Examination of impediments to marriage
An examination of impediments to marriage is carried out for all couples who wish to marry. This ensures that there are no impediments to marriage referred to in the Finnish Marriage Act.
Before the marriage ceremony, an examination of impediments to marriage must be carried out. This ensures that no impediments referred to in the Finnish Marriage Act exist for the marriage. At the same time, you must notify the surname you have chosen.
You should submit your application for an examination of impediments in good time before the day on which you plan to marry. The examination of impediments to marriage takes at least seven days. If one of you is a foreigner, you should allow several weeks for the examination of impediments. The certificate is valid for four months after the date of issue.
The examination of impediments uses data from the Population Information System. If the Population Information System does not contain information on your or your spouse’s marital status, you must obtain and submit a marital status certificate issued by an authority of your home country. In some cases, the marital status certificate must be legalised.
- A foreign partner
The marital status certificate is accepted in Finnish, Swedish and English. If necessary, it must be translated into one of these languages. A translation made by an authorised translator in Finland does not have to be legalised. A translation made abroad must be legalised, unless it has been made by a translator who is qualified for the task under legislation of an EU Member State. A marital status certificate obtained from an EU Member State does not have to be translated, if a standard form pursuant to an EU regulation is attached to it.
- Both fiancé(e)s foreigners
If neither of you is a Finnish citizen and neither of you has a place of domicile in Finland, you must submit both a marital status certificate and a certificate obtained from the authorities of your respective home countries that you may contract this marriage in Finland.
- Marriage abroad
If you are getting married abroad, you can ask the local register office to give you a certificate that certifies that according to Finnish law there is no impediment to contract the marriage.
Do the following
- Please fill in the form, print it and send it to us.
- If you can understand Finnish or Swedish you can fill in and submit the form in the electronic service Lomake.fi. Using the electronic form requires strong identification from both spouses.
Fill in the electronic form in finnish
Fill in the electronic form in swedish
- You may need to have the documents legalised or translated.
See separate instructions for legalisation
- If you wish, you can visit one of our service locations.
Checklist
- Please note that you must have a valid proof of identity that you must present at the marriage ceremony at the latest
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If you have doubts that your marital status has not been entered in the Population Register System or that it is entered incorrectly, check your marital status from the check your data service (in Finnish and Swedish) or contact us.
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If you are
- a foreigner, and your marital status has not been registered in the Population Information System, you must submit a marital status certificate issued by a competent authority of your home country in order to have the investigation of impediments to marriage carried out.
- A Finnish citizen and your marital status has not been registered in the Population Information System or your marital status there is incorrect, the information must be updated in the Population Information System before the investigation of impediments to marriage. For this purpose, you must submit a marital status certificate from your last country of residence.
- A Finnish citizen, but have lived abroad all your life or since you became of age, you must submit a marital status certificate issued by your last country of residence in order to have the investigation of impediments to marriage carried out.
- The marital status certificate must be original and less than four months old, unless another period of validity is stated in the certificate. The certificate must also be legalised.
- The marital status certificate does not have to be legalised, if it has been issued by
- an embassy or a consulate of your country of citizenship.
- an EU Member State.
- The marital status certificate is accepted in the Finnish, Swedish and English language. In other cases, you might have to have the certificate translated into one of these languages. The translation too must be legalised.
- However, the translation does not need to be legalised, if it is made by
- a translator authorised in Finland
- a translator who is qualified for the task under legislation of an EU Member State.
- A translation is not required, if the certificate is issued by an EU Member State and a standard form pursuant to an EU regulation is attached to it.
Frequently asked questions and answers
A driving licence granted after 1 October 1990 in Finland is a valid proof of identity for examination of impediments to marriage.
Suomen kansalaisena voit todistaa henkilöllisyytesi avioliiton esteiden tutkintaa ja vihkimistä varten ajokortilla, joka on myönnetty Suomessa 1.10.1990 jälkeen.
Voit tehdä pyynnön suomeksi, ruotsiksi, englanniksi ja saameksi. Annamme todistuksen samalla kielellä.
Key terms
Impediment to marriage
- A currently valid marriage or registered partnership, close kinship, an age of under 18 years or one of the spouses is a child adopted by the other one.
Marital status certificate
- A certificate that proves that you are unmarried, divorced or a widow.
Legalisation of a document
- A procedure associated with your legal protection to ensure that the document is valid in the country it was issued in and that the issuer of the certificate has the right to issue the certificate pursuant to the laws of the country of issue.
Standard form
- A multilingual form that is attached to a document issued in an EU Member State and that is intended as a translation aid.
Contact us
Please use secure email if your message contains personal or otherwise confidential information. Choose one of these addresses as the recipient:
Telephone
Telephone service from Monday to Friday 9–12
Telephone number +358 295 536 244, the service number is national.
Service locations
Postal address (prenuptial agreements)
Digital and Population Data Services Agency, P.O. Box 1003, FI-02151 Espoo
- Individuals
- Processing times
- Marriage
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- Marriage ceremony
- Prenuptial agreement
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- Giving up the guardian’s task
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- Restrictions to competency and declaration of incompetence
- Extracts from the Register of Guardianship Affairs
- Life changes while living abroad
- Registration of a child born abroad
- Marriage concluded abroad
- Partnership registered abroad
- Divorce granted abroad
- Registration of a name change performed abroad
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- Notification of retaining Finnish citizenship
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- Submitting foreign documents
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- About the agency