In its programme for government published last month, Finland's right-wing ruling coalition said it plans to introduce a citizenship test as part of efforts to tighten rules around the granting of permanent residence and citizenship permits.
"Passing a citizenship test and a language test will be made a requirement for naturalisation," the programme states.
The Finnish citizenship test will be modelled on similar evaluations used in other European countries.
According to the Immigration Service, to gain citizenship in Finland currently, applicants need to possess "satisfactory" oral and written skills in Finnish or Swedish and also fulfil a number of other requirements.
Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen (Finns) told Yle that her ministry has started work on drafting the citizenship test, but the process will take time.
Examples from across Europe
Among the EU's 27 countries, nearly half — or 13 — currently have a citizenship test. They include the Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Denmark, Czech Republic, Hungary and Estonia.
In addition, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein — which are not members of the EU but are part of the Schengen area — also have a citizenship test.
In general, the tests feature questions about the history, culture, society and population of the host country. The assessments may also ask about living in a democracy and other aspects of a particular country's politics, such as in Estonia and Greece, or about the country's national anthem, as in Latvia.
In each country, the test is organised by an official body.
Rantanen previously told tabloid Ilta-Sanomat that the exams could be organised by community colleges, for example.
From multiple choice quizzes to interviews
In an interview with Yle soon after taking office, Rantanen said that her ministry will perform a "u-turn" on immigration and refugee policies during her term, and she reiterated that position this week.
"I am glad that we are reaching the pan-Nordic level, and that we will not be the only country in the Nordic region with lax rules," she said.
Among the Nordic countries, the citizenship test is used in Denmark and Norway.
The Danish test has 45 multiple-choice questions about the country's society, culture and history — 35 of which are based on provided study material while 5 questions deal with topical issues taken from Danish media and politics. There are also five questions on Danish values.
At least 36 correct answers are needed in order to pass the Danish test. In addition, they must correctly answer at least four of the 10 questions that are not included in the study material.
The citizenship test in Norway has 36 questions, of which 24 must be correct. Norwegian authorities also offer the option of completing a social studies course (75 hours) with a final exam in Norwegian.
Luxembourg also provides the option of taking a social studies course instead of the citizenship test.
In Slovakia, there is no formal citizenship test but the required language test does ask basic information about the country.
Study material helps participants
In almost every European country where a citizenship test is mandatory, participants are provided with study material.
In Spain, the test consists of 25 multiple-choice questions selected from a list of 300, which can be practised in advance with an app.
The tests are also often multiple-choice, although one notable exception to this is France, where the 'test' is conducted as an interview.
In Europe, the citizenship test is often multiple-choice, but one exception is France, where the exam is conducted as an interview. Study material is also provided.
In addition to the citizenship test, each country has other conditions which must be met if the applicant is to receive citizenship or a permanent residence permit — such as a certain income threshold.
Although Austria has no citizenship exam, people applying for citizenship or permanent residence must have lived continuously in the country for at least 10 years and prove their intentions to stay.
Rantanen noted that the proposed citizenship test is also intended to help speed up integration into Finnish society.
"The idea is for people to integrate into Finland, to learn our language and our social system. With integration, the citizenship and language tests should not prove to be too difficult," Rantanen said.
Citizenship test previously proposed in 2019
The possibility of Finland introducing a citizenship test has been mooted before.
In 2019, then-Interior Minister Kai Mykkänen (NCP) presented a package of measures he said was aimed at preventing and combating crimes committed by foreign-background individuals, especially sexual offences.
The draft bill at the time stated that "the practices of other countries in the use of citizenship tests will be studied and a test suitable for Finland will be introduced".
However, the citizenship test was not advanced during the following government's term in office.
Edited on 22.07.2023 at 13:28 to add detail on criteria that citizenship applicants currently need to fulfil.