FAQ: Reform of the Citizenship Act

We intend to consult public authorities and other stakeholders in the projects. The draft government proposals will be circulated for comments. 

You can follow the progress of the Citizenship Act projects on the Ministry of the Interior's website, where the decisions to set up the projects are posted, for example. The documents related to the consultation rounds will also be added to the site.  

1. First project: https://intermin.fi/hankkeet/hankesivu?tunnus=SM034:00/2023  
2. Second project: https://intermin.fi/hankkeet/hankesivu?tunnus=SM055:00/2023 
3. Third project: https://intermin.fi/hankkeet/hankesivu?tunnus=SM056:00/2023 

This is a major reform with multiple objectives. In addition, several of the objectives must be studied before proceeding with the reform. That is why the citizenship entries in the Programme of Prime Minister Orpo's Government will be implemented gradually.

The Government submitted its first proposal to Parliament on 18 April 2024, the second is intended to be submitted during the autumn session 2024 and the third during the spring session 2025

You can follow the progress of the parliamentary processing of changes to the period of residence on Parliament's website.

At https://intermin.fi/hankkeet/hankesivu?tunnus=SM034:00/2023 is where documents such as those related to the consultation rounds are published (in Finnish). 

The Government proposes that the amendments enter into force in October 2024.

The Government proposes that the changes to the period of residence would apply to applications made after the changes enter into force. Applications filed before then would be subject to the provisions of the Citizenship Act that were in force at the time of submitting the application. 

Under the Government Programme, the required period of residence in Finland will be extended to eight years. The change is connected to the Government Programme's objective of tightening the requirements for naturalisation. The extension of the required period of residence is intended to put emphasis on successful integration as a requirement for gaining citizenship and to enable security concerns to be addressed more effectively. Naturalisation means granting Finnish citizenship upon application. 

Under the Government Programme, the derogation pertaining to the period of residence of people who have been granted international protection will be removed and the removal of derogations applicable to stateless persons must be examined. In most cases, gaining citizenship would require eight years of residence. The purpose of extending the period of residence required for naturalisation by at least one year for practically all applicants is to enable the achievement of the objectives linked to the extension of the residence period as comprehensively as possible.

Government proposal proposes that the residence requirement for children aged 15 or over, spouses of Finnish citizens, stateless persons and applicants meeting the language proficiency requirement would be extended to five years from the current four.

Under the Government Programme, only residence under a residence permit would be taken into account when calculating the approved period of residence and the number of days spent abroad that are approved as part of the period of residence would be decreased. The Government proposal also proposes these amendments to the Citizenship Act.  

Under the Government Programme, citizenship will not be granted if the person concerned does not actively help in establishing their identity. Identity is usually demonstrated with a passport issued by the state of citizenship or with another identification document. The project intends to examine in detail how the Citizenship Act’s provisions on identity could be amended and to prepare those amendments. 

Naturalisation currently requires that the person applying for citizenship can provide a reliable account of their livelihood. Their income can include social benefits.  Tightening the requirement for sufficient financial resources will be examined in more detail in the project. 

Under the Citizenship Act, a person will not be naturalised if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the naturalisation will jeopardise the security of the State or public order. The project is also intended to examine the assessment of national security in the naturalisation process in more detail. 

The project will examine this in more detail. 

The integrity requirement means that the person applying for citizenship must not have committed a crime. The Citizenship Act permits derogating from the integrity requirement. The time that has elapsed since the offence, the nature of the offence and whether the applicant has committed offences repeatedly are taken into consideration when assessing the possibility of derogation. If citizenship is not granted, a waiting period can be imposed on the applicant, during which they cannot normally acquire citizenship. Tightening the integrity requirement could apply to, for example, the waiting periods imposed due to crimes. 

You can follow the progress of the second phase of the amendments to the Citizenship Act at https://intermin.fi/hankkeet/hankesivu?tunnus=SM055:00/2023 | fi. 

The decision to set up the project | fi

Under the Government Programme, the Government intends to look into the Danish approach to revoking the citizenship of a person with dual citizenship who participates in the activities of an armed terrorist group or other similar activities abroad. In other words, the objective involves examining whether Finnish citizenship could be lost by participating in the activities of an armed terrorist group or other similar activities abroad. 

The project will examine the possible amendments to the Citizenship Act in more detail. 

The Government Programme includes three objectives concerning the loss of citizenship: 

1. The first applies to cases in which an individual has acquired citizenship by giving false information or by otherwise acting fraudulently. 
2. The second involves cases in which an individual has been found guilty of a serious terrorist, treason or high treason offence. 
3. The third objective concerns participation in the activities of an armed terrorist group. 

The intention is to tighten the current provisions of the Citizenship Act. The second project will examine the amendments to be made to the Citizenship Act in more detail. 

You can follow the progress of the preparations for the citizenship test at https://intermin.fi/hankkeet/hankesivu?tunnus=SM056:00/2023 | fi. 

Naturalisation already requires satisfactory skills in Finnish or Swedish. Ways of demonstrating language skills will be examined both in phase 2 and in connection with the citizenship test in phase 3. 

The European Migration Network (EMN) published a study on acquiring  citizenship in European countries in July 2020. According to the study, over half of EU Member States require a citizenship test or affirmation of loyalty for naturalisation. At the time, citizenship tests were in use in Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Spain, France, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia and the Netherlands. 

Of the other Nordic countries, Denmark and Norway have citizenship tests in place. Sweden is planning to introduce a citizenship test. Iceland does not have a citizenship test. 

EMN study on acquiring citizenship in European countries

In addition to the Ministry of the Interior, the working group includes members from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, Ministry of Education and Culture, Finnish Immigration Service, National Police Board of Finland, Finnish National Agency for Education, Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, Association of Finnish Municipalities and the six largest Finnish cities (C6 cities). The working group will consult experts, such as the security authorities, as required.

The decision to appoint the working group for examining the introduction of a citizenship test | fi

A cross-administrative working group has been set up for the introduction of the citizenship test. The working group includes members from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, Ministry of Education and Culture, Finnish Immigration Service, National Police Board of Finland, Finnish National Agency for Education, Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, Association of Finnish Municipalities and the six largest Finnish cities (C6 cities).

The group's purpose is to determine, for example who would administer the test and its organisation. 

The Government Programme has set the objective that passing a citizenship test would be required for naturalisation. Finland does not have a citizenship test in place, so this would be a new condition for naturalisation. In other countries, citizenship tests include questions on the general rules of society, as well as the country’s history and political system. 

The contents of the test will be looked into by a working group with participants from a variety of administrative branches. There is no detailed information on the contents and arrangements of the test at this stage. 

Under the Government Programme, the Government will examine the possibilities of introducing the principle of reciprocity in respect of the dual citizenship system, taking into account the rights of the child and family law issues. The examination of the dual citizenship system called for by the Government Programme will be carried out in 2024. It is not yet possible to say what amendments would be proposed based on the examination. The completion of the examination will be announced in due course.