The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) quietly flipped the switch on a landmark overhaul of the Citizenship Act at 00:01 on 17 December. From that moment, every naturalisation request must be lodged through the Enter Finland e-portal—paper forms, walk-in counters and postal submissions have been abolished. Migri hopes the end-to-end digital workflow, which exchanges data automatically with the population registry, tax authority and police databases, will cut average processing times from eight to roughly six months and trim back-office costs by 12 %.
Substantive eligibility rules have toughened in parallel. Applicants now need six consecutive years of lawful residence (up from five), proof of sustainable earned income that is not based on social assistance, and Finnish or Swedish skills at CEFR A2 level. Migri retains the right to summon candidates for a spoken-language interview if test results look suspect. A narrow grandfathering clause protects foreigners who had already reached the five-year threshold before 17 December; everyone else is reset to the new six-year track.
For employers, the change upends workforce-planning assumptions—particularly in ICT, gaming and engineering where a quick path to citizenship has been a retention lever. HR managers must now budget for an extra year of social-security contributions, extend secondment periods and help assignees gather fully digital proof of income, residence and language ability. Consulting firms report a spike in demand for “done-for-you” filing services that shepherd applicants through biometric appointments and e-signatures.
![Finland switches to 100 % digital citizenship applications and raises residence requirement to six years]()
A helpful resource in navigating these new rules is VisaHQ. Through its dedicated Finland portal (https://www.visahq.com/finland/), the company offers step-by-step guidance, document digitisation and eligibility pre-checks—services that can dramatically reduce the risk of incomplete e-files and 30-day auto-rejections. Employers can outsource bulk filings, while individuals gain a clear roadmap to submitting a fully compliant application on the first try.
The reform also creates new equity risks: applicants with poor broadband access or limited tech literacy no longer have an in-person fallback, and incomplete e-files are automatically rejected after 30 days. Migri will run an impact review in late 2026 and has hinted that the tougher income rule could be relaxed if naturalisation numbers fall sharply without measurable labour-market gains.
Practical tips: Companies sending talent to Finland are advised to launch ‘digital readiness’ briefings, add language tutoring to benefit packages and extend rotational programme timelines by at least 12 months while the new regime beds in. Individual applicants should use the portal’s document checker and schedule CEFR exams early, as test slots are already booking into March.
Substantive eligibility rules have toughened in parallel. Applicants now need six consecutive years of lawful residence (up from five), proof of sustainable earned income that is not based on social assistance, and Finnish or Swedish skills at CEFR A2 level. Migri retains the right to summon candidates for a spoken-language interview if test results look suspect. A narrow grandfathering clause protects foreigners who had already reached the five-year threshold before 17 December; everyone else is reset to the new six-year track.
For employers, the change upends workforce-planning assumptions—particularly in ICT, gaming and engineering where a quick path to citizenship has been a retention lever. HR managers must now budget for an extra year of social-security contributions, extend secondment periods and help assignees gather fully digital proof of income, residence and language ability. Consulting firms report a spike in demand for “done-for-you” filing services that shepherd applicants through biometric appointments and e-signatures.
A helpful resource in navigating these new rules is VisaHQ. Through its dedicated Finland portal (https://www.visahq.com/finland/), the company offers step-by-step guidance, document digitisation and eligibility pre-checks—services that can dramatically reduce the risk of incomplete e-files and 30-day auto-rejections. Employers can outsource bulk filings, while individuals gain a clear roadmap to submitting a fully compliant application on the first try.
The reform also creates new equity risks: applicants with poor broadband access or limited tech literacy no longer have an in-person fallback, and incomplete e-files are automatically rejected after 30 days. Migri will run an impact review in late 2026 and has hinted that the tougher income rule could be relaxed if naturalisation numbers fall sharply without measurable labour-market gains.
Practical tips: Companies sending talent to Finland are advised to launch ‘digital readiness’ briefings, add language tutoring to benefit packages and extend rotational programme timelines by at least 12 months while the new regime beds in. Individual applicants should use the portal’s document checker and schedule CEFR exams early, as test slots are already booking into March.
