If you are applying for an extended permit or citizenship or renewing your residence permit card or residence card, it is possible that you do not need to visit a service point to prove your identity. For more information about when visiting a service point is not necessary, see the page Identification.
Finnish citizenship
Apply for Finnish citizenship only when you meet all the requirements for acquiring Finnish citizenship.
Before you apply, please read carefully the requirements that are listed on the page Citizenship application for adults.
If you apply for citizenship before you meet the requirements, you may receive a negative decision. The processing of your application will take longer if we need to ask you for additional information or documents.
You can apply for Finnish citizenship if you meet the following conditions:
- You are at least 18 years of age and your identity has been reliably established. Please make sure that your passport is valid when you apply for citizenship.
- You have the required documents as proof of your language skills.
- You have lived in Finland for the past 8 years. In some cases, a shorter period of residence is sufficient.
- You are not guilty of any crime and no restraining order has been issued against you.
- You can provide documents as proof of how you have earned enough money to live in Finland.
- You have met your payment obligations.
You can apply for citizenship for your children at the same time as you apply for citizenship for yourself. The children must be under 18 years of age and you must have custody of them.
In certain cases, an easier way of acquiring Finnish citizenship is by declaration. You can become a Finnish citizen by declaration if you are:
- a former Finnish citizen
- a Nordic citizen
- a young person between 18 and 22 years of age who has lived in Finland long enough,
- an adopted child between 12 and 17 years of age
- a child (under 18) who was born abroad outside marriage to a Finnish father, or to 2 mothers and your Finnish mother is your non-birth mother
- an adult (18 or over) whose parent is a Finnish citizen
- you were born abroad outside marriage to a Finnish father or were born abroad to 2 mothers and your Finnish mother is your non-birth mother
- you were born in Finland and your Finnish father’s paternity or your Finnish mother’s maternity was established after you had reached 18 years of age.
For more information on applying for Finnish citizenship and the requirements for naturalisation, as well as possible exceptions to the requirements, please visit http://www.migri.fi/en
If you are not sure which grounds for applying you should choose, use the Application Finder on the Finnish Immigration Service website to find out.
Select the application that suits your situation
When you meet the requirements for becoming a Finnish citizen on application.
When you meet the requirements for becoming a Finnish citizen by declaration.
Please note that the processing of your application will take longer if we need to ask for additional information or documents. See the page Processing times for more information.
You can follow the status of your application by logging in to your Enter Finland account. The Finnish Immigration Service will send you an automated message when the processing situation of your application changes. We will contact you if we need additional information from you.