Applying for Citizenship 2024

[MCS]

Hello, Mine went to "in process" on Friday. Do you know how long it might take?
Applied in the end of October 2023.

Do we know sometimes decisions are made quickly after going in the "In Process" state and sometimes not. Any insights why it takes longer? Mine is in process since last week.

Does your queue number decrease while the application is "In Progress" ?

[jokulalala]

Got the positive decision last Monday.
I arrived in 2018 as Msc student, graduating in 2020 and get the job straight away. Presented at Migri on 20 Oct. Starting queue was 81xx and when the decision is granted, queue was 54xx. It took around 7 minutes in my case when the application is processed.
Thanks just_passing_by data and others' useful information and wish all good luck to you

[Underscore]

Hello everyone, I have applied in the last week of March and queue started at 90xx and went up to 91xx and now came back to 90xx. I checked few diary numbers before and after mine and found that atleast 2 applications got their decision already which might had been submitted after me as diary number was atleast +6 than mine.
It is quite strange how applications are randomly picked up and processed.

[riku2]

Hello everyone, I have applied in the last week of March and queue started at 90xx and went up to 91xx and now came back to 90xx. I checked few diary numbers before and after mine and found that atleast 2 applications got their decision already which might had been submitted after me as diary number was atleast +6 than mine.
It is quite strange how applications are randomly picked up and processed.

If you are a couple or a family then everyone gets processed at once. People have written in this thread about this exact situation (eg person 1 applied six months ago, person 2 applied a month ago and both are processed at the same time as person #1 applying on their own would be. Person #2 being linked to person #1 and getting processed much quicker than normal).

And for the first month or so after you apply, it's normal for your queue position to sometimes go up instead of down, exactly because of the reason explained above where recent applicants jump ahead of you in the queue. After a while your queue position will start to go down reliably (mostly).

[xfromy]

Does the line position also tells about slow queue and normal queue?
My line position is 25 and I have applied mid Dec 2023.
Can I expect to get my decision in normal processing time of 6-7 months?

[Auringon_kukka]

Hello everyone,

would like to report my case that has got a positive decision today.

A Russian national.
Arrived from Germany to Finland and started working in Data Analytics with a German Blue Card in August 2019.
Finnish permit A from October 2019.
Another permit A from October 2021.
Applied for the Finnish citizenship with my wife and children on 23.10.2023, confirmed identities 27.10.2023 (Tampere)
Dairy numbers 133XX and 133XX, initial queue position around 8100.
Went to "in progress" on the 23.04.2024 in the morning, last queue position 5538. Both applications' queue numbers were 1:1 all the way.
Positive decision made on the 23.04.2024 in the evening.

I was concerned about how it impacts the application process that I have started the job without a Finnish residence permit, but a German one. It is all legal as the Blue Card allowed to work in any other EU country for up to 3 months, but still I thought of that as a potential questionable point.
Also was concerned about the fact that during living in Finland I have spent quite many days in Russia:
250+ days in total over 4 years, including also few longer vacations there for about a month.

Was still ok by the end of the day, obviously.


I would like to thank all the members of this forum for providing their information and sharing thoughts.
Special thanks to just_passing_by for the great data work that helps the transparency of the queue.

Good luck to everyone in the application process!

Congratulations!!!

[Auringon_kukka]

Got the positive decision last Monday.
I arrived in 2018 as Msc student, graduating in 2020 and get the job straight away. Presented at Migri on 20 Oct. Starting queue was 81xx and when the decision is granted, queue was 54xx. It took around 7 minutes in my case when the application is processed.
Thanks just_passing_by data and others' useful information and wish all good luck to you

Congratulations!!!

[Uskomaton]

Hi,

Currently, I have been working for the same company for 4 years (yearly extended contract). I applied for Finnish citizenship at the end of March 2024.

I wonder what will happen if my contract will not be extended (ended in August 2024) and I will get paid from the unemployment fund?
Will it affect the decision?
Will it get rejected automatically when they process my application while I am under the unemployment fund?

That's perfectly fine that you get money from the unemployment fund. Question is more about if you permit is to be canceled? if you have permanent residence permit or other non-work related permit such as based on family ties or you are an EU citizen, then it is fine.

I have permanent residence permit right now. You said it is perfectly fine, does it mean they will/may approve my citizenship even though I am under unemployment fund? Or will they reject or put on hold my application until I get a new job?

It won't be rejected. There is nothing in the law at the moment that requires you to be working. What important is, you are able to afford your life here with official means. Don't forget to update your application by sending additional details that you have lost your job and getting money from unemployment fund. For more details, send an email to [email protected] to find out.

[curiousVK]

Hello, Mine went to "in process" on Friday. Do you know how long it might take?
Applied in the end of October 2023.

Do we know sometimes decisions are made quickly after going in the "In Process" state and sometimes not. Any insights why it takes longer? Mine is in process since last week.

Does your queue number decrease while the application is "In Progress" ?

Hello, yes I noticed its decreasing daily? What does it mean anyone knows? Thanks!

[MCS]

Do we know sometimes decisions are made quickly after going in the "In Process" state and sometimes not. Any insights why it takes longer? Mine is in process since last week.

Does your queue number decrease while the application is "In Progress" ?

Hello, yes I noticed it's decreasing daily. What does it mean anyone knows? Thanks!

I don't think you should worry, it mostly can take max. a couple of weeks. There was a recent case where it took 3 weeks "In Progress" but ultimately got a positive decision. Check posts by jcsmartin

[kunglao]

Any news from the 130xx camp?

