Finland adopted a new Nationality Act in 2003. This reform can be seen as a mixture of old and new elements. The new Act contains many long-established features of Finnish citizenship legislation (Nordic cooperation, ius sanguinis, gradual evolution of gender equality). On the other hand, the new Act also brought significant changes to some traditional standpoints (rejection of multiple citizenship, naturalisation conditions).

The new Act emphasises familiarity with Finnish society as grounds for acquisition of Finnish citizenship by naturalisation: facilitations accorded to Nordic citizens were accordingly justified by the similarity of Nordic societies. Ius sanguinis is the major principle for acquisition of Finnish citizenship at birth, while ius soli is related to prevention of statelessness, which is also a constitutional principle regarding loss of citizenship. Like its many predecessors, the new Act promoted gender equality, although this time it was the position of men which was improved.

The most important change in the new Nationality Act was the full acceptance of multiple citizenship, which was contributed by the intensive lobbying work of Finnish expatriates. Another change was that naturalisation conditions became slightly stricter than before. This can be seen as a reaction to the considerable growth of immigration, and consequently the number of citizenship applications, in the 1990s.

Since autumn 2008, there has been a ministerial project under way to amend naturalisation conditions. This project implies a partial departure from the premises of the 2003 Nationality Act, as its goal is to use naturalisation as a means to promote the integration of immigrants into society. A government proposal is expected to be submitted to the Parliament in autumn 2009.

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