Citizenship application for adults

1. You are at least 18 years of age and your identity has been reliably established 

To prove your identity reliably, you need to present:

• your passport or some other identity document, or
• reliable information about at least your name, date of birth, citizenship and family ties
  • When we are determining your identity, we will also take into account any information you have given earlier about your identity. 

Read more on the page Determination of identity.

2. You must have at least satisfactory oral and written skills in one of the following languages:

• Finnish or
• Swedish or
• Finnish Sign Language or Finland-Swedish Sign Language. 

You must have a certificate of your language skills before you submit a citizenship application. Read more about which certificates are accepted as proof of sufficient language skills.

In some cases, you can request an exception to the language skills requirement.

3. You live in Finland and you have lived here long enough

If you apply for citizenship on 1 October 2024 or thereafter, you must have lived in Finland for the past 8 years. In some cases, a shorter period of residence is sufficient. Read more on the page Period of residence.

If you have submitted your citizenship application before 1 October 2024, you must have lived in Finland 

• the past 5 years without interruption (continuous period of residence), or
• 7 years in total (accumulated period of residence) after reaching the age of 15. Out of these 7 years, you must have lived in Finland for the last 2 years without interruption.

In some cases, a shorter period of residence is sufficient. Read more on the page Period of residence: application submitted before 1 October 2024.

4. You are not guilty of any crime and no restraining order has been issued against you

Offences for which you have been punished by petty fines do not prevent you from becoming a Finnish citizen. Read more on the page Integrity.

5. You have met your payment obligations

You have paid your taxes, fines and child maintenance payments, for example. Read more on the page Payment obligations.

6. You have provided proof of your income sources

You must provide a reliable account of how you have earned your income over the past 5 years. 

If the required period of residence is less than 5 years in your case, provide documents on your income sources for the period of residence required of you.

1. A copy of your valid passport or of another travel document

If you do not have a passport or some other travel document, attach a copy of another identity document.

Your passport or your other travel document must be valid during the entire time your application is being processed. 

2. A certificate of language skills

A copy is sufficient.

If you are requesting an exception to the language skills requirement, see the links below to check which attachments you must provide:

• If you are over 65 years old

• If your health prevents you from learning the required language skills

• If you were an adult and unable to read and write when you arrived in Finland

• If there are other very serious reasons for derogating from the language skills requirement

3. Documents confirming your current sources of income and your past sources of income

Provide documents on your income over the past 5 years. If the required period of residence is shorter than 5 years in your case, provide documents on your income sources covering the shorter period.

A statement, if you request an exception to the period of residence requirement

• a statement from your employer confirming that you have a permanent full-time job in Finland that is unreasonably difficult to attend to without Finnish citizenship 

• your own free-form statement explaining that there is a special and weighty reason why an exception to the period of residence requirement should be made in your case.

When you visit a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service, bring with you the original documents.

Fill in the application form in the online service Enter Finland. Online applications are more affordable than paper applications, and you may be able to avoid having to visit a service point. 

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.

If you apply online, pay the processing fee with a credit card or with Finnish online banking credentials when you submit the application via Enter Finland.

If you apply with a paper form, pay the processing fee when you visit a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service to prove your identity.

You may avoid having to visit a service point to prove your identity if you log in to your Enter Finland account using Finnish online banking credentials. See the page Identification for more information.

If you need to visit a service point to prove your identity, book an appointment to visit a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service. Book an appointment in our appointment system (migri.vihta.com).

If you apply for citizenship for your children as well, you and your children must visit a service point to prove your identities.

If you submitted the application on 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 the page Processing of applications.

• the form KAN_LAPSK if your child is 12–14 years of age. The child must sign the form. Signature is requested in the section “Hearing of the child”.
• the form KAN_LAPSS if the child is 15–17 years of age. The child must sign the form. Signature is requested in the section “Consent of the child”.
• If your child has two parents or guardians, the other parent or guardian must give his or her consent to the child’s citizenship application. The other parent or guardian must fill in and sign the form KAN_HUOLTS. Signature is requested in the section “Consent of the other guardian”. If you are the child’s only parent or guardian, you do not need to fill in this form.

• Attachment form for a child (as a co-applicant)
  • If your child is 12–14 years of age, the child must sign the section "Lapsen kuuleminen" / "Hörande av barnet" (Hearing of the child).
  • If the child is 15–17 years of age, the child must sign the section "Lapsen suostumus" / "Barnets samtycke" (Consent of the child).
  • If your child has two parents or guardians, the other parent or guardian must give his or her consent to the child’s citizenship application. The other parent or guardian must sign the section "Toisen huoltajan suostumus" / "Samtycke av barnets andra vårdnadshavare" (Consent of the other guardian). If you are the child’s only parent or guardian, you do not need to fill in this section.