FAQ: Reform of the Citizenship Act

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

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 

The projects include consultations with public authorities and other stakeholders. The draft government proposals will also be circulated for comments. 

The integrity requirement will be tightened so that committing offences will have a greater impact on whether an applicant can be granted citizenship. 

Waiting periods imposed because of offences will generally be extended by one year. The waiting period is the time after which a person can apply for citizenship again. In future, applicants whose application has been rejected may face a waiting period of one to eight years. 

In addition, the Act now states that a person guilty of a very serious offence cannot acquire Finnish citizenship.

The changes to 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. For example, more terrorism-related offences can now lead to loss of citizenship. A person with dual citizenship may lose Finnish citizenship if they are sentenced to at least two years for a terrorist, treason or high treason offence (previously the threshold was five years).

In line with the Government Programme, citizenship will not be granted if the person does not actively help the authorities to establish their identity. Identity is usually proven with a passport from the applicant’s country of nationality or another official identification document.

The applicant’s obligation to prove their identity will be stronger than before. These changes will only apply to people who can reasonably be expected to present their national passport. They will not apply to beneficiaries of international protection.

Applicants for Finnish citizenship will need to have sufficient financial resources. 

People who have no income other than unemployment benefit or social assistance will no longer be eligible for citizenship.

If a person is assessed as a threat to Finland’s national security, their application for citizenship can be refused.
This applies regardless of whether the person seeks citizenship by application or by declaration. This change makes it easier to address threats to national security.

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

A citizenship declaration is a simplified procedure for certain groups, such as former Finnish citizens and Nordic citizens. It has fewer conditions than the application procedure.

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 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 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 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, National Agency for Education, Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, Association of Finnish Cities and Municipalities, and the six largest Finnish cities (C6 cities). The working group consulted various experts.

Report on the introduction of a citizenship test | fi

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 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

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.

A study on the dual nationality system in line with the Government Programme will be carried out as part of the third project. 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.