The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) quietly completed one of its largest modernisation projects this month. As of 00:01 on 17 December, every citizenship application must be filed through the Enter Finland e-portal. Paper forms, walk-in counters and postal submissions have disappeared.
Behind the clean interface sits a powerful data-sharing architecture that automatically draws identity, tax, population-register and police records. Migri estimates that end-to-end processing times will fall from roughly eight months to six. Officials also expect to save about €4 million annually in back-office costs while freeing staff to focus on complex cases.
In parallel, Parliament approved amendments to the Citizenship Act that push the residence requirement for naturalisation from five to six consecutive years. Applicants must now demonstrate sustainable earned income and Finnish or Swedish skills at A2 level under the CEFR scale. Human-rights advocates say the tougher rule may slow some refugees’ path to naturalisation, while employers welcome the fully online process as a boon for relocating staff.
![Finland switches citizenship applications to 100 % digital portal and lengthens residence requirement to six years]()
If you prefer expert help navigating these new rules, VisaHQ can manage the entire Finnish application workflow—from securing apostilles to uploading documents into Enter Finland and tracking progress in real time. Their Finland desk (https://www.visahq.com/finland/) integrates with corporate mobility systems and offers individual applicants an end-to-end checklist so nothing falls through the cracks.
For companies managing assignees, practical implications are immediate: HR teams must ensure that employees create Enter Finland accounts, upload digital copies of passports and employment contracts, and pay fees by credit card. The portal allows authorised representatives to track status updates, which simplifies compliance reporting for multinational mobility programmes.
The reforms form part of a broader government drive to push immigration services online: work-permit renewals moved to the portal in 2024 and permanent-residence applications will follow in early 2026. Migri promises multilingual chat-bot support next year, but warns that users should enable two-factor authentication now to avoid last-minute log-ins when deadlines loom.
Behind the clean interface sits a powerful data-sharing architecture that automatically draws identity, tax, population-register and police records. Migri estimates that end-to-end processing times will fall from roughly eight months to six. Officials also expect to save about €4 million annually in back-office costs while freeing staff to focus on complex cases.
In parallel, Parliament approved amendments to the Citizenship Act that push the residence requirement for naturalisation from five to six consecutive years. Applicants must now demonstrate sustainable earned income and Finnish or Swedish skills at A2 level under the CEFR scale. Human-rights advocates say the tougher rule may slow some refugees’ path to naturalisation, while employers welcome the fully online process as a boon for relocating staff.
If you prefer expert help navigating these new rules, VisaHQ can manage the entire Finnish application workflow—from securing apostilles to uploading documents into Enter Finland and tracking progress in real time. Their Finland desk (https://www.visahq.com/finland/) integrates with corporate mobility systems and offers individual applicants an end-to-end checklist so nothing falls through the cracks.
For companies managing assignees, practical implications are immediate: HR teams must ensure that employees create Enter Finland accounts, upload digital copies of passports and employment contracts, and pay fees by credit card. The portal allows authorised representatives to track status updates, which simplifies compliance reporting for multinational mobility programmes.
The reforms form part of a broader government drive to push immigration services online: work-permit renewals moved to the portal in 2024 and permanent-residence applications will follow in early 2026. Migri promises multilingual chat-bot support next year, but warns that users should enable two-factor authentication now to avoid last-minute log-ins when deadlines loom.
