Frequently asked questions: Finnish citizenship - application submitted before 1 October 2024

• Applying for citizenship
• Income and livelihood
• Period of residence
• Language skills
• Release from Finnish citizenship
• Former Finnish citizen
• Children
• After decision
• Reform of the Citizenship Act

Applying for citizenship

1. How much does it cost to apply for Finnish citizenship?

Please see the list of processing fees.

You need to pay the processing fee when you submit the application. If you apply online, you can pay the processing fee before you submit the application.

2. My citizenship application is pending and my residence permit will expire soon. What should I do?

You must extend your residence permit. The expiry of a residence permit is not a sufficient reason to expedite a citizenship application. Staying in Finland without a residence permit is a violation of the Aliens Act and the police may fine you for it.

3. My passport will expire soon but my citizenship application is still pending. What should I do?

You must have a valid passport during the entire time your citizenship application is being processed. Renew your passport if it is about to expire while your citizenship application is still pending. Please note that the expiry of a passport is not a sufficient reason to expedite a citizenship application. Staying in Finland without a passport is a violation of the Aliens Act and the police may fine you for it.

Income and livelihood

4. What kind of account of my livelihood do I need to provide when I apply for Finnish citizenship?

When you apply for citizenship, you must provide a reliable account of your livelihood in your application. In other words, you must provide evidence of your income sources. The documents must cover the entire period of residence required of you. To provide an account of your livelihood, attach the following documents to your application:

• Your employment contracts if you work in gainful employment. Submit employment contracts from all your employment relationships from the past five years.
• If your livelihood is based on income from your own business, attach also the following documents:
  • A certificate issued by your bookkeeper or accounting firm on wages paid or private withdrawals. If you do not use a bookkeeper or an accounting firm, you can submit a certificate of private investments and private withdrawals based on your own bookkeeping.
  • An income statement and a balance sheet covering the previous accounting period.
  • A trade register extract that is no more than 6 months old.
  • Decision on start-up grant (‘starttiraha’), which is an allowance for starting a business.
• If your livelihood is based on a benefit, such as on earnings-related unemployment allowance, attach a certificate of the benefit granted to you and the most recent payment decision. However, you do not need to submit documents regarding any Kela benefits because the Finnish Immigration Service will get the details directly from Kela.

Period of residence

5. I used to be married to a Finn. Will this make the period of residence required of me shorter?

No, it will not. You are required to have a continuous period of residence of five years or accumulated residence of seven years. Accumulated residence may consist of a number of separate periods of residence in Finland. Read more about the required period of residence.

6. Is the reason why I have spent time abroad, outside Finland, of any relevance to the interruption of continuous residence?

The reason why you have lived abroad is not relevant, except when there is a well-founded personal reason. Your period of residence will interrupt if, for instance, your Finnish employer has sent you abroad on assignment and the period of absence from Finland is too long.
Read more about calculating the period of residence and travelling abroad.

7. Next year, I will have lived in Finland for the period of residence required for citizenship. I am planning to take the YKI test (the National Certificate of Language Proficiency test) next year. Can I apply for citizenship already now?

It is not advisable to submit a citizenship application before you meet the requirements and have obtained all the required attachments. You must attach a certificate of your language proficiency to your application to prove that you meet the language skills requirement. If you submit a citizenship application but do not meet the requirements or an obligatory attachment is missing, it will delay the processing of the application and may result in a negative decision.

Language skills

8. I have lived in Finland for four years and want to apply for Finnish citizenship. How do I prove my language skills?

If you have attained the language skills required for citizenship, you can apply for Finnish citizenship once you have lived in Finland for 4 years without interruption.  

Read more about which certificates are accepted as proof of sufficient language skills.

9. I have lived in Finland for 10 years. Must I prove my language skills when I apply for Finnish citizenship?

Yes, proof of language skills is always required, no matter how long the applicant has resided in Finland before applying for citizenship.

In some cases, it is possible to derogate from the language skills requirement.

10. Which examination do I need to complete, the National Certificate of Lan-guage Proficiency (YKI) or the Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate?

You can use either examination to prove the required language skills. You can choose yourself which one to take. Read more on the page Language skills. Read more about how to prove your language skills.

