The aim “is to tighten the conditions for naturalization and encourage integration,” the Ministry of the Interior notes.
Monday morning in politics began with a press conference by Interior Minister Mari Rantanen (Finns), who explained how Finland intends to tighten the conditions for obtaining citizenship.
The government’s mission, according to a statement released during the conference, is this: the aim is to tighten the conditions for naturalization and encourage integration.
“Finnish citizenship is not automatic, but a prerequisite for successful integration,” said Minister Rantanen.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, key reforms include ” extending the general residence requirement to eight years instead of the current five.”
In the future, only residence under a residence permit would be accepted as a period of residence. In addition, the number of days spent abroad that can be counted towards the period of residence would be reduced. The aim is also to abolish the residence derogation for beneficiaries of international protection and to review other derogation criteria for residence. A government proposal on residence time will be submitted to Parliament in the spring session of 2024.
In addition, the Citizenship Act will be reformed to tighten the requirement of impeccability. At the same time, the assessment of national security in the context of naturalization will be clarified.
The reform of the Citizenship Act will also examine the tightening of the means of subsistence requirement. In the future, the applicant’s own activity in establishing his/her identity with the authorities would also be a condition for obtaining citizenship.
What’s more . . . “the loss of citizenship in cases where citizenship has been obtained by providing false information, concealing material facts or otherwise acting fraudulently will also be examined,” the ministry notes.
Also, the reform project will examine the “so-called Danish model for the loss of citizenship in the case of dual nationality in the case of participation in an armed terrorist group abroad.”
And last but not least: Finland has never had a citizenship test as a prerequisite for naturalization.
“The study to be launched on the test will, among other things, explore different options for introducing a citizenship test in Finland and who should administer it. A cross-governmental working group will be set up for this purpose,” the ministry notes.
At the press conference, Rantanen was asked: “How will the new law affect labor migration?
Minister Rantanen said, she imagines that labor migrants will look at the tax rate, services and security of the destination country; it may be that some will also look at citizenship requirements.
According to Rantanen, “the new law is not unreasonable. She does not believe that the citizenship law will be decisive when a person chooses where to go to work.”
The government proposal will be submitted to Parliament in the autumn session of 2024.
Source: finlandtoday.fi
