Finland has introduced new citizenship rules to penalise welfare-dependent applicants. The amendments to the Finnish Citizenship Act introduce stricter requirements regarding financial resources, integrity, and citizenship loss. These changes will impact all citizenship applications submitted from 17 December 2025.
There are now more stringent standards for obtaining Finnish citizenship. The requirements for enough financial resources, the integrity requirement, and the loss of citizenship are all covered by the Citizenship Act modifications that go into effect on December 17, 2025.
New Citizenship Requirements
The applicant must not have received unemployment benefits or social assistance for more than three months in total during the past two years, as a new stricter requirement for sufficient financial resources.
The amendments to Finnish citizenship law extend the waiting period related to criminal offences, making it 1–8 years in cases of negative decisions, up from a previous maximum of seven years. Citizenship cannot be obtained during this waiting period.
Amendments that reinforce national security have been made. “Moving forward, the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service and the National Bureau of Investigation may issue security statements also on citizenship declarations. Earlier, such statements could only be issued on citizenship applications. Even if the applicant meets all the requirements for becoming a Finnish citizen, citizenship can no longer be acquired by declaration if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that granting of citizenship would endanger national security,” says Mari Luukkonen, Process Owner, who is responsible for the citizenship applications process.
Lower threshold for loss of citizenship
Serious offences, including terrorist, treason, or high treason offences punishable by six years of imprisonment, may lead to the loss of citizenship.
“Under the new Act, loss of citizenship is possible if the applicant has committed this type of offence and has been sentenced for such offences to unconditional imprisonment for at least two years or to a combination sentence of at least two years. Before the amendments, loss of citizenship was possible if the punishment that was imposed was at least five years,” says Luukkonen.
The amendments double the period during which a decision on loss of citizenship based on the provision of false information may be made.
“Before the amendments, the matter concerning loss of citizenship must have become pending at the Finnish Immigration Service within five years of the decision on citizenship. Moving forward, the matter should become pending within ten years, and also the decision must have been made during that period,” says Luukkonen.
Finnish Citizenship
You can apply for Finnish citizenship by submitting:
a citizenship application if you live in Finland and meet the requirements for becoming a Finnish citizen
a citizenship declaration if you are, for example, a former Finnish citizen or a young person between 18 and 22 years of age who has lived in Finland for a long time.
Finnish citizenship through your parents
A child of a Finnish citizen receives Finnish citizenship through his or her parents at birth.
The Finnish citizenship of a child’s parent will automatically pass on to a child who is born on 1 June 2003 or later if one of the following conditions is met:
The child’s mother is a Finnish citizen.
The child’s father is a Finnish citizen and married to the child’s mother.
The child is born in Finland and the father is a Finnish citizen whose paternity has been established on 1 June 2003 or later.
The child is born in Finland and the child’s non-birth mother is a Finnish citizen whose maternity has been established on 1 April 2019 or later.
