Was one of your grandparents or parents of a Finnish origin and is still alive? Did they loose their Finnish citizenship? If you are quick you and your children under 18 yrs may get a Finnish citizenship.
Those who lost their citizenship and/or their children will get it back by declaration. If eligible you have to lodge an application before May 31st, 2008. After that date it will be much harder to get. Ask for more from the Finnish Embassy in your country. If your country has a dual citizenship law you can keep the citizenship of your country that you hold now and have a Finnish one, too.
As a Finnish citizen you can work freely in EU and study what ever you want in Finland whithout any fees. If you're young enough to go to the Finnish army for 6 or 12 mths government will pay your travelling costs twice between your home country and Finland. As a Finnish citizen you will also get free medicare and other social security benefits while living in Finland.
Forms: http://www.migri.fi/netcomm/content.asp?article=1942
Finnish citizenship by declaration
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Re: Finnish citizenship by declaration
Doesnt the applicant need to know any finnish?expatriootti wrote:Was one of your grandparents or parents of a Finnish origin and is still alive? Did they loose their Finnish citizenship? If you are quick you and your children under 18 yrs may get a Finnish citizenship.
Those who lost their citizenship and/or their children will get it back by declaration. If eligible you have to lodge an application before May 31st, 2008. After that date it will be much harder to get. Ask for more from the Finnish Embassy in your country. If your country has a dual citizenship law you can keep the citizenship of your country that you hold now and have a Finnish one, too.
As a Finnish citizen you can work freely in EU and study what ever you want in Finland whithout any fees. If you're young enough to go to the Finnish army for 6 or 12 mths government will pay your travelling costs twice between your home country and Finland. As a Finnish citizen you will also get free medicare and other social security benefits while living in Finland.
Forms: http://www.migri.fi/netcomm/content.asp?article=1942

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- Posts: 2
- Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:31 am
Re: Finnish citizenship by declaration
No, you don't have to know any Finnish.
Re: Finnish citizenship by declaration
Aw bummer, it was my great-grandparents who emigrated. *sigh*
Re: Finnish citizenship by declaration
Hang on a second.
The whole thing bases on a change in law, was it in 2003 or so, that after the change a Finn can have multiple citizenship. Before that it was only possible in special cases. Now, until May 31st 2008 one may claim Finnish citizenship back by declaration under one condition: One has lost the Finnish citizenship before the new law came into force and would not have lost it under the new law. This also applies for the offsprings who could be Finnish citizens if their parents would not have lost Finnish citizenship under the new law.
And one does not need to know any Finnish, nor pass any tests, and yes, it is a declaration, NOT an application. So I simply brought my papers to the police and they have to accept it, if all needed papers are handed in completely and correctly. Costs 240 bucks.
The trick is to prove that your parents where Finns, prove why they have lost the Finnish citizenship, and that you are an offspring of the former Finnish citizen in question.
The whole thing bases on a change in law, was it in 2003 or so, that after the change a Finn can have multiple citizenship. Before that it was only possible in special cases. Now, until May 31st 2008 one may claim Finnish citizenship back by declaration under one condition: One has lost the Finnish citizenship before the new law came into force and would not have lost it under the new law. This also applies for the offsprings who could be Finnish citizens if their parents would not have lost Finnish citizenship under the new law.
And one does not need to know any Finnish, nor pass any tests, and yes, it is a declaration, NOT an application. So I simply brought my papers to the police and they have to accept it, if all needed papers are handed in completely and correctly. Costs 240 bucks.
The trick is to prove that your parents where Finns, prove why they have lost the Finnish citizenship, and that you are an offspring of the former Finnish citizen in question.
Re: Finnish citizenship by declaration
All right, I need some help because I don't know if it's possible anymore in my case.I don't know where to post this, because I just look for an answer on my question: If I finally gather up the courage to come to Finland will I be considered a freak of nature? (because this what a Finnish person from a certain rock band said when they came to sing at my festival in Romania).I am often told that it is very rare for love to happen between a Finnish and a Romanian
yet I am the exception
So this is my story:
My father was Finnish and my mother is Romanian.I am called a Finoromanian.However, I have Romanian citizenship because I was born in Romania. My mother and father were lovers in 1987, while my mother was married to somebody else (her current husband) who hold Romanian citizenship.Shortly, I am a child born out of an extra marital relationship.
My father was not sure/did not know about me for years, because my mother never wanted to tell him.My mother became very religious after my birth and never talked much to anyone about my natural father, except for her sister that was allowed to keep some pictures in her house.Me and my cousin found them in the attic.That is how I found out I have a finnish father
) The photo we found was was a portrait of my mother and my father and there was a phone number on the back of the photo and me and my cousin thought it funny to just call the number and see who answers.My cousin called and used my mother's name out of curiosity and what followed was a very funny conversation where my cousin was trying to find out as much as she could just for fun and she found out he was attending a business conference in Stockholm.My cousin is romanian but she was born is Sweden so she travels there often along with my aunt, they both have Swedish citizenship.My cousin was so amused that she told my aunt about the pictures we found in the attic and that she called the number on the back of the portrait photo.
My aunt was surprised then she got angry with my cousin,but my cousin convinced her to go find out what is all about, as she was returning to Stockholm anyway.So my aunt went to the business meeting to talk to my father.At first she did not recognize him, but he recognized her and they talked a lot about the past.My aunt told my father about me, I can't imagine how it was
) hey ,you have a daughter in Romania who is soon to celebrate her 18th birthday, want to come and meet her? This was in 30 June and my birthday is in July, yeah I'm a summer child :p So long story short my aunt brought him with her to Romania the next week and he was present at my 18th birthday party. It took me a long time to get used to the new dad,even though I was happy and sad in the same time, sad that my mother lied to me about who is my natural father and happy because I had found so much resemblance between me and my dad, and it did not matter he was Finnish, what mattered is that for the first time in my life, I understood the meaning of my mother's words that she used to tell me when she got angry with me: Aaaarh, you're so much like your father
It took me a while to get accustomed to the idea, and because I knew little about Finland (I only knew the name of the capital) ,my father chose to educate me about it's history and he always did it in a very funny way, and he tried to teach me how to write in Finnish and also told me about Finnish tango (he knew how to dance Finnish tango). I admitted my ignorance ,but I have always been diminishing it by being open to learn and acquire knowledge.Trouble is, as much as I learn ,I find out how much I don't know...
My father died in a car accident in 2008,before Christmas, in Helsinki.


