Finnish citizenship requirements: all the conditions in the law

Quick answers

What are the requirements for Finnish citizenship?

A proven identity, age 18, enough years of residence, a clean record, paid obligations, secure income and language skills. Applications from 1 March 2027 also need knowledge of society.

How long do I have to live in Finland?

Usually eight years. This rule has applied since 1 October 2024. In some situations the time is shorter, for example two years for Nordic citizens.

What level of language skills is needed?

Satisfactory spoken and written Finnish or Swedish. In the National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI), this means at least level 3.

Can I receive unemployment benefit?

In the last two years, you may have received unemployment benefit or social assistance for a total of three months at most.

You can get Finnish citizenship by application if you meet the conditions in the Nationality Act (kansalaisuuslaki, 359/2003). The act has been changed several times in 2024–2026. This guide goes through the conditions as they are in October 2026 and explains what changes on 1 January 2027.

Kansalaisuuskurssi is an independent course. The information comes from the text of the law and from InfoFinland. The sources are at the bottom of the page.

What are the requirements for Finnish citizenship?

Under section 13 of the Nationality Act, a foreign national gets Finnish citizenship by application if, when the application is decided, they

1. have turned 18
2. have lived in Finland long enough (residence requirement, asumisaikaedellytys)
3. have not committed crimes (clean record requirement, nuhteettomuusedellytys)
4. have taken care of their payments
5. have secure income (income requirement, toimeentuloedellytys)
6. have satisfactory Finnish or Swedish (language requirement, kielitaitoedellytys).

In addition, your identity must be established (section 6). Applications submitted on or after 1 March 2027 have a new condition: knowledge of society.

Note the words “when the application is decided”. The conditions must be met at the time the decision is made.

Identity

To get citizenship, your identity must be reliably established. You can show it with documents, for example a passport, or with other reliable information.

If you have used the same identity in the Population Information System (väestötietojärjestelmä) for at least ten years, your identity is usually considered established. If you have an alien’s passport issued so that you can get a passport from your own country, you usually need your national passport or an explanation of why you cannot get one.

Age

You must have turned 18. According to InfoFinland, a guardian can apply for citizenship for their underage children at the same time as for themselves.

Period of residence

The general period of residence is eight years. It has applied since 1 October 2024 (Act 474/2024). The law says your actual residence and home must have been in Finland for the last eight years.

The period usually starts on the day you got your first continuous residence permit (jatkuva oleskelulupa). If you already had a permit or right to move to Finland permanently before you moved, the period starts on the day you moved.

This is how the time is counted:

• Half of the time you lived in Finland on a temporary residence permit counts. Then you must have lived here on a continuous permit for at least one year right before the decision.
• You can spend a total of 365 days abroad at most. In the last year, you can spend 90 days abroad at most.
• An uninterrupted stay abroad of more than five years breaks the period of residence.

In some situations the period of residence is shorter:

• Citizens of Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark: two years (section 21).
• The spouse of a Finnish citizen: five years, if you have lived together for at least three years (section 22).
• A stateless person: five years (section 20).
• An applicant who meets the language requirement and has strong ties to Finland: five years (section 18 a).

Clean record

You must not have committed an act that led to a punishment other than a fixed fine (rikesakko). You must not have been given a restraining order either.

An exception can be made if there is a justified reason. Then things like how long ago the crime was and how serious it was are assessed (section 19). If an application is rejected because of crimes, the applicant can be given a waiting period. During that time, citizenship is not granted without a justified reason.

Payments

You must not have seriously neglected your duty to pay maintenance or public payments. InfoFinland gives taxes, fines, child maintenance payments and hospital fees as examples.

Income

The income requirement in its current form has applied since 17 December 2025 (section 17 a). It is met when

• you give reliable information about where your money comes from, and
• in the last two years, you have received unemployment benefit (työttömyysetuus) or social assistance (toimeentulotuki) for a total of three months at most.

The requirement does not apply to people under 18 or to people who have turned 65. An exception can be made if your health or a disability prevents it in the long term, or if there is another very serious reason.

Language skills

You must have satisfactory spoken and written skills in Finnish or Swedish. The alternative is the same level of skill in Finnish or Finland-Swedish sign language.

Under section 17 of the law, you can show your language skills for example with:

• the National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI) at level 3
• the Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate at a satisfactory level
• Finnish or Swedish as a mother tongue or second language in basic education or upper secondary school
• a Finnish- or Swedish-language matriculation examination that includes a pass in Finnish or Swedish
• a vocational qualification completed in Finnish or Swedish.

According to InfoFinland, you need level 3 in the YKI test in one of these combinations: speaking and writing, listening comprehension and writing, or reading comprehension and speaking. Level 3 roughly corresponds to level B1 in the Common European Framework of Reference.

An exception to the language requirement can be made, for example because of health or a sensory or speech disability (section 18 b).

Knowledge of society from 1 March 2027

Act 552/2026 adds a new condition. You must have sufficient knowledge of Finnish society. You can show it with

• a passed citizenship test (kansalaisuuskoe)
• a Finnish- or Swedish-language matriculation examination completed in Finland, or
• a Finnish- or Swedish-language higher education degree completed in Finland.

The requirement applies to people aged 18–64. It applies to applications submitted on or after 1 March 2027. Read more in the guide Finnish citizenship test.

Other reasons for a negative decision

Citizenship is not granted, even if you meet the conditions, if there is a justified reason to suspect that it would endanger national security. The same applies if granting it would, for another serious reason, be against the interests of society or the state (section 6 a).

Do the new rules apply to an application I have already submitted?

Usually not. The amending acts 474/2024, 929/2025 and 552/2026 have the same transitional rule: if the application is pending when the change enters into force, the old provisions apply to it.

What should you do now?

Go through the conditions one at a time. Count your period of residence and check which language certificate you have. If you plan to apply after 1 March 2027, prepare for the citizenship test as well. You can find the steps of applying in the guide how to apply for Finnish citizenship.

Difficult words

period of residence (asumisaika)

the time you have lived in Finland that the law counts

clean record (nuhteettomuus)

that you have not committed crimes

income (toimeentulo)

the money you live on, for example a salary

continuous residence permit (jatkuva oleskelulupa)

a residence permit given when you plan to live in Finland permanently

National Certificate of Language Proficiency (yleinen kielitutkinto, YKI)

the official language test for adults that measures everyday language skills

pending (vireillä)

the application has been submitted, but no decision has been made yet