Citizenship test questions: the topics the law names

Finland's citizenship test (kansalaisuuskoe) is one way to meet a new condition for citizenship. According to Migri, that condition applies to people aged 18 to 64 who apply for Finnish citizenship with a citizenship application. The law already names the topics the questions cover. If you need the test, you can start studying them now. The day you file also matters. Migri says the changes will not apply to your application if you submit it on or before 28 February 2027. If you submit it in the Enter Finland online service before 1 March 2027 and only get an appointment for proving your identity after that date, the new requirement does not apply to you either, according to Migri. The official learning material for the test is not available yet.

In Finnish law, the civic-knowledge requirement (yhteiskuntatietoedellytys) is one of the conditions for citizenship granted on application. It means you have sufficient knowledge of Finnish society, shown in Finnish or Swedish. Besides passing the test, you can show it with a Finnish- or Swedish-language matriculation examination or higher education degree completed in Finland (Act 552/2026, section 17 b).

If you get citizenship by declaration (ilmoitus) rather than by application (hakemus), Migri says you do not have to take the test. Those who can use it include some young adults who have lived in Finland for a long time, some former Finnish citizens and some Nordic citizens, each on conditions of their own. Who exactly qualifies, and when to file an application, is in our main article on the citizenship test.

What the questions cover

The law says the test checks basic knowledge of how Finnish society works and of the rights and duties of the individual. It also lists the topics the questions cover:

• Finland's key legislation
• fundamental and human rights
• equality and non-discrimination
• gender equality
• Finnish history and culture
• other key knowledge included in the learning material for the test

Gender equality is a topic of its own in that list, so the questions cover it too. Give it its own study time.

The test is multiple choice: for each question you pick an answer from the options given. To pass, most of your answers must be correct.

The government may set more detailed rules by decree on the test's content and on what counts as a pass. A draft decree annexed to the government bill proposes 20 to 40 questions and a pass mark of at least 70 per cent correct answers.

The integration course list

The law's list is not the whole field. The questions also cover other key knowledge in the test's learning material.

That material is built on the material of the yhteiskuntaorientaatio, an integration course on Finnish society under the Integration Act. The course must at least cover living and working in Finland, how Finnish society works, and the rights and duties of the individual. The government's proposal says the citizenship test would correspond in content to the yhteiskuntaorientaatio course under the Integration Act.

A government decree lists what the course must teach, at a minimum. That list is the best clue available to what else the test may ask, but it is not a promise. Work through it as well.

Each specific topic the law names is on the decree's list too: key legislation, fundamental and human rights, equality, gender equality, and Finnish history and culture. These are the topics the decree adds:

• the values and norms of Finnish society
• sexual rights
• the goals of integration and the services that support it
• employment, entrepreneurship and the labour market
• studying and study opportunities
• associations, volunteering and taking part
• planning your finances and other everyday matters

The course may also include other content. So the list is a minimum, not the full scope.

Who writes the questions?

Migri does not write the questions itself. According to Migri, the University of Helsinki is responsible for preparing the questions and the learning material.

The law requires whoever writes the test to prepare a wide range of questions, with answer options, in Finnish and Swedish. The government's proposal says the questions should be based on the predefined learning material, and that there should be enough of them that the test cannot be predicted. Learn the topics, not individual questions.

The proposal also says the questions should take into account the level of language skill that citizenship requires.

What is not known yet

Migri says it will publish the learning material on its website at the turn of the year. It will publish the test dates and registration times at the latest at the turn of the year, and the first test is expected to take place in March 2027. Follow Migri's page on the citizenship act amendments.

What to do next

Check first whether you need the test. If you do, start with the topics the law names, then move on to the longer course list. See yhteiskuntaorientaatio.fi.

The questions are based on the test's own learning material. Once Migri publishes it, switch to studying from it. For who needs the test, the dates and the declaration route, read our main article on the citizenship test.