Retaining citizenship and getting a residence permit?

[sillysillygoose]

Hello!
I'm under the age of 18 but I wanted to know how to retain citizenship? I was born elsewhere but my father (from Finland) was married to my mother when they had me so I got dual citizenship. My family says that I just have to write a letter stating that I want to retain citizenship when I hit 18, but no online sources I checked aligned with this. I have never lived in Finland. I have a Finnish passport. What should I put in the letter? Do I need to write it in Finnish? Are there any extra steps I should know about, aside from the obvious?
I hope to move to Finland soon afterwards, but I'm pretty sure that will be easier with citizenship! In my situation, what should I do about a residence permit (after I hit 18 haha)? Are there any online guides/useful tips I should know?
Thanks so much in advance!

[FinlandGirl]

I'm under the age of 18 but I wanted to know how to retain citizenship? I was born elsewhere but my father (from Finland) was married to my mother when they had me so I got dual citizenship. My family says that I just have to write a letter stating that I want to retain citizenship when I hit 18,

You have to write it after you hit 18 and before you hit 22.
Or apply for a new passport.

but no online sources I checked aligned with this.

https://migri.fi/en/retaining-finnish-c ... -age-of-22

What should I put in the letter?

Your Finnish Personal Identity Code and a statement "I want to keep my Finnish citizenship."

Do I need to write it in Finnish?

Any language accepted by the Finnish embassy to your country should be fine.

[Western Rover]

Any language accepted by the Finnish embassy to your country should be fine.

Last year my daughter sent her letter asking to retain her Finnish citizenship to the consulate in Los Angeles and was informed by email:

As of September 1, 2020 there is a registration fee involved.

The registration is free of charge, in case you send the documents directly to DVV in Finland. You can mail the documents to any of the DVV service locations in Finland.

In case you are mailing the “free form” letter to the Consulate to be forwarded to DVV in Finland (as you did), the payment method is a money order/cashier’s check/certified check made out to “Embassy of Finland Consular Fees Los Angeles”. Personal checks are not accepted. Monthly service fees may fluctuate due to the euro-USD exchange rates. The fee is 35USD (November 2020).

Instead of paying the fee she sent another letter to the Helsinki DVV, in English. A few weeks later she got confirmation in the mail (I think from the maistraatti) that she would retain her citizenship.

[Western Rover]

Oops, I lost one of the links the consulate had in their email message when I pasted it:

Monthly service fees may fluctuate due to the euro-USD exchange rates. The fee is 35USD (November 2020).

I guess the fee in question in the one on that page for "Transfer of the population data notification to the Digital and Population Data Service Agency".