Finnish citizenship

There are three ways to obtain Finnish citizenship: 

1. by birth
2. by citizenship declaration 
3. by application. 

In most cases, citizenship requires permanent residence in Finland, sufficient proficiency in Finnish or Swedish, and a clean criminal record. The Finnish Immigration Service decides on citizenship based on the Citizenship Act.

You can find detailed instructions on how to apply on the website of the Finnish Immigration Service and in the Citizenship Act on Finlex.

The child of a Finnish citizen receives citizenship at birth from his or her parents. 

Finnish citizenship is automatically transferred on the basis of the parents' Finnish citizenship to a child born on or after 1 June 2003

• whose mother is a Finnish citizen
• whose father is a Finnish citizen and is married to the child’s mother
• who is born in Finland and whose paternity by a Finnish citizen father has been confirmed on or after 1 June 2003, or
• who is born in Finland and whose maternity has been confirmed on or after 1 April 2019 to a Finnish citizen who is not the childbearing mother.

A parent who is a Finnish citizen is obliged to report his or her child born abroad to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, which registers the child in the Population Information System. When the child is registered in the population register, he or she also receives a Finnish personal identity code. Read more on the Finnish Immigration Service website.

If you do not know whether your child has Finnish citizenship from his or her mother or father, you can ask the Finnish Immigration Service to determine the child's citizenship status. Read more on the Finnish Immigration Service website.

You can obtain Finnish nationality by declaration if you are:

• a former Finnish citizen
• a Nordic citizen
• 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 young person between 18 and 22 years of age who has lived in Finland long enough

If you are a citizen of Denmark, Iceland, Norway or Sweden and you have reached the age of 18 years, you are granted Finnish citizenship by citizenship declaration if:

• your permanent residence and domicile have been in Finland for the last five years without interruption
• you have not been sentenced to imprisonment in this period. 

Before submitting your application, you yourself must ensure that you meet the conditions for declaration.

If you are a Nordic citizen but you do not meet all the conditions for applying for citizenship by declaration or if you want to acquire Finnish citizenship already after residence in Finland for two years, you can apply for Finnish citizenship by application. However, citizenship by application is more expensive and slower than by declaration.

If you have lost Finnish citizenship, you can obtain citizenship by a simple declaration procedure, which does not require residence in Finland. However, this does not apply to persons who have lost their Finnish citizenship on the grounds of revocation of maternity or paternity, giving false information or committing an offence of treason, high treason or terrorism. 

Read more about citizenship declaration on the Finnish Immigration Service's website.

You can generally apply for Finnish citizenship if you are currently living in Finland and have lived in Finland for the last eight years. In certain exceptional cases, the required period of residence is shorter:

• The period of residence required is the past 2 years if you are a citizen of Denmark, Iceland, Norway or Sweden or your spouse is a Finnish citizen and a diplomat.
• The period of residence required is 5 years if you have the language skills required for obtaining citizenship or your spouse is a Finnish citizen and you have lived together for at least three years.  If you are stateless, it is sufficient to have lived in Finland for the last 5 years.

In other cases, you can apply for Finnish citizenship by application if you are 18 years of age or older and your permanent residence has been in Finland for the last eight years without interruption. The number of days abroad allowed during your period of residence is listed in Article 16 of the Citizenship Act.

In addition to being of legal age and the period of residence, the following are required in order to obtain Finnish citizenship:

• your identity has been reliably verified
• you have at least satisfactory knowledge of Finnish or Swedish
• you have not committed a crime and you have not been issued with a restraining order
• you have met your payment obligations
• your livelihood is secure.

Derogations can be made to the general requirements for naturalisation on certain grounds that are listed on the Finnish Immigration Service’s website.

In general, you cannot obtain Finnish citizenship if you do not live permanently in Finland. The only exceptions are if you have lost your Finnish citizenship and are applying for citizenship under the facilitated procedure or if you were born abroad after 1 June 2003 and one of your parents is a Finnish citizen. Read more on the Finnish Immigration Service website.

Finnish law allows multiple nationalities. From 1 June 2003, a Finnish citizen does not lose his or her Finnish citizenship when acquiring the citizenship of another country. Nowadays, a citizen of another Nordic country also does not lose his or her citizenship when acquiring Finnish citizenship. 

However, you can lose your Finnish citizenship at the age of 22 if you have the citizenship of another country in addition to Finland and you do not have sufficient ties to Finland.

Read more on the Finnish Immigration Service website.

You can ask the Finnish Immigration Service to determine your nationality if you do not know whether you are or your child is a Finnish citizen or you do not know what citizenship you are considered to hold in Finland. Read more on the Finnish Immigration Service website.

Finnish citizens have a wide range of rights and obligations which are defined in the Finnish Constitution and other laws. These rights and obligations include the following, among others:

• The right to vote: Finnish citizens have the right to vote in national elections, such as parliamentary elections, presidential elections and referendums. Read more on the page Right to vote in Finland.
• Access to the services of a diplomatic mission abroad: Finnish citizens have the right to receive assistance from the Finnish authorities when abroad. This applies, for example, to the consular services of Finnish embassies. Read more on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• Military service: Male Finnish citizens are obliged to perform compulsory military service, which starts at the age of 18. Conscripts must complete either armed or unarmed military service or civilian service. If a conscript is not fit for service, he is released from peacetime service. Entry into service can also be postponed for a justified reason. Military service is voluntary for women. Read more on the website of the Finnish Defence Forces.
• The right to apply for certain government posts: Certain government posts are restricted to Finnish citizens. Read more in the Act on Public Officials in Central Government.