A busy period for notifications of move – exceptional opening times in the telephone service

This year, the Digital and Population Data Services Agency will gradually introduce a new system for processing notifications of move. Notifications of move will be processed more intensively during this transition period, which is why the telephone service for moving advice will not be available on Fridays between 22 August and 15 November. You can easily submit a notification of move online – see tips for making your notification smoothly.

Autumn is the busiest season for moving house. It is a time when the number of notifications may even double. This is why we ask those who move in the autumn to be patient. While system development has made automated registration of the address and municipality of residence possible, around one half of the notifications still need to be processed manually because they contain unclear information. This means that their processing will take longer.

Up-to-date processing times are listed online. The processing time is calculated from the date of the move, as by law the notification cannot be processed before that day. You should still submit your notification well in advance, however, as this means that your notification will be at the top of the processing queue on the date of your move. The notifications will then be processed in the order of arrival.

Once you have registered your new address and municipality of residence, they will be displayed in your personal information in the Suomi.fi Web Service.

Telephone service unavailable on Fridays

The telephone service for moving advice will not be available on Fridays between 22 August and 15 November. On these days we will step up the processing of move notifications to ensure a smooth roll-out of the new system.

During this period, we recommend that you use the e-service channels and read the instructions provided on our website. Normal service will be available on other weekdays.

Complete your notification of move carefully to speed up its processing

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency registers your new address and municipality of residence based on the information provided in the notification. In practical terms, a certain building and its part are identified as your residence. This is why it is important that you provide the full address of your new home in the notification. If there is no match for the address in the municipal building stock database, its registration will be delayed while more information is sought.

Processing of notifications is currently under development

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency is reforming the processing of move notifications by introducing a new system that will increase automation and reduce manual work. The goal is to speed up the processing and improve service quality. The development efforts are progressing gradually, and their impacts will be visible to customers later this year. Read a previous news item to find out more about this development work: The processing of notifications of move will be gradually migrated to the new system.

More than 720,000 notifications of move are submitted every year

More than 720,000 notifications of move are received at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency every year, and they are handled by approximately 60 experts. Almost 90% of the notifications are submitted using the shared Change of address notification -service of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency and Posti. 

In addition to registering addresses, we make decisions on the person’s municipality of residence as we process notifications of move. The municipality of residence affects benefits, taxation and the voting district, which makes it is an important part of the processing of moves.

Additional information for the media: Anneli Kupari, Chief Specialist, Digital and Population Data Services Agency, [email protected].  

Tips for submitting a notification of move 

• You can submit your notification of move one month before the date of your move at the earliest (or one week after the move at the latest) with the Digital and Population Data Services Agency and Posti’s joint service Change of address notification. Please note that you will need either a Finnish online banking ID or a mobile certificate to verify your identity. 
• Submit a permanent notification of move if you are moving to another municipality for the foreseeable future and do not intend to move back within a year. Read more about temporary notifications of move on the Moving in Finland page (Frequently asked questions section).
• Enter the address information and fill in the form carefully: add the entrance identifier and apartment number as it is shown in such documents as your lease.
• Only submit a single notification of move. If your future address changes after you have submitted a notification but before the move date, submit a notification of move for the new address. In the additional information field, you can explain that the previous notification of move is unnecessary and can be rejected.
• If you have blocked notifications of move at any point at Suomi.fi, you can disable the block before filling in a notification of move.
• Once we have processed your notification of move, your new address will be updated in the Population Information System. You can check your information in the Suomi.fi Personal Data service. 
• The Digital and Population Data Services Agency can register your new address in the Population Information System on the date of the move at the earliest. The reason for this is that the Population Information System must always contain up-to-date information on residents living in an apartment, which is why the information cannot be entered in advance.
• Thank you for waiting patiently until your new address has been registered. Current processing times are available on the processing times page.

Update 20 August at 12:00: The exceptional opening hours of the telephone service for moving advice apply to all languages, including the Swedish-language service.

Update 24 September: The telephone customer service’s exceptional hours were extended until 31 October.

Update 21 October: The telephone customer service’s exceptional hours were extended until 15 November.