Aquiring Finnish Citizenship (back) by "Ansökan"?

[Idefix]

Hi!

I will apply to get my Finnish citizenship back here soon by "anmälan" (sorry, got it wrong in the header). Have anyone done this recently? The thing is I am living in the US, have both Swedish and American citizenships, but was born in Finland and lost my citizenship when becoming a Swedish citizen about 25 years ago

As I understand I have to send the payment first to Finland, then the paperwork to a Finnish ambassy in the US where I live....

Just wanted to know if someone have done this before I start looking into it more?

[mrshourula]

My husband filed for citizenship by declaration on Aug. 30. He filed by mail at the Consulate General of Los Angeles. His father is a former citizen (born in Finland in 1916) who had to give up his Finnish citizenship upon becoming an American citizen by Naturalization in 1946.

It seemed to me that the paperwork he had to submit was minimal. It was basically to establish his identity and show his relationship to his father and, because we also applied for two minor children, to show that they are legally his children.

In total, we submitted:
1. uvi 12 form with notarized signatures of husband, two minor children and me (stating that I approve of them becoming Finnish citizens). There was no place on the form for the notary stamp and signature so the notary suggested that he place it on opposite (blank) side of the page where we signed. This seems to have been accepted by the consulate;

2. Certified true copies of US passports for all four of us to establish our identities. In this case I made a photo copy of the front page of our passports and brought the copies as well as the passports to the office of the Notary Public. He confirmed that the copy of original matched and then notarized the photocopied page;

3. Certified true copies of birth certificates for husband and both minor children. Because we live in the town where my husband and children were born, I was able to go to the municipal office and get original certified copies of the birth certificates. If this had not been possible, then I would have followed the same process as for copies of passports;

4. Certified true copy of marriage licence of husband's mother and father. I ordered a certified copy of the license and submitted the original;

5. Certified true copy of marriage license for husband and me. Although not asked for in information from Directorate of Immigration, the contact at the the Los Angeles consulate suggested we submit to avoid delay as it might be requested at later date. Again, I ordered a certified copy from the county office and submitted.

Although I have nothing to support this theory, and nothing I learned from the Finnish Consulate directed us to do so, my thinking was that we should submit original certified copies - rather than a photo copy that had been notarized-when it was possible as a way to eliminate any questions about documents;

6. Money order for application fee (this amount changes due to current exchange rate; on Aug 30, it was $288.00 USD). This was sent with forms and documents to the Finnish Consulate in Los Angeles. At first I thought we had to send the fee to Finland but it can be received at a Finnish consulate.

Prior to submitting the forms and supporting documents, we confirmed that my husband's father was in the Population Registry and that they had the most recent information on him (in this case, it was 1946 when he submitted a statement on his naturalization as US citizen). When I asked if it was necessary for his information to be updated, I was told not unless he also intends to make a declaration for citizenship.

I found the staff at the Finnish Consulate in Los Angeles to be very helpful with explaining the process and requirements.

[Idefix]

So you were actually able to pay to the consualte instead of sending payment to Finland, great. Guess I should contact them first before I send the money anywhere. Thanks!

[mrshourula]

Yes, I know why you thought you had to send the payment to Finland because I read that, too, and got very confused. I called the Finnish Consulate in LA to ask them a question about sending $$$ to Finland and that's when I learned I could just send it to them with the application and supporting documents.

Also, it's good to call them right before you send the fee as it changes from time to time (based on euro exchange rate). When I sent it was $288 USD but the next day was going up to $300 USD.

Kate