The government of Finland in its latest reforms for citizenship, wants to increase the residence period required for Finnish citizenship from the current five years to eight years. The reforms of its immigration policy will be implemented in stages in three legal projects.
What are the exact new changes for the new Citizenship laws?
The major changes announced are:
- extending the residence period from 5 to 8 years,
- only stays in Finland with a residence permit would be accepted as a residence period,
- the number of days abroad accepted during the residence period would be reduced,
- a child who has turned 15, a spouse of a Finnish citizen, a stateless person, and an applicant who meets the language proficiency requirement would need 5 years instead of 4 to qualify for the citizenship period,
- Citizens of the Nordic countries and the spouse of an employee of the Finnish mission would continue to be required to live for two years,
- The exception regarding the period of residence of a recipient of international protection would be removed from the law.
Next, the government plans to tighten the integrity and income requirements of the Citizenship Act and introduce a citizenship test as well.
When are the citizenship laws to be implemented?
According to the Finnish parliament announcement, the proposed law is intended to enter into force on 1 October 2024. The proposal to amend the Citizenship Act was presented to the parliament at the session of the Government Council on April 18. According to reports, the last government proposals are to be given to the parliament in the fall term of 2024 and the spring term of 2025.
In 2022, Finland awarded 10,198 foreign nationals the Finnish Citizenship. Russians dominated the list with 2,062 followed by Iraq 950, and Estonia 626.
Statistics Finland
Goal of the changes
According to the Finnish Parliament, the goal of the proposal is to reform the Citizenship Act by the government program by tightening the conditions for naturalization. This presentation contains proposals for the implementation of actions related to residence time. The purpose is to emphasize successful integration as a prerequisite for obtaining citizenship and enable security aspects to be taken into account even better.
8 Instead of 5 years for citizenship residence requirement
Immigrants will have to wait 8 years instead of 5 to apply for citizenship in Finland. This will indeed increase the time of acquiring citizenship. It is however only one component of many other citizenship application requirements. On the other hand, for asylum seekers, the time passed during the asylum process would not be counted towards a citizenship-eligible stay.
Change in special citizenship cases
In the future, five years of residence would be required from a child who has turned 15, a spouse of a Finnish citizen, a stateless person, and an applicant who meets the language proficiency requirement, instead of the current four years.
In addition, the residence period would be increased by one year to three years in situations where the residence period is deviated from for very compelling reasons.
Citizens of the Nordic countries and the spouse of an employee of the Finnish mission would continue to be required to live for two years.
Finland is an EU country and also is a member of the Schengen zone.
Citizenship laws for international protection holders
The government’s reform of tightening the citizenship law would also apply to applicants receiving international protection, whose exception regarding the period of residence would be removed. Therefore, the residence period could not be deviated from in the future based on receiving international protection. However, according to the government’s proposal, the citizenship application for these persons should also be processed as urgent. The decision should be made no later than one year after applying.
Finland has also made changes in the asylum seeker rules. More information can be accessed here.
Number of Citizenships Awarded by Finland
According to the latest Statistics Finland, 10,198 foreign nationals have been awarded the Finnish Citizenship in 2022.
| Foreigners Nationality | Number of Finnish citizenships granted |
| Russia | 2,062 |
| Iraq | 950 |
| Estonia | 626 |
| Somalia | 554 |
| Afghanistan | 363 |
| Syria | 352 |
| Vietnam | 331 |
| Thailand | 325 |
| Ukraine | 321 |
| Turkey | 238 |
| Iran | 219 |
| Sweden | 199 |
| India | 174 |
| Nepal | 171 |
| Bangladesh | 166 |
| Nigeria | 160 |
| UNKNOWN | 160 |
| Philippines | 158 |
| Former Serbia and Montenegro | 144 |
| Pakistan | 143 |
| United Kingdom | 97 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 89 |
| Hungary | 84 |
| China | 83 |
| Poland | 78 |
| Romania | 78 |
| United States | 74 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 67 |
| Ghana | 67 |
| Egypt | 64 |
| Kenya | 63 |
| Brazil | 60 |
| Morocco | 60 |
| Spain | 58 |
| Germany | 57 |
| Ethiopia | 54 |
| Italy | 54 |
| Latvia | 51 |
| Sudan | 50 |
| WITHOUT CITIZENSHIP | 50 |
| Belarus | 49 |
| Bulgaria | 48 |
| Algeria | 43 |
| Serbia | 43 |
| Lithuania | 37 |
| Myanmar | 36 |
| Gambia | 32 |
| Yemen | 30 |
| Kazakstan | 29 |
| Cuba | 28 |
| Greece | 28 |
| Sri Lanka | 28 |
| Cameroon | 27 |
| Eritrea | 27 |
| Albania | 26 |
| Mexico | 23 |
| Canada | 18 |
| Norway | 18 |
| Rwanda | 18 |
| Czechia | 17 |
| France | 17 |
| North Macedonia | 17 |
| Croatia | 14 |
| Israel | 14 |
| Peru | 14 |
| Colombia | 13 |
| Australia | 12 |
| Jordan | 12 |
| Tunisia | 12 |
| Angola | 11 |
| Uzbekistan | 11 |
| Azerbaijan | 10 |
| Belgium | 10 |
| Chile | 10 |
| Lebanon | 10 |
| Netherlands | 10 |
| Portugal | 10 |
| Côte d’Ivoire | 9 |
| Indonesia | 9 |
| Japan | 9 |
| Venezuela | 9 |
| Malaysia | 8 |
| Uganda | 8 |
| Argentina | 7 |
| Cambodia | 7 |
| Dominican Republic | 7 |
| Slovakia | 7 |
| South Africa | 7 |
| Georgia | 6 |
| Guinea | 6 |
| Switzerland | 6 |
| Tanzania | 6 |
| Togo | 6 |
| Armenia | 5 |
| Ecuador | 5 |
| Iceland | 5 |
| Mali | 5 |
| South Sudan | 5 |
| Turkmenistan | 5 |
| Austria | 4 |
| Denmark | 4 |
| Honduras | 4 |
| Moldova | 4 |
| South Korea | 4 |
| Bolivia | 3 |
| Congo | 3 |
| Laos | 3 |
| Liberia | 3 |
| Luxembourg | 3 |
| Madagascar | 3 |
| Nicaragua | 3 |
| Senegal | 3 |
| Slovenia | 3 |
| Zimbabwe | 3 |
| Burkina Faso | 2 |
| Costa Rica | 2 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 2 |
| Ireland | 2 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 2 |
| Malawi | 2 |
| Mozambique | 2 |
| Namibia | 2 |
| Niger | 2 |
| Zambia | 2 |
| Bahrain | 1 |
| Benin | 1 |
| Burundi | 1 |
| Dominica | 1 |
| El Salvador | 1 |
| Former Soviet Union | 1 |
| Guatemala | 1 |
| Jamaica | 1 |
| Libya | 1 |
| Malta | 1 |
| Montenegro | 1 |
| New Zealand | 1 |
| Palestine | 1 |
| Panama | 1 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1 |