So this is my story:
My father was Finnish and my mother is Romanian.I am called a Finoromanian.However, I have Romanian citizenship because I was born in Romania. My mother and father were lovers in 1987, while my mother was married to somebody else (her current husband) who hold Romanian citizenship.Shortly, I am a child born out of an extra marital relationship.
My father was not sure/did not know about me for years, because my mother never wanted to tell him.My mother became very religious after my birth and never talked much to anyone about my natural father, except for her sister that was allowed to keep some pictures in her house.Me and my cousin found them in the attic.That is how I found out I have a finnish father

My aunt was surprised then she got angry with my cousin,but my cousin convinced her to go find out what is all about, as she was returning to Stockholm anyway.So my aunt went to the business meeting to talk to my father.At first she did not recognize him, but he recognized her and they talked a lot about the past.My aunt told my father about me, I can't imagine how it was


It took me a while to get accustomed to the idea, and because I knew little about Finland (I only knew the name of the capital) ,my father chose to educate me about it's history and he always did it in a very funny way, and he tried to teach me how to write in Finnish and also told me about Finnish tango (he knew how to dance Finnish tango). I admitted my ignorance ,but I have always been diminishing it by being open to learn and acquire knowledge.Trouble is, as much as I learn ,I find out how much I don't know...
My father died in a car accident in 2008,before Christmas, in Helsinki.
Re: Finnish citizenship by declaration
Biology and law are not the same.
Legally your father is your mother's husband at the time you were born. Even if your biological father were still alive, it might be difficult to change your legal parent as an adult, I'm not sure. Now that he is no longer alive, I have a hard time seeing how it would be possible at all.
Maybe others know of actual cases where this has been attempted or looked into and can give you more information.
Legally your father is your mother's husband at the time you were born. Even if your biological father were still alive, it might be difficult to change your legal parent as an adult, I'm not sure. Now that he is no longer alive, I have a hard time seeing how it would be possible at all.
Maybe others know of actual cases where this has been attempted or looked into and can give you more information.
As he persisted, I was obliged to tootle him gently at first and then, seeing no improvement, to trumpet him vigorously with my horn.