Finnish nationality law

A foreigner may be granted Finnish citizenship upon meeting certain requirements, including:

• five years continuous residence; or
• a total of seven years residence since age 15, with the last two years residence continuous; and
• knowledge of at least one of the Finnish languages, Swedish or Finnish sign language.

For those married to or in a registered partnership with a Finnish citizen for more than three years, the residence requirement is reduced to:

• four years continuous residence, or
• six years total residence since age 15 (with the last two years continuous)
• knowledge of at least one of Finnish, Swedish or Finnish sign language

These reduced residence requirements also apply to recognised refugees and stateless persons.

Former Finnish citizens and citizens of other Nordic countries are only required to have two years continuous residence in Finland.

The authorities have the right to refuse an application for citizenship by application even if the requirements are met.

Declaration is a simpler method of acquiring Finnish citizenship. If the legal requirements are met it must be granted.

Categories of persons eligible for citizenship by declaration include:

Persons aged between 18–23 may acquire Finnish citizenship by declaration if:

• resident in Finland for a total of 10 years (6 years if born in Finland); and
• domiciled in Finland; and
• not sentenced to imprisonment

Residence in another Nordic country before the age of 16 counts as residence in Finland (up to a maximum of 5 years). For males in the age group 18–23 years, getting the citizenship means becoming liable for conscription.

Citizens of other Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Iceland and Norway) who are former Finnish citizens and have held a Nordic country citizenship continuously since then may acquire Finnish citizenship by declaration if domiciled in Finland. There is no minimum residence requirement.

Otherwise the requirements are:

• the person is not a naturalised citizen of that country; and
• six years residence in Finland

A citizen of a Nordic country not eligible for citizenship by declaration may still be eligible for citizenship by application.

As the main rule, the person is domiciled in their place of residence. A new-born is domiciled in the municipality of its mother. If a person has several residences, the place which he has closest ties to is their domicile. The ties may be related to work, family or other similar arrangements. The register authorities will determine the domicile of the person whose opinion cannot be resolved.[5]

A person who leaves the country to stay abroad for more than a year, loses municipal domicile immediately. However, exceptions are made for persons who retain close ties to Finland or work as diplomats, missionaries or aid workers.[6]

Finnish and EEA member state citizens are domiciled in their places of residence immediately if they move into the country from abroad. Aliens are domiciled if they have a permanent residence permission or if they are family members of a person domiciled in Finland. Other aliens are domiciled if they have a temporary residence permit for at least a year and the reasons for their stay point that they might remain in the country. Any family members of a person with a municipal domicile are also domiciled in the municipality if they live together.[7] All foreigners with a municipal domicile are also required to register into the national population database.[8]

When moving, the person's domicile will not change if the move has been caused by[9]

• temporary work, study, illness or other similar reason that will not last for more than a year
• care in a hospital, sanatorium, nursing home, asylum etc.
• professional seafaring
• detention in a penitentiary
• membership of the parliament or membership of the European Parliament
• service as a conscript

Any person who is domiciled in Finland is obliged to inform the registry office on moving permanently or temporarily within seven days from the move. Also persons who move from a residence without having any new address are required to report the change.[10] Failure to report moves is punishable by 50 euro administrative fine.[11]

The main political right tied to municipal domicile is the municipal suffrage. Finnish and Nordic citizens have the municipal voting right and eligibility in the municipality where they had domicile 51 days prior to election day. Other foreigners have the municipal suffrage if they have had Finnish municipal domicile for the last two years.[12] Administratively, the municipal domicile is one of the most important factors in determining the jurisdiction of different state authorities over the person.

The municipal and church tax are the most important duties based on the municipal domicile. During the calendar year, the person pays tax to the municipality where they were domiciled on 31 December of the preceding year.[13] If the person belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland or to the Finnish Orthodox Church, they belong to the parish of their domicile and pay church tax to the domicile parish of the 31 December of the preceding year. Another duty tied to the municipal domicile is the duty to accept a position in municipal board, if the municipal council elects the person to a board.

Municipal domicile grants also other than political rights. Most social and health services are provided by the municipalities to their residents, while persons not domiciled in the municipality enjoy much less protection.[14][15][16] In addition to the social and health services, the municipal domicile may yield other, somewhat less important rights relating to natural resources. In state-owned lake water area (in major lakes) and on state-owned lake islands, all persons domiciled in municipalities by the lake are empowered to hunt. The same applies to state-owned land in Northern Finland, where persons domiciled there may hunt in the state-owned forests of their home municipality.[17] Another Northern peculiarity of municipal domicile is reindeer ownership, which is restricted to EEA citizens domiciled in the municipalities of the reindeer herding region.[18]

With regard to the social protections provided by the Finnish state instead of municipalities, the basis for eligibility for benefits and grants is domicile in Finland (Finnish: Suomessa asuminen). Among the social protections meant here are e.g. maternity and paternity leave pay, child grant, unemployment benefits and other forms of social insurance.[19]

Although similarly worded, the definition used is not exactly the same as for the determination of municipal domicile. In particular, the municipal domicile alone does not make an alien or citizen domiciled in Finland. The domicile in Finland requires factual residence and home in Finland, as well as permanent and continued physical presence in the country. This applies to foreigners and citizens alike. Persons moving into Finland may be considered domiciled in Finland immediately if they actually intend to remain in the country. This means that not even a Finnish citizen moving into Finland is guaranteed the state social benefits immediately after entry, unless they can show that they intend to remain.[20]

On the other hand, the concept of "domicile in Finland" allows for more consideration than the mechanistic definition municipal domicile. Students, missionaries, scholars, scientists, aid workers, officials of international organizations and employees of Finnish companies, as well as their family members may retain their domicile in Finland indefinitely even if they lose their municipal domicile. However, the Kela, which determines the domicile status, has a wide leeway to judge the circumstances of individuals.[21]

A foreigner with both municipal domicile and a domicile in Finland enjoys all social and health services provided to Finnish citizens.