Citizenship application for a child

The child’s identity has been reliably established

• A child’s identity can be established by showing us reliable documents (such as a passport or another identity document) or by giving us reliable information about at least the child’s name, date of birth, citizenship and family ties. 
• When we are determining your child’s identity, we will also take into account any information you have given us earlier about his or her identity.

Read more on the page Establishment of identity.

Children over 15 years of age must have at least satisfactory language skills in Finnish or Swedish

• Children can prove their language skills in many ways, for example with a National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI) or with a leaving certificate issued by a Finnish comprehensive school. 
• Children who are over 15 years of age but do not yet have a leaving certificate from a Finnish comprehensive school can prove their language skills with their most recent school certificate, showing a passing mark in Finnish or Swedish as their native language or as a second language. 

Read more on the page Language skills.

The child lives in Finland or has lived in Finland long enough

• A child who is under 15 years of age must be living legally in Finland when the citizenship application is decided. 
• If the child has turned 15, his or her home must have been in Finland:
  • for the past 4 years without interruption; or
  • for a total of 6 years after he or she turned 7, with the last 2 years without interruption.
• If the child is a citizen of a Nordic country and has turned 15, his or her home must have been in Finland for the past 2 years without interruption. 

Read more on the page Period of residence.

Children over 15 years of age must not have committed crimes

Read more on the page Integrity.

• Valid travel document or some other identity document if the child does not have a travel document. The travel document must be valid during the entire time your application is being processed
• Certificate of language skills if the child is over 15 years of age
• Proof of appointment of a legal guardian if the guardian submits the application
• If you are a foreign national who has custody of the child but only the child is applying for Finnish citizenship, attach a document stating why there is a weighty reason for the child to apply for citizenship alone. The reason must be related to the best interest of the child.

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 the application; or
• 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. 

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 (migri.vihta.com).

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?