MIGRI Immigration Service : Finnish Citizenship Finland

Organization : Finnish Immigration Service
Type of Facility : Finnish Citizenship
Country: Finland

Website : http://www.migri.fi/finnish_citizenship

Citizenship of Finland :

Finnish citizenship may be based on one of the following:
** the nationality of one of your biological or adoptive parents (parentage principle)
** your place of birth being Finland (birthplace principle)

Related : MIGRI Finnish Immigration Service Residence Permit Card : www.statusin.org/8267.html

** your parents’ marriage to each other (legitimation)
** application (naturalisation)
** declaration

The rights and obligations of a Finnish citizen:
Finnish citizenship involves rights and obligations. A citizen of Finland cannot be stopped from entering Finland, deported from Finland, or extradited or transferred to another country against that person’s will. When abroad, a Finnish citizen can request help from the local embassy of Finland.

Only a citizen of Finland can be appointed for certain positions, such as that of a police officer or judge, and certain administrative positions in foreign affairs. A Finnish citizen who has reached the age of 18 has a right to vote in national elections (parliamentary, presidential, and EU elections) and in local elections.

Finland is a member state of the European Union (EU). A Finnish citizen is therefore also a citizen of the EU, with the relevant rights and obligations. These include the right to move freely and work within the EU.

The citizens of Finland have a general duty to defend their country. Each citizen of Finland must participate in, or contribute to, the defence of the country. Military service is compulsory for men who have reached the age of 18.

The Finnish constitution guarantees basic rights for all individuals who live in Finland. The law is the same for everyone: you have freedom of speech, you may freely choose your religion and where you live, no permission is needed to arrange gatherings, and you may move freely.

Multiple nationality (dual nationality):
Finland accepts multiple nationality. If a Finnish citizen also has the citizenship of another state, the Finnish authorities will consider that person to be a Finnish citizen both in Finland and abroad.

The authorities of other states, however, do not necessarily consider that person to be a Finnish citizen, because not all states accept multiple nationality in the same manner as Finland does. The Finnish Nationality Act does not contain a specific clause allowing multiple nationality. On the other hand, it contains no provisions restricting multiple nationality.

Citizenship of a child :
** According to the Nationality Act, ‘child’ refers to an unmarried person under 18 years of age.
** A person’s citizenship is usually determined by the parentage principle or the birthplace principle. Each state is free to decide which principle it primarily follows.

** The parentage principle means that a person’s citizenship is determined by the citizenship of the mother, father, or both. The birthplace principle means that a person’s citizenship is determined by his or her place of birth. The parentage principle is the primary principle applied in Finland.

Finnish mother :
** When the mother is a citizen of Finland, the child will automatically be a citizen of Finland regardless of the country of birth. The only requirement is that the mother has not lost her Finnish citizenship before the child is born.

** If you want to find out whether a child has acquired Finnish citizenship on the basis of his or her mother’s citizenship, you can request a determination of citizenship status by the Finnish Immigration Service.

** When a Finnish citizen is born outside Finland, a notification must be sent to a local register office.

Finnish father :
** If the child’s father is a citizen of Finland when the child is born, and he is married to the child’s mother, the child will automatically be a citizen of Finland. If the child’s father has died before the birth of the child but he was a citizen of Finland and he was married to the child’s mother, the child will be a citizen of Finland.

** When a Finnish citizen is born outside Finland, a notification must be sent to a local register office.
** If the child’s father is a citizen of Finland but the child is born out of wedlock, the child’s nationality depends on whether he or she was born in Finland or abroad.