Certificate of the right to enter a marriage in a foreign country
The examination of impediments to marriage is carried out in the country where you will be married. For this purpose, you may need a certificate that certifies that the Finnish legislation gives you the right to enter into the marriage. You can order this certificate from us.
In which country will you be married?
Marriage in another Nordic country
Before the marriage ceremony, you must request an examination of impediments to marriage. You can choose whether to request it from us or from an authority in the country where the marriage ceremony will take place.
A) If you request the examination from us, read the instructions for it on the Examination of impediments to marriage page. The other Nordic countries also accept an examination performed by us as such.
B) If you request the examination from the country where your marriage ceremony will take place, you may need a certificate from us to certify that you have the right under Finnish law to enter into the marriage. To order the certificate, follow the instructions below.
Order your certificate well in advance
The certificate is valid for four months after the date of signature. It is not possible to extend its validity. When needed, you can order a new certificate.
Do the following
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Check whether your personal data are correct in the Population Information System
The key information is the marital status (civil status), which ensures that you do not have a valid marriage or registered partnership. Check the Suomi.fi Web Service's Personal Data page to see whether your marital status is correct in the Population Information System.
Unable to use the online service or your marital status is not correct?
You can check your personal data by requesting them with a form. Please use secure email to send the form to us. Select [email protected] as the recipient of the message. You can also send the form by post or bring it to one of our service locations.
We will send the data you have requested from us to the address recorded in your details in the Population Information System.
If your marital status is not correct, correct it by following the instructions below. When your personal data are up to date, you can continue the order from step 2.
You have an obligation to correct your personal data in the Population Information System if your marital status is indicated as ‘not known’ or it is not correct.
If you have got divorced in Finland but your marital status is still “married” or “in registered partnership”, contact the district court.
If you have concluded a marriage or got divorced abroad or your marital status is incorrect for some other reason, use a form to submit the correct information. Use the secure email at turvaviesti.dvv.fi to send the form to us. Select [email protected] as the recipient of the message. You can also send the form by post or bring it to one of our service locations.
When your personal data are up to date, you can continue the order from step 2.
We need your civil status certificate as the original paper document. The certificate must usually be less than four months old.
1. Obtain a civil status certificate.
A) You can request a certificate of your civil status from the embassy or consulate of your country of residence/citizenship. In such a case, the certificate does not have to be legalised. If you cannot get the certificate in Finnish, Swedish or English, you may need a translation of it. Check our instructions for having documents translated.
B) You can request it from the population register authorities of your country of residence/citizenship. In most cases, the document must be translated and legalised. Check our instructions for the translation and legalisation of documents.
2. When you have the original civil status certificate, fill in the order form.
3. If your spouse is a foreigner, take a copy or a photo of the name page of their passport or, if they are a citizen of an EU member state, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland or San Marino, of their official identity card.
4. Provide the following documents to us:
- the order form
- a copy of your spouse’s identity document if your spouse is a foreigner
- the original civil status certificate and its possible legalisations and translations.
Send them to us by post to the following address: Digital and Population Data Services Agency, P.O. Box 1003, 00531 Helsinki or bring them to the letter box of our service location nearest to you.
5. When you have sent the documents to us, you can move on to step 3.
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Order the certificate of the right to enter a marriage in a foreign country
When your marital status has been recorded in the Population Information System, order the certificate in the web service.
Orders paid in the web service cannot be cancelled.
Are you unable to handle your matter online?
- Fill in the order form.
- If your spouse is a foreigner, take a copy or a photo of the name page of their passport or, if they are a citizen of an EU member state, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland or San Marino, of their official identity card.
- Send the form and, if your spouse is a foreigner, the copy of their identity document, to us using the secure email at turvaviesti.dvv. Select [email protected] as the recipient of the message. You can also post the form to the following address: Digital and Population Data Services Agency, PO Box 1003, FI-00531 Helsinki.
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You will receive the certificate in a letter once your order has been processed
Check that your personal data in the certificate are correct.
-
After the marriage ceremony, submit a notification of your marriage that was concluded abroad
Finnish citizens and those living in Finland must notify us of a marriage concluded abroad so that we can register the information in the Finnish Population Information System.
Getting married abroad
If you need a certificate proving that you have the right to enter into a marriage in a foreign country, order it according to the instructions below.
Order your certificate well in advance
The certificate is valid for four months after the date of signature. It is not possible to extend its validity. When needed, you can order a new certificate.
Do the following
-
Check from the country in which the marriage ceremony will take place whether this certificate will be sufficient as such
- If the country requires legalisation of the document, you can order an Apostille from us.
- If the country requires a translation of the document, you can order the EU translation form from us. It is accepted by the other EU countries. For other countries, you can obtain a translation from an authorised translator, for example.
You can order the Apostille and the EU translation form at the same time with the certificate. There is a charge for them.
If you need other certificates, such as a birth certificate, you can order them separately on the Order a certificate from the Population Information System page.
-
Check whether your personal data are correct in the Population Information System
The key information is the marital status (civil status), which ensures that you do not have a valid marriage or registered partnership. Check the Suomi.fi Web Service's Personal Data page to see whether your marital status is correct in the Population Information System.
Unable to use the online service or your marital status is not correct?
You can check your personal data by requesting them with a form. Please use secure email to send the form to us. Select [email protected] as the recipient of the message. You can also send the form by post or bring it to one of our service locations.
