The changes to Finland’s Citizenship Act, which came into effect on October 1, 2024, impacted only those applications submitted after this date. Any individual who had submitted their citizenship application prior to October 1, 2024, was processed according to the old rules, ensuring that these changes did not affect earlier applications.
Under the previous regulations, individuals applying for citizenship before the cut-off date were required to have five years of continuous residence in Finland. Additionally, those who had resided in the country for seven years, with at least the last two years being continuous, were also eligible to apply for citizenship.
For those who were eligible to apply for citizenship in less than five years, specific conditions had to be met. These included having strong Finnish or Swedish language skills, being married to a Finnish citizen, holding a Nordic passport, having received international or humanitarian protection from Finland, or being stateless.
With the implementation of the new rules after October 1, 2024, individuals applying for citizenship had to comply with the updated requirements, which aimed to streamline and update the process for acquiring Finnish citizenship.