New changes to Finland’s Citizenship Act mean that candidates for citizenship must now have resided in the country for 8 years, up from the previous 5 years.
Finnish Immigration Services have also stated that this residency period can be reduced depending on the circumstances, and the number of days allowed to stay outside of Finland has also been amended.
Finnish Immigration Services states, “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.”
“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,” explained Finnish Immigration Services.
This amendment took effect on 1st October. However, for people who submitted their applications before this date, the previous rules still apply.