Starting in October 2024, Finland will require eight years of residency to get citizenship, putting a higher value on language proficiency and extended stays. The new regulations seek to speed up the naturalization procedure while maintaining equity and openness for all candidates.
Finland will start implementing new citizenship requirements on October 1, 2024, which will increase the required residency term to eight years to facilitate effective integration into Finnish society.
This modification will apply to any citizenship applications submitted on or after this date. It highlights language proficiency and continuous residency as prerequisites for naturalization.
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Key Changes to the Finnish Citizenship Procedure:
Finland strengthened the requirements for applying for citizenship raising the time restriction to eight years of residency and giving priority to applicants’ valid residence permits, language proficiency and length of time spent overseas.
Extended Period of Residence
On October 20, 2024 the present three-year residency requirement for Finnish citizenship will increase to eight years. This extension reflects Finland’s emphasis on ensuring individuals are completely integrated into the country before to applying for naturalization.
Requirement of a Valid Residence Permit
The only time that will contribute towards the mandatory residency period under the new regulations is the time that was spent in Finland with a valid residence permit. As a result, time spent outside of the country without a valid resident status like while awaiting acceptance of an asylum claim will no longer be taken into account when determining citizenship.
Limitations on Travel Time
During their residency period, applicants are permitted to spend up to 365 days outside of Finland. Only ninety-nine of those days, though may fall during the year right before the citizenship decision. This modification aims to guarantee that candidates fulfill the residency requirements and retain a close relationship with Finland.
Processing Times and Backlog:
With processing times varying from 9 to 31 months based on the complexity of the case the Finnish Immigration Service is now managing a backlog of about 28,000 pending citizenship petitions.
By 2027, the Immigration Service hopes to have most application processing times down to one year. To speed the processing of applications that fulfill all requirements upfront a new mechanism will be put into place.
This includes giving applications from stateless people and recipients of international protection priority with the first batch of applications coming in after October 1, 2024.
No Effect on Statements of Citizenship:
For Nordic nationals and former Finnish citizens who will still be submitting applications by current regulations the new modifications will not impact citizenship declarations.
Conclusion:
In conclusion Finland’s new citizenship laws which go into force in October 2024, are designed to facilitate naturalization while encouraging effective integration. The amendments put fairness and transparency for all candidates first with longer residency requirements and a focus on language proficiency.
