Citizenship test 2027: who it concerns and which date counts

If you are between 18 and 64 and apply for Finnish citizenship with a citizenship application, a new condition is coming: the civic-knowledge requirement. It means showing, in Finnish or Swedish, that you have sufficient knowledge of Finnish society. It comes on top of the other conditions for citizenship, such as the language requirement, not instead of them. The citizenship test is one way to show it. According to Migri, the changes will not apply to your application if you submit it on or before 28 February 2027. Much is still open: Migri says the learning material is not available yet and you cannot register for the test yet. It will publish the schedules for the first test days, the learning material and instructions on registering for the test at the latest at the turn of the year, and the first test is expected to take place in March 2027.

Does it concern you?

The requirement is a condition for citizenship granted on application (hakemus). It is one item on the act's list of conditions, all of which must be met when the application is decided. The same list also requires, for example, that your income is secured and that you have satisfactory oral and written skills in Finnish or Swedish, or in Finnish or Finland-Swedish sign language instead. In Finnish law it is called the yhteiskuntatietoedellytys. It does not apply to anyone under 18 or to anyone who has turned 65. Someone who turns 18 while the application is pending does not have to meet it either.

The test is one of three ways to meet the requirement. The other two are a Finnish- or Swedish-language matriculation examination taken in Finland, and a Finnish- or Swedish-language higher education degree taken in Finland. If you hold either of these, you can show that you meet the civic-knowledge requirement without taking the test (Act 552/2026, section 17 b).

The law allows an exception: citizenship can be granted even if the requirement is not met. That can happen if your health or a disability prevents you from meeting it on a long-term basis, or if there is otherwise an exceptionally weighty reason. It is not automatic.

By when: the date you file is what counts

File on or before 28 February 2027 if you can: according to Migri, the changes will then not apply to your application. Migri says the new requirement concerns you only if you submit your application in the Enter Finland online service, or a paper application at a Migri service point, on or after 1 March 2027. If you submit online in Enter Finland before 1 March 2027 but only get an appointment to prove your identity after that date, Migri says the new requirement does not apply to you.

The act itself says that the requirement does not apply to applications made within two months of the act taking effect, and the act takes effect on 1 January 2027. An application already pending when the act takes effect is decided under the provisions in force at that time, that is, the old rules.

If you can get citizenship by declaration

Some people can get Finnish citizenship by declaration (ilmoitus) instead of by application. According to Migri, you do not have to take the citizenship test if you apply with a citizenship declaration. The government proposal behind the act said the changes concern only citizenship granted on application, and that the different citizenship declarations would be left as they are.

These are the groups who can declare, each with its conditions:

• Children of a Finnish parent: a person whose father, or a mother as meant in the Parenthood Act, was a Finnish citizen when they were born, and who does not otherwise get Finnish citizenship under another rule of the Nationality Act. They must have been born in Finland with the parenthood established after they turned 18, or born outside Finland with the parenthood established.
• Adopted children: a child who was 12 or older when adopted, if at least one adoptive parent is a Finnish citizen and the adoption is valid in Finland.
• Young people: someone who has turned 18 but not 23 can declare on the conditions that follow. They must have lived in Finland for at least 10 years in total, at least two of them without a break just before the declaration, and must not have been sentenced to imprisonment. If they were born in Finland, six years of residence is required instead.
• Former Finnish citizens: anyone who used to be a Finnish citizen. This route is closed to someone who lost citizenship on certain grounds, or who has been finally sentenced for a certain offence (section 29).
• Nordic citizens: a citizen of Iceland, Norway, Sweden or Denmark who has turned 18. They must have got that citizenship other than by naturalisation. They must also have lived in Finland for the last five years without being sentenced to a custodial sentence in that time.

For families, the government proposal said that a child who does not get citizenship as a co-applicant with a parent would be able, on certain conditions, to declare as a young person on coming of age, without having to meet the requirement even as an adult.

What is settled about the test

The test is a multiple-choice test taken in Finnish or Swedish. It is taken electronically, unless something prevents that. Migri says it will be taken in digital form, on site. The questions cover topics such as key legislation, fundamental and human rights, equality including gender equality, and Finnish history and culture. To pass, most of your answers must be correct.

Organisers contracted by Migri run the sittings and supervise them. When Migri makes those contracts, it must take into account that sittings are available in sufficient numbers in each region and often enough. Migri says it will organise 6–10 test sessions per year in different parts of Finland. Migri says that in 2027, test sessions will be organised in the Helsinki capital region and in Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Kuopio, Vaasa and Rovaniemi. The government's bill proposed that applicants could be asked to travel as far as is reasonable.

If illness, a disability, a specific reading or writing difficulty or a comparable reason prevents you from taking the test like others, you can take it with special arrangements. You must ask Migri for them separately, and Migri decides. Migri gives extra time, an oral test or a personal assistive device as examples.

What is already law and what is only proposed?

The table separates what the act has already decided from what is only a proposal.

What is not known yet

• The test's content and the pass mark: the act lets a government decree set more detailed rules on both. A draft decree annexed to the government proposal proposes at least 20 and at most 40 questions, and at least 70 percent of answers correct to pass (HE 54/2026 vp).
• The fee: Migri charges one from everyone who registers, but the act leaves the amount to a decree of the Ministry of the Interior.
• When you can sit the test: Migri says it will publish the test dates and registration times at the latest at the turn of the year.
• Registration and the learning material: you cannot register yet, and the material is not available yet.

If you do not pass

Under the government proposal, if you did not get enough correct answers, you would be able to register and take the test again, paying a new test fee. You can ask Migri to correct a decision that rejects your test. You must make the request within 30 days of receiving the decision.

Cheating has its own consequences. If you cheat, help someone cheat or try to cheat at a sitting, your test is failed and you lose the right to take part in a sitting for six months. If it is repeated or otherwise especially serious and harmful, the ban is 12 months.

How to prepare

The questions are based on publicly available learning material, built on the social orientation material used in integration services. The material is prepared in Finnish and Swedish. According to Migri, the University of Helsinki is responsible for preparing the questions and the learning material. According to Migri, the self-study material will be published on its website at the turn of the year.

Study in the language you will sit the test in. Knowing a fact in your own language is not the same as recognising it in a Finnish or Swedish question.

What to do next

• Check whether the requirement applies to you and whether you need the test at all: Do I need the test?.