Report exploring introduction of citizenship test now complete
A working group of the Ministry of the Interior explored the possibility of introducing a citizenship test as a requirement for acquiring Finnish citizenship. According to the Government Programme, the Citizenship Act will be reformed by tightening the requirements for acquiring Finnish citizenship.
The citizenship test is one part of this reform. To qualify for Finnish citizenship, the applicant would be required to be successfully integrated into Finnish society, in employment, and able to comply with the rules of Finnish society.
The cross-administrative working group examined how a citizenship test could be implemented in Finland, and also assessed the relationship between the citizenship test and the language skills requirement. The acquisition of citizenship already requires that the applicant have a certain level of skills in Finnish or Swedish.
As part of the report, the working group also examined citizenship tests in other countries. Most EU Member States require language skills and sufficient knowledge of society in order to acquire citizenship. Of the other Nordic countries, Denmark and Norway have citizenship tests in place. Sweden is also planning to introduce a test.
Conditions for acquiring Finnish citizenship to be tightened in many ways
In addition to introducing a citizenship test, the aim is to tighten the regulation on the integrity requirement, the requirement for sufficient financial resources and the loss of citizenship.
The period of residence required for Finnish citizenship was extended from the current five years to eight years starting on 1 October. This underlines successful integration as a prerequisite for being granted citizenship. It will also make it possible to address security concerns more effectively than before. Only time lived in Finland under a residence permit will be taken into account when calculating the period of residence.
Preparations for introducing the test will continue at the Ministry of the Interior in cooperation with other administrative branches. The government bill is scheduled to be submitted to Parliament during 2025.
Inquiries:
Ulla Vainikka, Senior Specialist, chair of the working group, tel. +358 295 488 356, [email protected]