Citizenship

Citizenship for a child

A child is a Finnish citizen if, at the time when the child was born

  • the mother was a Finnish citizen 

  • the father was a Finnish citizen, the mother was a foreign national and the parents were married

A child born outside marriage

If a child was born outside marriage and only the father was a Finnish citizen when the child was born, a declaration of acknowledgement of paternity is required. An application to obtain a Finnish citizenship for the child can be filed after that by means of declaration.

Please remember to register the birth of a Finnish citizen at the Local Register Office(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window). 

Citizenship on application or declaration

The Finnish Immigration Service can grant Finnish citizenship on declaration or on application. If you reside abroad, you can submit a citizenship application for a child or adopted child, a declaration on recovery of citizenship, or an application for release from citizenship at a Finnish mission or honorary consulate.

The declaration or application must always be submitted in person. The Finnish Immigration Service can start processing the matter only after you have paid the processing fee.

You can find more detailed information about citizenship matters, legislation, processing fees and forms on the website of the Finnish Immigration Service(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window).

Loss of Finnish citizenship at the age of 22

If you are a citizen of both Finland and another country, you can lose your Finnish citizenship automatically at the age of 22 years. The Finnish Immigration Service will notify you of the risk of losing your Finnish citizenship provided that your address details are up to date in the Population Information System of Finland(Link to another website.). You can retain your Finnish citizenship if you have sufficient connection with Finland. 

Read the instructions on the website of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency(Link to another website.) and visit the website of the Finnish Immigration Service(Link to another website.) to learn more.
Form: Notification of retaining Finnish citizenship(Link to another website.)

You can fill in and file a notification form online on the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s website. Strong authentication is not required.

A mission will forward your notification of retaining Finnish citizenship to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency free of charge.

Multiple nationality

If you have multiple nationality, you must find out yourself what rights and obligations you have in your other home country. Missions of Finland abroad can serve only in matters concerning Finnish citizenship.

If you have multiple nationality and you are staying in your other home country, you are treated in accordance with the local laws in the same way as persons who are citizens of that country. In such situations, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland normally has rather limited opportunities to provide consular assistance.