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.
Finnish citizenship
The declaration or application can be submitted electronically in the e-service Enter Finland or on a paper form.
The applicant can also visit a Finnish embassy or consulate to prove his or her identity if he or she has submitted a citizenship declaration.
If the applicant has applied for citizenship with a paper form, he or she will get the decision by post.
The applicant may appeal the decision to an Administrative Court.
Information about the acquired Finnish citizenship will be automatically recorded in the Population Information System of Finland. If the applicant has a residence permit, it will expire.