130xx just moved to In Progress this morning.

Still no update. Details about our case:

My partner moved to Finland in 2012 for Masters and PhD studies and has been working ever since, never on Kela. I moved to Finland in 2017 for work (Type A, specialist). I've also been working ever since and never on Kela. We're both in tech and are permanent residents.

Partner applied for citizenship and presented at Migri with our child in October 2023 and has a 130xx diary number. I applied in early January 2024 and I have a 2-digit diary number prefix. Our applications are linked and the linkage was confirmed by Migri.

Partner's application went to In Progress on Friday April 12, 2024. However, we welcomed another child a few days before that so Migri immediately sent a request for additional information to include the new baby if we wanted. We immediately responded to the request and presented the child at Migri the following Tuesday April 16. The Migri officer that attended to us during our visit mentioned that he'll send a message to the officer handling our case as they had written on our case that they should be pinged when we present at Migri.

We haven't heard anything from Migri since then. Now with the news here about 133xx getting approvals, we worry that we might now have been kicked into a slow bucket. Earlier today, we sent an additional information via enterfinland to explain that we have done as required by their information request.

I should also mention that my PR application took 1.5 years to get approved but I think that was because I was not in Finland when my case back then moved to In Progress. I relocated for a few months for work but my residence permit in Finland remained active and I was physically present in Finland about 30% of the time. I wonder if that case and the linkage is also somehow complicating everyone's citizenship application.

Any ideas on how to proceed from here?

Many thanks!

[MCS]

Any news from the 130xx camp?

130xx just moved to In Progress this morning.

Still no update. Details about our case:

My partner moved to Finland in 2012 for Masters and PhD studies and has been working ever since, never on Kela. I moved to Finland in 2017 for work (Type A, specialist). I've also been working ever since and never on Kela. We're both in tech and are permanent residents.

Partner applied for citizenship and presented at Migri with our child in October 2023 and has a 130xx diary number. I applied in early January 2024 and I have a 2-digit diary number prefix. Our applications are linked and the linkage was confirmed by Migri.

Partner's application went to In Progress on Friday April 12, 2024. However, we welcomed another child a few days before that so Migri immediately sent a request for additional information to include the new baby if we wanted. We immediately responded to the request and presented the child at Migri the following Tuesday April 16. The Migri officer that attended to us during our visit mentioned that he'll send a message to the officer handling our case as they had written on our case that they should be pinged when we present at Migri.

We haven't heard anything from Migri since then. Now with the news here about 133xx getting approvals, we worry that we might now have been kicked into a slow bucket. Earlier today, we sent an additional information via enterfinland to explain that we have done as required by their information request.

I should also mention that my PR application took 1.5 years to get approved but I think that was because I was not in Finland when my case back then moved to In Progress. I relocated for a few months for work but my residence permit in Finland remained active and I was physically present in Finland about 30% of the time. I wonder if that case and the linkage is also somehow complicating everyone's citizenship application.

Any ideas on how to proceed from here?

Many thanks!

You can check posts by jcsmartin, this user waited 3 weeks in stage 2.

[MCS]

Did anyone from 134XX camp go to "In Progress" stage recently (this week or the previous one), or even better get a decision? Thanks in advance

[pttrck]

Finally, it's time to share my experience.

A bit about my background, I'm from a Southeast Asian country. I applied as a spouse of a Finn (living together in the same address for >3 years).

2014: came to Finland for bachelor study.
2019: graduated from bachelor degree, change to job seeking visa
2020: got my 1st full-time job, changed to working RP
2022: started my master's study, study and work at the same time
Dec 2022: quitted my job
Feb 2023: got into a paid internship in my field of study
Aug 2023: got into another paid internship in my field of study
Jan 2024: internship contract renews but will expire this summer

During my study, I went to other EU countries for 5+ months (Erasmus) (2017) and 7 months (internship, part of study) (2018). I also visited my home country a few times (1-3 months each), a South American country for 3 months (2019). Besides many shorter trips which last for up to 2 weeks.

Here is a timeline of my application:
19.10.2023 - applied citizenship
27.10.2023 - got diary number
23.04.2024 - application moved to stage 2 (morning)
24.04.2024 - got my decision at 9am

Here's the log of my queue number (diary no: 133XX)
23 Nov - 7,779
15 Dec - 7,424
19 Jan - 6,850
12 Feb - 6,444
22 Mar - 5,740
27 Mar - 5,669
5 Apr - 5,578
12 Apr - 5,470
23 Apr - 5,376

I got a little bit impatient the last 2 weeks but thankfully all goes well. I have been reading nonstop this thread every day and checking out the queue data csv file looking for pattern. But now I can finally breathe a sign of relief!

Thanks everyone for providing a place for the restless minds like me to go to and calm ourselves down. And thanks just_passing_by for his/her/their amazing work with the queue data.

[kunglao]

You can check posts by jcsmartin, this user waited 3 weeks in stage 2.

I suspect that the 3 weeks is aninternal deadline because they mentioned in their request for information that they would issue their decision on our case within 3 weeks if we do not respond to they're request, in which case the newborn child would not gain citizenship. My worry is that we have responded, and the officer at Migri said they would ping, and 133xx are now already getting decisions, and my PR application landed in a slow bucket. Maybe the officer forgot to ping and we'll get a decision in 1.5 weeks, or maybe not. It's not a lot of fun to be jumping at every email notification to see if it's Migri. I empathize with people who have been waiting for years, I experienced it during my PR application and hope this won't be the same.