11. Is the passing of a maturity test as part of a higher education degree considered sufficient demonstration of language skills?

Yes, it is sufficient if you took the maturity test in Finnish or Swedish.

12. Can I demonstrate my language proficiency using a type of language certificate that is not mentioned on the website of the Finnish Immigration Service?

No. Language proficiency can only be demonstrated with one of the certificates listed on our website.

13. How can a 15-year-old who has not yet completed comprehensive education demonstrate his or her language skills?

In that case, the applicant can attach to the application the most recent school report that shows the grade awarded in the Finnish or Swedish language.

14. I have completed compulsory basic education and/or upper secondary education in Sweden. Can a certificate of Swedish basic education or upper secondary education be used to demonstrate that I meet the language skills requirement?

No, it cannot. You can demonstrate that you meet the language skills requirement by submitting a Finnish comprehensive school or upper secondary school leaving certificate showing that you have passed the examination in Finnish or Swedish as your native language or as a second language.

If you have completed basic education or upper secondary education in Sweden, we would advise you to obtain the National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI) or the Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate, for example. Read more about how to prove your language skills.

15. I am an adult and cannot read or write in any language. What documents do I need to provide?

Ask a teacher who has taught you in Finland to issue a certificate confirming that you were unable to read and write when you arrived in Finland. 

In addition, you need to submit a certificate that states the level of your speaking and comprehension skills in the Finnish or Swedish language (on the scale of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) or a certificate showing that you have regularly participated in studies in the Finnish or Swedish language. Read more about requesting an exception to the language skills requirement.

16. I would like to request an exception to the language skills requirement because of my illness. What documents do I need to provide?

Ask a doctor who is treating you to issue a certificate in which the doctor states whether your illness or disability is such that it permanently prevents you from acquiring the required language skills. The doctor’s certificate must describe how your illness or disability prevents you from learning a language and how your condition has been treated. The Finnish Immigration Service does not have a list of doctors to recommend. Please contact the doctor who is treating you to ask for a certificate.

In addition to a doctor’s certificate, submit certificates of all language courses you have taken in Finland.

Release from Finnish citizenship

17. If I am released from Finnish citizenship, how can I later regain it?

As a former Finnish citizen, you can apply for Finnish citizenship by submitting a citizenship declaration. Read more about citizenship declarations.

However, you cannot regain Finnish citizenship by declaration if you lost it because you gave false information in your earlier citizenship application and received your citizenship on wrongful grounds.

You also cannot regain Finnish citizenship by declaration if you lost it because of the annulment of paternity.

18. Will I lose my Finnish citizenship, if I apply for and acquire citizenship of another state?

No, you will not lose your Finnish citizenship in that case. Finnish legislation allows multiple citizenship (dual citizenship).

Please note that if you hold another citizenship in addition to your Finnish citizenship, you will not necessarily retain your Finnish citizenship automatically when your turn 22. Read more about retaining Finnish citizenship at the age of 22.

Former Finnish citizen

19. Do the attachments to a citizenship declaration need to be original or certified copies of the original?

Documents attached to your citizenship declaration must be original documents when you submit your application at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service in Finland or a Finnish mission abroad. When your application is being processed, you must also present original documents, if requested, to the Finnish Immigration Service.

Documents issued by foreign authorities must be legalised. For further information about legalisation, see the website of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (dvv.fi).

20. Do foreign-language attachments to citizenship applications and declarations need to be translated into Finnish, Swedish or English? Do the translations need to be official?

Yes, translations are required if the documents have been issued in a language other than Finnish, Swedish or English. The translation must be made by an authorised translator. You can search for authorised translators on the website of the Finnish National Agency for Education (oph.fi).

21. I am a former Finnish citizen. How can I regain my lost Finnish citizenship?

As a former Finnish citizen, you can apply for Finnish citizenship by submitting a citizenship declaration. Read more about citizenship declarations.

22. If I lost my Finnish citizenship when I turned 22, how can I get my citizenship back?

If you are a former Finnish citizen, you can submit a citizenship declaration in order to regain your citizenship. Read more about citizenship declarations.

Children

23. If a child was born before 1 June 2003 to a father who is a Finnish citizen, is the child Finnish citizen as well?

In this case, the child obtained Finnish citizenship at birth if the child’s father was a Finnish citizen when the child was born and was married to the child’s mother when the child was born.

