Divorce granted abroad 

If you have been issued a legally valid court decision on divorce by a foreign court of law, we can also record the divorce in the Finnish Population Information System. This way your personal data will be up to date and it will be easier for you to use the services of Finnish authorities. If you are a Finnish citizen, you have the obligation to notify the Finnish Population Information System of the divorce granted to you. 

You will need to attach a document issued by foreign authorities to the notification, such as a legally valid court decision or an extract from a population register. In most cases, the document must be translated and legalised. See our instructions for the legalisation of documents.   

Finnish citizens living in Sweden 

The Swedish authorities automatically send information about a divorce to Finland when it concerns a Finnish citizen. If you are a citizen of both Finland and Sweden, Sweden considers you to be a Swedish citizen only and will not forward the information. Persons with dual citizenship therefore have to submit the notification themselves. 

Do the following 

1. Fill in the form below.       

Foreign court decision on divorce  

2. Check if the original documents related to the divorce need to be legalised and/or translated.   

Read more about the legalisation of documents

3. Submit the documents either through a Finnish mission or by sending them by post to Digital and Population Data Services Agency, PL 1003, 00531 HELSINKI, FINLAND. If your municipality of residence was in Åland before moving abroad, send the documents to Statens ämbetsverk på Åland. 

Or make an appointment with the Registration of a foreigner´s personal data service at www.dvv.fi/reservation

Unfortunately, we cannot accept scanned documents. Submit all the necessary documents at once to speed up the process. Read our website thoroughly to ensure you have the necessary documentation.

See more detailed instructions for delivering documents.  

Required documents: 

  • notification form for a divorce granted abroad which you have filled in   
  • the original or a certified copy of the legally valid court decision or some other document proving the divorce, legalised if necessary 
  • if necessary, a translation of the document, legalised if required, or an appendix compliant with Article 39 of the Brussels II a Regulation (original or a certified copy). 

4. Inquiries and email messages will not speed up the processing of notifications. We will contact you if we need further clarification. You will receive a confirmation from us once your divorce has been recorded. Check that your information has been entered correctly. If for some reason we do not record the information you have submitted in the Population Information System, you will receive a decision on this. Instructions for submitting a request for administrative review are attached to the decision. 

N. B.! Cases are processed in their order of arrival. Unfortunately, we cannot speed up an individual case unless there is a very exceptional and very important reason for doing so. For example, opening a bank account is not a sufficient justification for speeding up the process.

Price

Free of charge

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You can find the average processing times on our website

Email

If your message contains personal or other confidential information, remember to use secure email. Choose the address  [email protected] as the recipient.

Send secure email

Telephone service

Telephone service number is +358 295 536 320

Service hours:

  • Mon 9–15
  • Tue–Fri 9–12

See also

Finnish citizens can deliver documents to: Digital and Population Data Services Agency, PL 1003, 00531 HELSINKI, FINLAND or visit a Finnish mission. If you submit the documents to the delegation for further dispatch to the Digital and population data services agency, the delegation will charge a fee for its service in accordance with its price list.

Finnish missions