The paper aims at a deeper understanding of how the use of parental leave of fathers is related to their socio-economic characteristics, cultural norm or the welfare system where they currently live. The focus on Finnish fathers in Sweden and in Finland allows us to offer a more complete picture on how present context versus earlier context matter for choice of using the parental leave, something that no previous study has been able to do. This will be possible because 1) the significant migration between these two countries: emigration from Finland has played a central role in the development of the Swedish economy ever since the 1950s. 2) The availability of in-depth register data in both the countries. We use detailed longitudinal register microdata for first births between 1999 and 2009. The individual characteristics of the immigrant population, spouses’ immigrant status, labor-market status, demographic and socio-economic factors are considered. We use linear probability models to estimate the propensity to use parental leave among immigrant fathers in comparison to native-born fathers in the two countries.