Finnish citizenship
You can apply for Finnish citizenship by submitting:
- a citizenship application if you live in Finland and meet the requirements for becoming a Finnish citizen
- a citizenship declaration if you are, for example, a former Finnish citizen or a young person between 18 and 22 years of age who has lived in Finland for a long time. Use the Application Finder to check whether you can get Finnish citizenship by declaration.
See also the frequently asked questions about Finnish citizenship.
Multiple citizenship
Finland accepts multiple citizenship. In other words, a Finnish citizen may also be a citizen of some other country.
If you have one or more citizenships in addition to your Finnish citizenship, the Finnish authorities will consider you to be a Finnish citizen in Finland and abroad.
The authorities of other countries may not necessarily consider you to be a Finnish citizen because not every country accepts multiple citizenship.
Finnish citizenship through your parents
A child of a Finnish citizen receives Finnish citizenship through his or her parents at birth.
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 one of the following conditions is met:
- 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.
Determination of citizenship
You may ask the Finnish Immigration Service to determine your citizenship status if:
- you want to know if you are a Finnish citizen
- you want to know what citizenship you are considered to hold in Finland.
Loss of Finnish citizenship
You may lose your Finnish citizenship if, for example:
- you turn 22 years of age, you are a citizen of another country in addition to Finland and you lack a sufficient connection to Finland
- you have been granted Finnish citizenship on application or by declaration but you have given false or misleading information to the Finnish authorities.
Read more about losing your Finnish citizenship.
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. In addition, you will usually receive automated messages at the different processing stages of your application.
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.
Asset Publisher
You can avoid visiting a service point if you use Enter Finland to apply for an extended permit, Finnish citizenship or a new residence permit card
Mariehamn service point will also be open on 24–27 October 2023
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Are you planning to travel outside Finland this summer? Read this before you travel
This website is part of the European Commission's Your Europe portal. Did you find what you were looking for? Give feedback to the European Commission! If you wish to give feedback to the Finnish Immigration Service, go to the page migri.fi/feedback.
