UNHCR’s Representation for the Nordic and Baltic Countries has submitted its observations on the Proposal to amend the Citizenship Act (the Government’s Proposal to the Parliament for the law amending the Citizenship Act).
The Proposal aims to encourage and prepare foreign nationals to integrate in Finland by extending the residence requirements for naturalization as Finnish citizens. The residence duration requirements for acquiring citizenship are proposed to increase for both beneficiaries of international protection, and for stateless people. Furthermore, the qualifying residence period would not include the time spend in Finland during the asylum procedure.
UNHCR is concerned that the prospects of integration for refugees and stateless individuals will become restricted through the proposed increase in residency requirements. These developments could harm refugees’ sense of security and stability, which the international protection regime is intended to provide.
UNHCR recommends that the Government of Finland retains the more favorable shorter residence requirements for refugees and stateless individuals to acquire citizenship. Furthermore, UNHCR recommends that the Government continues counting the qualifying residency period from the date of application for international protection.
UNHCR’s observations can be found here.
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