granted a benefit to you.
Application-specific attachments
- Send us the following attachments if you request an exception to the period of residence requirement:
- Statement from your employer concerning the exception to the period of residence requirement
- Your own free-form written statement concerning the exception to the period of residence requirement
- Send us the following attachments if you request an exception to the language skills requirement:
- Statement from your employer concerning the exception to the language skills requirement
- Your own free-form written statement concerning the exception to the language skills requirement
- Medical certificate concerning the exception to the language skills requirement
- Certificate of elementary skills in Finnish or Swedish
- Certificate of regular participation in Finnish or Swedish studies
- Certificate of illiteracy
- Further statement on children
- Further statement on travel
- Statement on moving inside Finland or abroad
- Payment plan
- Further statement on earlier sources of income
- Co-applicants’ supplement forms:
- Child’s supplement form: KAN_Liitelomake (in Finnish, in Swedish)
- Child’s hearing, KAN_LAPSK
- Child’s consent, KAN_LAPSS
- Consent of the other guardian, KAN_HUOLTS
This website is part of the European Commission's Your Europe portal. Did you find what you were looking for? Give feedback to the European Commission! If you wish to give feedback to the Finnish Immigration Service, go to the page migri.fi/feedback.