Finnish citizenship
A child of a Finnish citizen receives Finnish citizenship through his or her parents (the parentage principle). This means that the Finnish citizenship of a child's mother or father will automatically be passed on to the child. The parentage principle is always applied in accordance with the provisions of the Nationality Act that were in force at the time the child was born. The current Nationality Act entered into force on 1 June 2003. The latest amendments were made on 1 April 2019 as the Maternity Act entered into force.
The Finnish citizenship of a child’s parent will automatically pass on to a child who is born on 1 June 2003 or later, if:
- the child’s mother is a Finnish citizen
- the child’s father is a Finnish citizen and married to the child’s mother
- the child is born in Finland and the father is a Finnish citizen whose paternity has been established on 1 June 2003 or later
- the child is born in Finland and the child’s non-birth mother is a Finnish citizen whose maternity has been established on 1 April 2019 or later.
The Finnish Immigration Service may grant Finnish citizenship on declaration or on application. For an applicant, the declaration procedure is a faster and more inexpensive way to become a citizen. Finnish citizenship may be obtained by declaration by:
- a child born abroad and out of wedlock to a Finnish man or a Finnish non-birth mother
- an adopted child between 12 and 17 years of age
- a former Finnish citizen
- a Nordic citizen
- a young person between 18 and 22 years of age who has lived in Finland long enough
If you do not belong to any of these groups, you may get citizenship by application (this process is called ‘naturalisation’). In order to get a positive decision on your application, you must fulfil the requirements for naturalisation:
- established identity
- sufficient language skills
- sufficient period of residence
- integrity
- means of support
- fulfilled payment obligations
Finland accepts multiple citizenship. In other words, a Finnish citizen may also be a citizen of some other country. Even if a Finnish citizen has more than one citizenship, the Finnish authorities will consider him or her to be a Finnish citizen both in Finland and abroad. However, the authorities of other countries may not necessarily consider him or her to be a Finnish citizen because not every country accepts multiple citizenship in the same way.
Apply for citizenship by submitting an application that suits your situation, or by declaration. Submit the application in the e-service Enter Finland or on paper.
After you have filled in the application, you must visit a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.
- If you have applied through the e-service, visit the Finnish Immigration Service to prove your identity and show the originals of the documents that you have attached to your application. If you submit your application through the e-service, pay for it there.
- If you have filled in a paper application, you need to bring it to our service point and. At the same time, you need to prove your identity, show the originals of the documents that you have attached to your application, and pay the processing fee.
If you are applying for citizenship together with your child or only for your child, you must bring the child with you to a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.
Do not submit a citizenship application if you do not fulfil every requirement for becoming a citizen.
The application will be put in the processing queue of the Finnish Immigration Service. You can find the expected processing times here. You can follow the processing of your application with the help of our chatbot Kamu. Kamu can check the status of your application among all other applications with the same type of matter and processing grounds. For more information, see the page migri.fi/chat1.
Do not submit an incomplete application. If an obligatory attachment is missing, it will slow down the processing and you may receive a negative decision. If we notice that any obligatory attachments are missing or if we need additional information from you while we are processing your application, we will contact you.
If you have submitted your application through the e-service, you may also supplement it there. If you have submitted a paper application, you may supplement it by post. Please note! Due to the coronavirus outbreak, you cannot bring letters to our service points. For more detailed instructions, see the page migri.fi/you-are-in-finland.
You may cancel your application at any time during its processing. Read more on the page "Cancelling an application". The processing fee will not be returned to you even if you cancel your application.
If you have applied for citizenship through the e-service Enter Finland, you will get an e-mail or a text message when a decision has been made. You will also see it in your user account in the e-service.
If you have submitted a paper application, you will be notified of the decision by post. Some decisions will be sent by post with an advice of delivery. Read more about collecting your letter.
If you receive a positive decision, the information about your Finnish citizenship will be automatically entered into the Population Information System.
A Finnish citizen cannot have a residence permit in Finland. If you are granted Finnish citizenship, your residence permit will be cancelled. Submit your residence permit card, the registration certificate of your right of residence, or your residence permit sticker to the Finnish Immigration Service for cancelling.
Finnish passports are granted by the police.
The processing fee will not be returned to you even if you receive a negative decision.
If you receive a negative decision, the Finnish law gives you the right to appeal against the decision to an Administrative Court. Instructions on how to appeal will be attached to the decision.
The majority of decisions made by the Administrative Courts are subject to a fee. Contact an Administrative Court to find out more about court fees.
In citizenship-related matters, send your appeal directly to an Administrative Court.
The declaration or application can be submitted electronically in the e-service Enter Finland or on a paper form.
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