Finland extends residency requirement for citizenship to emphasize integration

As of October 1, 2024, Finland will extend the period of residence required for acquiring citizenship from the current standard to eight years, with a focus on promoting successful integration. The new legislation, which applies to all citizenship ap

By: helsinkitimes.fi

Oct 06 2024
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Finland extends residency requ

As of October 1, 2024, Finland will extend the period of residence required for acquiring citizenship from the current standard to eight years, with a focus on promoting successful integration. The new legislation, which applies to all citizenship applications submitted on or after that date, seeks to make language proficiency and long-term residency key factors in the naturalization process.

For applicants who meet the language proficiency requirement, the residency period will be reduced to five years,

reflecting the emphasis on language skills as a crucial element of integration into Finnish society.

One of the most significant changes in the law is the new rule that only time spent in Finland with a valid residence permit will count towards the required period of residence. Time spent without a permit, such as the period while waiting for an asylum application to be processed, will no longer be included. For refugees or others granted international protection, their period of residence will now be calculated starting from the day they are issued a continuous residence permit.

“We want to ensure that the residency requirement is fulfilled through legal, documented residence. This change will bring consistency and fairness to the process,” explained Mari Luukkonen, Process Owner responsible for the citizenship application process.

The amendments also tighten rules on how much time applicants can spend outside Finland during their residency. While a total of 365 days abroad will still be allowed within the residency period, up to 90 of those days can now be from the year immediately preceding the citizenship decision. This change is meant to streamline the process and make it easier for applicants to assess their eligibility.

“The simplification of these rules will help ensure equal treatment of all applicants and make it clearer for them to know when they have fulfilled the residency requirements,” Luukkonen added.

The Finnish Immigration Service is currently dealing with a backlog of around 28,000 pending citizenship applications. Luukkonen noted that the average processing time for an application is between 9 and 31 months, depending on the complexity of the case, particularly when verifying identity or other documentation.

The backlog is expected to grow further due to an increase in applications in recent years. “We’re working hard to clear the backlog and improve processing times. While it will take time, we are aiming to reduce processing to one year for the majority of applications by 2027,” said Luukkonen.

In a bid to speed up processing, the Immigration Service will implement a new system where applications that meet all requirements upfront and do not need additional documentation will be processed in less than a year. This effort includes ensuring that applications from beneficiaries of international protection and stateless persons meet the one-year processing requirement, starting with applications filed after October 1, 2024.

The amendments will not affect citizenship declarations, which can still be submitted by Nordic citizens and former Finnish citizens under the existing rules.

With these changes, Finland aims to ensure that the citizenship process promotes successful integration while maintaining fairness and transparency for all applicants.