FAQ: Reform of the Citizenship Act

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 spring session 2025 and the third during the autumn session 2025

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

The integrity requirement will be made more stringent, so that committing offences will have a more substantial impact on whether the applicant can be granted citizenship. 

The waiting times imposed on the basis of offences would generally be extended by one year. The waiting period means the period after which a person could apply for citizenship again. In future, applicants whose application has been rejected could be imposed a waiting period between one to eight years. 

Moreover, it would be laid down in the Act that a person guilty of a very serious offence would not be granted citizenship.

If it is assessed that a person jeopardises the security of Finland, citizenship could be refused on the basis of national security. 

The current Act allows the assessment of national security to be considered only when the person has submitted a citizenship application. Going forward, citizenship could also be refused on the basis of national security when citizenship is applied through citizenship declaration. This would make it possible to intervene more effectively in threats endangering national security.

Statements could also be requested from the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service and the National Bureau of Investigation on citizenship declarations.

In future, applicants for Finnish citizenship would be required to have sufficient financial resources. 

More attention will be paid to sufficient financial resources as an indicator of integration into Finnish society. This means that persons who do not have any income other than unemployment benefit or social assistance will no longer meet this requirement.

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 obligation of the person to establish their identity would be increased compared with the current situation. The amendments will only apply to those who can be reasonably expected to present their national passport. The amendments will not apply to beneficiaries of international protection.

Legislative amendments on the loss of citizenship will apply to situations where the applicant has given false information during the application process or has committed offences that violate Finland’s vital interests. In such situations, the loss of citizenship can become more common in future. This would mean that a larger number of terrorism-related offences, for example, could lead to the loss of citizenship.

The President of the Republic approved the amendments on 5 July 2024, and they entered into force on 1 October 2024.

The amendments concerning the period of residence apply to applications submitted on or after 1 October. The provisions of the Citizenship Act that were in force before the amendments entered into force apply to applications submitted before that date. 

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 prerequisite for being granted citizenship and to make it possible to address security aspects more effectively than before.

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.

The period of residence required for Finnish citizenship was extended from the current five years to eight years starting on 1 October 2024. In future, only periods of residence with a residence permit will 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 was decreased. 

The derogation pertaining to the period of residence of people who have been granted international protection was also removed. With the amendment, the residence requirement for spouses of Finnish citizens, children aged 15 or over, stateless persons and applicants meeting the language proficiency requirement was extended to five years from the current four.

The introduction of a citizenship test is part of the reform of the Citizenship Act, in which the conditions for acquiring Finnish citizenship will be tightened in accordance with the Government Programme. The aim is that in order to become a citizen, applicants would be required to have the basic knowledge and skills they need to be able to take part in Finnish society. The applicant could prove this by passing the citizenship test.

The cross-administrative working group examined how a citizenship test could be implemented in Finland, and also assessed the relationship between the citizenship test and the language skills requirement.  The acquisition of citizenship already requires that the applicant have a certain level of skills in Finnish or Swedish. 

In addition to the Ministry of the Interior, the working group included 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 consulted experts, such as the security authorities, as necessary.
 

The working group drew up three alternative models for testing language skills and knowledge of society. In one model, language skills would remain a separate requirement in the Act, and applicants would have to provide an account of their language skills and knowledge of society in advance.  In the other two models, language skills would be tested either as part of the knowledge of society test or as a two-part test.

This is a new requirement for acquiring Finnish citizenship, which means that Finland does not yet have a citizenship test in place. According to the working group that prepared the report on the introduction of a citizenship test, the topics of the test could include:

•    fundamental and human rights
•    civic knowledge
•    history and geography
•    everyday skills
•    customs and values
•    safety and security
•    digital skills
 

The citizenship test would be carried out in person under supervision, and it would, as a rule, be in digital format. The test would include at least multiple-choice questions and true or false questions.

The organiser of the citizenship test is not yet known, but preparations for introducing the test will continue at the Ministry of the Interior in cooperation with other administrative branches.
 

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 countriesLink to an external website

Preparations for introducing a citizenship test will continue at the Ministry of the Interior in cooperation with other administrative branches. The government bill is scheduled to be submitted to Parliament during 2025. 

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

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.