Starting on October 1, 2024, candidates for Finnish citizenship must have been residents of the country for at least eight years, as the new changes to the Citizenship Act show.
According to the Finnish Immigration Services, the required residency time can be reduced, depending on the circumstances. The amount of days allowed to stay outside the country has also been changed, Schengen.News reports.
In the future, a total of 365 days of residence outside of Finland will be accepted for the period of residence, of which a maximum of 90 days may be from the year preceding the citizenship decision. Any stay abroad that exceeds is not counted as part of the residence time.
Citizenship Act Changes to Apply Only After October 1, 2024
Those who have submitted their application before October 1, 2024, will have their request handled according to the old rules, meaning that the changes to the Citizenship Act will not affect early applications.
This means that those who have applied for citizenship before October will need to have five years of continuous stay in the country. In addition, those who have lived in Finland for seven years, with two last years being of continuous residence, are eligible to obtain citizenship.
For cases where less than five years of residence are sufficient, they must meet one of the following requirements:
- Strong language skills
- Finnish spouse
- Nordic passport
- Received international or humanitarian protection from Finland
- Stateless
Authorities Advise Candidates to Submit Their Applications Ahead of Time as 28,000 Applications Are Pending
The Finnish Immigration Services has reminded applicants to file their citizenship applications as soon as possible since the processing of these applications is being held back due to the large volume of requests – about 28,000.
According to authorities, the number of applications for obtaining citizenship has been particularly high in the recent years. The same noted that many applications are not completed entirely.
Processing times for citizenship applications have also increased because we have received many applications that do not meet the requirements. Make sure you meet all the requirements for citizenship before you apply for citizenship. If your application does not meet the requirements, you may receive a negative decision.
The authorities plan to clear the backlog of citizenship applications by 2027, while the Citizenship Act is expected to have reforms introduced in three stages, with the first two already being implemented.