According to Finland’s government, a mandatory citizenship test is to be introduced for applicants applying for Finnish citizenship.
Finland’s Interior Ministry explained that the test would assess knowledge of Finnish society, values, and public safety, and be for applicants aged 18–64. Topics covered in the test will include fundamental rights, civic responsibilities, political and legal systems, history, geography, and social customs, amongst others.
It’s expected that between 5,000 and 10,000 applicants will take the test per year and will need to pay a fee to apply.
The proposal outlined by the Interior Ministry suggests three potential ways to integrate the test into the naturalization process. The first option would be to introduce a new legal requirement for civic knowledge while maintaining the existing language proficiency requirement.
A second option would be to swap out the language requirement test with a civic knowledge test to be completed in either Swedish or Finnish. The final option would be to combine the aforementioned into a two-part test.