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 aged 14 or younger:

• The child must be living legally in Finland when the application is decided. Legal residence in Finland means that the child has a valid residence permit or some other right of residence in Finland.
• The child does not need to attach a certificate of sufficient language skills.

Children aged 15 to 17:

Children aged 15 to 17 must meet the following requirements:

• The child must have sufficient language skills.
  • There are many ways to prove the language skills: the National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI), or a leaving certificate issued by a Finnish comprehensive school, for example.
  • If the child is still participating in comprehensive education, the most recent interim report card (period or end-of-term) is sufficient. The certificate must show that the child has a passing grade 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 and has lived in Finland for a sufficient period of time:
  • The child must have lived in Finland for the past 5 years if he or she is applying for citizenship on 1 October 2024 or thereafter.
  • If the child’s application has been submitted before 1 October 2024, the child must have lived in Finland for the past 4 years without interruption, or for 6 years in total after he or she turned 7, and out of these 6 years, for the past 2 years without interruption. Read more on the page Period of residence: application submitted before 1 October 2024.
  • A child who is a Nordic citizen must have lived in Finland for the past 2 years.
• The child has the language skills required for applying for Finnish citizenship.
  • For a child who is still participating in comprehensive education, the most recent interim report card (period or end-of-term) is sufficient. The certificate must show that the child has a passing grade in Finnish or Swedish as their native language or as a second language.
• The child has not committed crimes. Read more on the page Integrity.

If necessary, have the attachments translated and legalised.

• 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.
   

• Book an appointment to visit a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service (migri.vihta.com).

For more information, see: 

• 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 receive a message from us when the processing stage of your application changes. For more information, see: Automated messages.
• Processing Time Checker will tell you the expected processing time of your application. 
• For more information, see: What affects the processing time of your application?