Finnish citizenship

Applying for Finnish citizenship before all requirements are met can lead to a negative decision. With the required language skills, the residence period is 5 years instead of the general 8 years. Applications submitted on or after 17 December 2025 are processed under the new means-of-support requirements.

Which rules apply to you — the three reforms and the date that decides

Recent legislative updates mean the rules governing your application depend on the date you submit it. On 1 October 2024 the general residence period for citizenship was extended from 5 years to 8 years. Amendments in force from 17 December 2025 added the sufficient-financial-resources rule, longer crime waiting periods (1–8 years) and wider grounds for losing citizenship. The means-of-support amendment applies by submission date; applications submitted on or after 17 December 2025 are processed under the new requirements.

A civic-knowledge requirement, met for example by a citizenship test, enters into force on 1 January 2027 and applies to applications submitted on or after 1 March 2027. An application submitted in the electronic service Enter Finland before 1 March 2027 is not subject to the test even if the identity appointment comes later. In all cases, applying before all requirements are met can lead to a negative decision.

The residence period — 8 years, or 5 with a language certificate

For applications submitted on or after 1 October 2024, the general rule is that you live in Finland now and have lived there for the past 8 years, legally and with a permit or right of residence throughout. The residence period is shorter in specific situations:

• Language skills: With the required language skills, the residence period is the past 5 years.
• Family ties: A spouse, cohabiting partner or registered partner of a Finnish citizen needs 5 years of residence and at least 3 years of living together (see the legal steps for marrying a Finnish citizen).
• Nordic nationals and diplomats: Citizens of Denmark, Iceland, Norway or Sweden need 2 years by application, or 5 years by declaration; the spouse of a Finnish diplomat needs 2 years.
• Exceptional grounds: In rare cases 3 years is enough, for permanent full-time work that is unreasonably difficult without citizenship (supported by an employer statement) or other very serious reasons.

Residence under an EU registration or a Brexit withdrawal-agreement right of residence counts as legal residence.

Counting your days — B permits, gaps and time abroad

For applications submitted on or after 1 October 2024, count your residence period according to the residence period rules set by Migri:

• Permit types: Time on a temporary (tilapäinen, B) permit before getting a continuous (jatkuva, A) permit counts at half; the period starts on the date the A permit was granted. Former B-permit holders must hold a valid A permit or permanent (pysyvä, P) permit when applying and have lived on an A or P permit for at least 1 year before the decision. For more on permit classes, review residence permit conditions and qualifying for permanent residence in Finland.
• Start dates: If your first permit was an A permit granted before moving, the period starts on the moving date; if you arrived first, it starts on the grant date. For EU and Nordic citizens, the period starts on the later of the moving date and the registration of the notification of move; EU citizens must have applied for registration within 3 months of entry.
• Permit breaks: Gaps between residence permits do not count towards the residence period.
• Absences: Up to 365 days abroad in total may count, of which at most 90 in the year immediately before applying; days of departure and return count as days in Finland. A continuous 5-year stay outside Finland interrupts the residence period and counting starts over.

Language skills and how to prove them

Applicants need at least satisfactory spoken and written Finnish or Swedish (or Finnish / Finland-Swedish Sign Language). The language certificate must already exist when the application is submitted.

Accepted proofs include:

• Passing the intermediate level (level 3 or higher) of the YKI test (yleinen kielitutkinto) in Finnish or Swedish.
• The Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate (valtionhallinnon kielitutkinto) with satisfactory skills.
• Finnish school-leaving certificates or the matriculation examination (ylioppilastutkinto).
• Full vocational qualifications completed in Finnish or Swedish.
• Finnish or Swedish language studies or the maturity test (kypsyysnäyte) included in a Finnish higher education degree.

Exceptions to the language requirement are very rare (limited to applicants aged over 65, health reasons, being illiterate on arrival as an adult, or other weighty reasons). Requesting an exception slows processing, and the application fee is not refunded on refusal.

Money, debts and a clean record

For applications submitted from 17 December 2025, sufficient means of support means no more than 3 months in total of unemployment benefit or social assistance (toimeentulotuki) in the past 2 years. Unemployment benefit here includes labour market subsidy (työmarkkinatuki), basic and earnings-related unemployment allowance, and the general social security benefit that replaced the first two from 1 May 2026. Social assistance paid to the applicant's spouse or partner also counts against the applicant. Read which Kela benefits count against the 3-month rule. Applicants aged 65 or over are not subject to the means-of-support requirement.

There is no set income threshold for citizenship; residence-permit income thresholds do not apply, but income must be legal and enough to live on.

Taxes, fines, hospital fees, child maintenance and state-guaranteed student loan instalments must be paid, and no Kela benefit may be under garnishment.

Criminal records also impact applications. Offences punished only by a fixed fine (rikesakko) or a traffic penalty fee (liikennevirhemaksu) do not affect the decision. However, typical waiting periods apply to other penalties:

• 1–4 years after a day-fine unit sentence (päiväsakko), counted from the offence date.
• 3–5 years after conditional imprisonment, counted from the offence date.
• 4–8 years after unconditional imprisonment, counted from the completion of the sentence.

The citizenship test from March 2027

For applications submitted on or after 1 March 2027, the civic-knowledge requirement applies to applicants aged 18–64 who apply by citizenship application. It can be met by passing the citizenship test, or by holding a Finnish- or Swedish-language matriculation exam or higher-education degree completed in Finland. A YKI certificate does not meet the civic-knowledge requirement; it is a separate requirement.

The test will be taken digitally on site and answered in Finnish or Swedish. The format is multiple choice covering legislation, rights, equality, history and culture, and most answers must be correct to pass. Learning materials and registration are not yet available; the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) will publish details in autumn 2026 and the first test is expected in March 2027. Applicants who qualify by citizenship declaration do not take the test.

Applying, paying and waiting

Adults apply by citizenship application from age 18 and must be in Finland to apply. The adult citizenship application process via Migri requires completing form KAN_1, available only in Finnish or Swedish.

1. Submit and pay: Apply in Enter Finland or on paper. The fee is €550 for an online application and €650 on paper. A child applying together with a parent applies free of charge. The processing fee is not refunded after a negative decision or if the application is cancelled.
2. Prove identity: Prove identity at a Migri service point. A service-point visit can be skipped when logging in with strong identification, applying and paying online, and applying for yourself only.
3. Wait for processing: In October 2026, Migri's estimate for an adult citizenship application was 33 months in most cases and 17 months in a minority of cases; estimates are updated every 2 months. In October 2026, about 19,400 citizenship applications were waiting. They are not always processed in arrival order, and your place in the processing queue starts when your identity is proved.

A residence permit must be extended while the citizenship application is pending. Time spent without a valid permit does not count towards residence requirements, and permit expiry is not a valid ground to expedite a citizenship application. Your foreign passport must also remain valid for the whole processing time.

After a positive decision

Finland accepts multiple citizenship. Under Finnish law, you do not need to give up your current nationality, though your home country's laws may restrict holding dual citizenship.

Once citizenship is granted, your Finnish residence permit is cancelled and the physical residence permit card must be returned to Migri. Finnish passports are issued by the police, not Migri. If your application receives a negative decision, you can appeal directly to an Administrative Court.