Examination of impediments to marriage

Before the marriage ceremony, the couple must request an examination of impediments to marriage. This ensures that no impediments under Finnish law exist for the marriage. 

Impediments to marriage include 

• minority 
• a valid marriage or registered partnership
• too close a family relationship
• family relationship created by adoption. 

A couple can only be married if the impediments to marriage have been examined. 

Request an examination in good time.

You can request it at the earliest 4 months before the wedding date. 

If one of the spouses is a foreigner, you should allow several weeks for the processing the matter.

You should also decide which surname you use after the marriage ceremony. 

When requesting an examination of impediments, you must also indicate which surname you use after the marriage ceremony. Changing the surname in connection with the marriage ceremony is free of charge if you take the surname of one of you or compound surname as your surname. 

However, you must submit a separate application for a name change subject to a fee before or after the examination of the impediments if you wish to have a 

• a newly coined surname, which is a surname that is currently not used by a living person. 
• one of the old surnames in the family. 

You can read more about surname selection on our website. 

Do the following

First check if your marital status has been entered in the Population Information System. You can check it in the Check your personal data or by contacting us. 

Your marital status is in the Population Information System  

1. Ask us to examine the impediments to marriage. 

You can request it electronically if you both have a Finnish personal identity code and online banking codes or a mobile certificate. 

 First, one of you will complete the order in self-service. The other spouse will then receive instructions to their email to verify the order within a week.  If we have not received the verification within a week, we will automatically reject the request without a separate notification.

Fill out the form electronically 

You can also fill in the form below and send it to us by post at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, P.O. Box 1003, 00531 Helsinki or by e-mail at [email protected]. 

Form for a request for the examination of impediments to marriage 

2. We will examine if there are any impediments to marriage. You will receive a certificate of the examination either by email or by post. 

Check that: 

• the certificate contains the correct surnames after the marriage ceremony
• the certificate is valid on the day of the marriage.

3. You do not need to bring the certificate to the marriage ceremony if the Digital and Population Data Services Agency's officiator marries you. If you are married by another officiator, please submit the certificate to them before the marriage ceremony.  

There is no marital status for one or both spouses in the Population Information System 

If you do not have your marital status in the Population Information System, you will need a certificate of your marital status.

In addition, if neither of you is a Finnish citizen and neither is resident in Finland, please send us a certificate from the authorities of your state of residence/citizenship indicating that you are allowed to enter into the marriage in question in Finland.

1. You should request a certificate of your civilian status from the embassy or consulate of your state of residence/citizenship. In such a case, the certificate does not have to be legalised. You can also request a certificate of marital status from the Population Register Authorities of your state of residence/citizenship. The certificate submitted to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency must be less than four months old. The period of validity starts from the date of signature of the marital status certificate.

2. Verify whether the certificate must be legalised or translated. Please note that there is no need to legalise an embassy or consulate certificate. 

Read our instructions for legalisation

3. Please complete and print the form below. 

Form for a request for the examination of impediments to marriage 

4. Send us a mail to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, P.O. Box 1003, 00531 Helsinki 

• original certificate of your marital status 

• its legalizations and translations, if needed  

• the form above 

• a copy or photo of the passport of the spouse whose data is not available in the Population Information System

• a certificate that you can enter into the marriage in question in Finland, if neither of you is a Finnish citizen and neither of you has a place of residence in Finland. 

You can also visit any of our service locations. Make an appointment with our appointment service. You can also bring documents into a service location mailbox. In such a case, write your contact details in the envelope and that the documents are related to the examination of impediments to marriage. 

5. We will examine if there are any impediments to marriage. You will receive a certificate of the examination either via self-service, as Suomi.fi message, by email or by post.

Check that: 

• the certificate contains the correct surnames after the marriage ceremony 
• the certificate is valid on the day of the marriage.

6. You do not need to bring the certificate to the marriage ceremony if the Digital and Population Data Services Agency's officiator marries you. If you are married by another officiator, please submit the certificate to them before the marriage ceremony. 

Frequently asked questions and answers

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