If the child's parents were not married when the child was born but got married before 1 June 2003, the child obtained Finnish citizenship automatically when the parents got married. This requires that the paternity was confirmed. In contrast, if the parents got married after the child’s birth and after 1 June 2003, the child did not obtain Finnish citizenship when the parents got married.

Further, the child did not obtain Finnish citizenship when the parents got married in the following cases:

• If the parents were not the child’s guardians when they got married.
• If the child had reached the age of 18.
• If the child got married before the parents got married.

Read more about children and Finnish citizenship.

24. Me and my spouse have applied for Finnish citizenship. A child was born to us after we had submitted our applications. How do I apply for citizenship for the child? Do we need to submit a new application? 

In this case, you do not need to submit a new application. You can add the child as a co-applicant to your own application by filling in the supplement form KAN_LIITELOMAKE for the child.

• If you and your spouse applied for citizenship with the online service Enter Finland, you can fill in the child’s supplement form and upload it on Enter Finland. Book then an appointment for a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service. Bring the child with you to the service point.
• If you and your spouse applied for citizenship with a paper form, fill in the child’s supplement form and book an appointment for a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service. Bring the child with you to the service point when you submit the supplement form. 

25. Me and my spouse have applied for Finnish citizenship. A child was born to us after we had submitted the applications. Do we need to apply for a residence permit for our newborn child?

A residence permit application must be submitted for the child within 3 months of the child being born. This means that if you do not get a decision on your citizenship applications soon after the birth, you will need to apply for a residence permit for the child.

After decision

26. Why have I not received a decision on my citizenship application?

There are currently backlogs in the processing of citizenship applications. In particular, the backlogs concern applications where we have to ask for additional information or documents in order to process them. The processing time is shortest for applications where the customer has arrived in Finland with a permit obtained in advance, the customer has a national passport and he or she meets the general requirements for naturalisation.

We will contact you if additional information is needed for your application.

27. I lost my previous citizenship when acquiring Finnish citizenship. Is it possible to regain it?

The Finnish Nationality Act allows multiple citizenship. You should consult the authorities of the country in question regarding the possibility of regaining citizenship. The easiest way to do so is to contact the embassy of the state in question. You will find embassies' contact information from website of the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (um.fi).

28. What should I do with my residence permit card once I have been granted Finnish citizenship?

Send your residence permit card to the Finnish Immigration Service by post (PL 10, 00086 Maahanmuuttovirasto). The Finnish Immigration Service will annul your card, and the card is no longer valid.

29. How do I get a Finnish passport once I have been granted Finnish citizenship?

Finnish passports are issued by the police. If you hold a Finnish refugee travel document or an alien’s passport issued by Finland, you must return your refugee travel document or alien’s passport to the police before you can obtain a Finnish passport. See the website www.poliisi.fi for further information, contact details, and instructions on how to apply for a passport. 

30. I applied for Finnish citizenship by declaration. Which date will be entered in the Finnish Population Information System as the date of acquisition of Finnish citizenship?

This depends on when you have met the requirements for acquiring Finnish citizenship. If you met the requirements when your declaration became pending, that date will be registered in the Population Information System as the date when you acquired Finnish citizenship. If you did not yet meet all the requirements when you submitted the declaration, the date when you acquired Finnish citizenship will be the date on which the requirements were met. For example, if you submit a citizenship declaration on 1 January 2023 and meet all the requirements already then, 1 January 2023 will be registered in the Population Information System as the date when you acquired Finnish citizenship.

Reform of the Citizenship Act

 

33. I have applied for Finnish citizenship and I am waiting for the decision. Will the upcoming reform of the Citizenship Act affect my application?

The amendments to the Citizenship Act which affect the required period of residence will enter into force on 1 October 2024. They will not affect your application if you have submitted the application before 1 October 2024. Your application will be processed in accordance with the Act that is currently in force.

The new requirements will apply if you submit your application on 1 October 2024 or thereafter.

34. I’m applying for Finnish citizenship by declaration. Will the reform of the Citizenship Act affect those who apply by declaration?

No, those who can apply by declaration are not affected. The reform of the Citizenship Act only affects those who seek to acquire Finnish citizenship on application.