We will send the data you have requested from us to the address recorded in your details in the Population Information System.
If your marital status is not correct, correct it by following the instructions below. When your personal data are up to date, you can continue the order from step 3.
You have an obligation to correct your personal data in the Population Information System if your marital status is indicated as ‘not known’ or it is not correct.
If you have got divorced in Finland but your marital status is still “married” or “in registered partnership”, contact the district court.
If you have concluded a marriage or got divorced abroad or your marital status is incorrect for some other reason, use a form to submit the correct information. Use the secure email at turvaviesti.dvv.fi to send the form to us. Select [email protected] as the recipient of the message. You can also send the form by post or bring it to one of our service locations.
When your personal data are up to date, you can continue the order from step 3.
We need your civil status certificate as the original paper document. The certificate must usually be less than four months old.
1. Obtain a civil status certificate.
A) You can request a certificate of your civil status from the embassy or consulate of your country of residence/citizenship. In such a case, the certificate does not have to be legalised. If you cannot get the certificate in Finnish, Swedish or English, you may need a translation of it. Check our instructions for having documents translated.
B) You can request it from the population register authorities of your country of residence/citizenship. In most cases, the document must be translated and legalised. Check our instructions for the translation and legalisation of documents.
2. When you have the original civil status certificate, fill in the order form.
3. If your spouse is a foreigner, take a copy or a photo of the name page of their passport or, if they are a citizen of an EU member state, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland or San Marino, of their official identity card.
4. Provide the following documents to us:
- the order form
- a copy of your spouse’s identity document if your spouse is a foreigner
- the original civil status certificate and its possible legalisations and translations.
Send them to us by post to the following address: Digital and Population Data Services Agency, P.O. Box 1003, 00531 Helsinki or bring them to the letter box of our service location nearest to you.
5. When you have sent the documents to us, you can move on to step 4.
-
Order the certificate of the right to enter a marriage in a foreign country
When your marital status has been recorded in the Population Information System, order the certificate in the web service.
Orders paid in the web service cannot be cancelled.
Are you unable to handle your matter online?
- Fill in the order form.
- If your spouse is a foreigner, take a copy or a photo of the name page of their passport or, if they are a citizen of an EU member state, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland or San Marino, of their official identity card.
- Send the form and, if your spouse is a foreigner, the copy of their identity document, to us using the secure email at turvaviesti.dvv. Select [email protected] as the recipient of the message. You can also post the form to the following address: Digital and Population Data Services Agency, PO Box 1003, FI-00531 Helsinki.
-
You will receive the certificate in a letter once your order has been processed
Check that your personal data in the certificate are correct.
-
After the marriage ceremony, submit a notification of your marriage that was concluded abroad
Finnish citizens and those living in Finland must notify us of a marriage concluded abroad so that we can register the information in the Finnish Population Information System.
Price
The certificate is free of charge.
EU translation form € 15.
Apostille certificate € 38.
Web service
You pay for the EU translation form and/or the Apostille when placing your order.
Orders paid in the web service cannot be cancelled.
Email, postal mail and visiting at the service location
We will send you an invoice for the EU translation form and/or Apostille separately. Read more about invoicing.
Processing times
The examination of impediments to marriage takes at least 7 days.
At the moment, the processing time is 1–2 weeks.
If one of the spouses is a foreigner, the processing may take several weeks. At the moment, the processing time is 3-5 weeks.
The processing of a certificate issued for a marriage ceremony outside Finland takes an average of 2-3 weeks.
This is how you get the document:
You will receive a certificate from us once your application has been processed.
We will send the certificate to you by post.
Check that all your details have been entered correctly.
Frequently asked questions
Each country has its own requirements for the documents required for investigating the impediments to marriage or concluding a marriage in that country. Find out from the foreign officiator what documents you need to submit.
You can get the certificate in Finnish, Swedish or English.
Find out from the officiator in the foreign country whether the certificate has to be translated.
The purpose of the EU translation form is to assist with translations within the EU. In practice, it means that we draw up a translation of the certificate in an official language of the EU selected by you and attach it to the certificate. You will then not need to get a translation of the document yourself. Please note that we can only attach the EU translation form to a certificate written in Finnish or Swedish.
Legalising a document is a matter of legal protection. In practice, legalisation can be a stamp on a document or a separate page attached to a document.
Legalisation ensures that
- the issuer is entitled under the laws of the country to issue the document in question
- the document is valid in the country where it has been issued.
If the country where the marriage ceremony will take place has joined the Apostille agreement, you can order the Apostille from us.
If the country where the marriage ceremony will take place has not joined the Apostille agreement, request legalisation from the Foreign Ministry of Finland or the embassy of that country.
We will retrieve your personal data from the Population Information System. You can check that your data are up to date by going to the Personal Data page in the Suomi.fi Web Service. Your spouse’s personal data will be based on the order form completed by you. You should therefore complete the order form carefully.
You cannot get it electronically. The certificate must be signed by hand and have the Agency’s ink stamp. We will send the certificate to you in a letter.
The certificate is valid for 4 months. The validity begins from the date of signature.
Contact us
Please use secure email if your message contains personal or otherwise confidential information. Choose [email protected] as the recipient.
Telephone
Telephone service number is 0295 535 690
Service hours: Mon–Fri 9–15
Postal address
Digital and Population Data Services Agency, P.O. Box 1003, FI-00531 Helsinki