Loss of Finnish Citizenship
Although dual citizenship is permitted, a Finnish citizen who is a citizen of another country will lose Finnish citizenship at age 22 unless he or she has sufficiently close ties with Finland.
Persons with close ties include those:
- born in Finland and domiciled there on their 22nd birthday
- with a total of seven years residence in Finland or another Nordic country
- to whom a Finnish passport was issued between the ages of 18 and 21
- who have completed military or non-military service in Finland between the ages of 18 and 21
- who have submitted a declaration of retention of Finnish citizenship between the ages of 18 and 21 to the appropriate authorities in Finland or to a Finland diplomatic mission overseas. Renunciation of foreign citizenship is not required.
Finnish citizens may lose the citizenship also if they formally petition for a permission to renounce the citizenship. To prevent statelessness, the citizenship may be renounced only if the person proves that he has received a citizenship of another state.
While losing Finnish citizenship is rare, the benefits of the citizenship for persons residing abroad without close ties to Finland are few. A citizen without domicile in Finland and without municipal domicile has no rights to Finnish social security, to Finnish consular help in personal emergencies or to Finnish health services. The most important remaining rights are the absolute right to return to Finland, to vote in national elections, to have a Finnish passport, to work in the European Union without the working visa requirements faced by non-European Union citizens, and to enrol in Scandinavian universities as a European Union citizen so, unlike foreign students, he or she does not pay university fees. In addition, all Finnish citizens have the right receive consular protection from Finnish foreign missions in case of a major crisis in the host country or in case of arrest or incarceration. However, if a Finnish citizen has also the citizenship of the host country, Finnish foreign missions will not act on his behalf.
Read more about this topic: Finnish Nationality Law
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