Fast track service for specialists and growth entrepreneurs

In Finland, a personal identity code is used to identify persons. The code consists of your birth date and four unique characters. A personal identity code is needed, for example, when dealing with the authorities, opening a bank account and paying wages. We grant you a personal identity code at the same time as we register your data in the Finnish Population Information System. You can read more about the personal identity codes on our website.  

Your address will be recorded together with your personal data. The address can be temporary, permanent or only used as a postal address.  

Postal address  

You can register a postal address, which means that you are not registered as living at that address. A postal address can be used if you do not have a permanent address or if you want to collect your mail from a post office. 

Temporary address  

A temporary address is valid for a limited time, and you are registered as living at that address for a certain time period. A temporary address is usually valid for one year at a time.  

Permanent address and municipality of residence 

A permanent address means that you are registered as living at that address until further notice. The address is valid until you move to a different address and submit a notification of move. When a permanent address is recorded, your municipality of residence in Finland is also recorded. However, you can only receive a municipality of residence and associated permanent address if you meet the conditions for receiving a municipality of residence.  

Municipalities offer various services to the people living in them, such as public healthcare and child day-care. If you have a municipality of residence, you usually have the right to use the services provided by this municipality. Sometimes a municipality of residence is also needed to use the services provided by the municipality or to receive financial benefits or subsidies. A municipality of residence is also needed for obtaining a Finnish identity card and a driving licence. 

Can I obtain a municipality of residence and permanent address?

You can receive a municipality of residence if you have entered the country and plan to live in Finland for more than a year.  

In addition, at least one of the following conditions must be met: 

• Your residence permit is a continuous (A) permit. 
• If you have a temporary (B) permit, it must be valid for at least one year and, in addition, you must have an employment contract that is valid for at least two years. 
• If your family member has a municipality of residence in Finland, you can also obtain a municipality of residence and permanent address for yourself provided that the family relationships are registered in the Population Information System. 
• You can also receive a municipality of residence under certain other conditions. See the municipality of residence page for more details.

We do not automatically register your marital status and family relationship information in the Population Information System. Saving the information requires that you present original and legalized certificates of your family relationships. You may also need a translation of the certificate. Registration of family relationships is needed, for example, to apply for some benefits and for parents to be able to manage their children’s affairs in Finland. 

 

How to register your family relationship

Check in advance whether you need legalization of documents. 

• Legalisation is not required for public documents issued by EU countries nor for extracts issued by Nordic countries. 
• Documents from states that have acceded to the Apostille Convention are legalised through the Apostille legalisation process. 
• Documents issued by other countries are first legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country of origin and then by the Finnish diplomatic mission or diplomatic mission of another Nordic country.  
• You can find more detailed instructions in our  legalization guide. 

Find out if you need a translation of the documents. 

• We can accept documents in English, Finnish and Swedish. Documents in other languages must be translated. 
• Translations for some languages can be obtained from an authorised translator in Finland or another EU country, in which case the translation is valid as such. 
• Translations made by other translators must be legalised by Apostille  or, in the two-stage procedure, in the same way as the family relationship document itself. 

Take with you to your appointment: 

• the original copy of the legalised document establishing the family relationship and a translation of this document; 
• a completed form "Notification of marriage outside Finland", if you want us to save your marriage information; 
• a completed form "Notification of child born outside Finland", if you want us to store your child's data. Complete a separate form for each of your children.

Report your temporary address with a notification of change of address. Fill in the notification at a post office or in a Post-in-Shop service. 

1. Fill in the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s section of the form. Fill in Posti’s section if you also want to provide the address for mail delivery.  

• Select the option “Temporary change of address in Finland or to Finland”.  
• Enter the date on which you are filling in the form as the date of the change of address, for example. We cannot register a date that goes back more than one month.   
• Also enter the end date of the temporary change of address, for example, one year after the date of the change of address. You can extend the validity of the address later if necessary.  
• Leave the section “Home municipality after the move” blank.   
• Enter your personal identity code and name and the details of those who have moved with you.   
• Enter from where and to where you moved. If your address does not change, enter your current address in both sections.   
• Enter your email address and phone number so that you can be contacted.  
• Remember to sign the form.  

2. We will not send you a confirmation when your address has been registered. 

1. Fill in and print out the form below. 

Registration of a foreigner

 

2. If necessary, fill out forms on your family relationships.
You must also present us with an official certificate showing the information. Saving the information requires that you present original and legalized certificates of your family relationships. Read the detailed instructions on the legalisation and translation of documents. 

 

3. Bring the form to our service location in person. 

Book an appointment for the ‘Fast track service for specialists and growth entrepreneurs’ at dvv.fi/reservation.  Alternatively, you can also book an appointment for the service ‘Registration of a foreigner´s personal data’. You can book an appointment in advance from your country of origin. 

• The whole family can be served in a single appointment. Any children in your family must also be present at the appointment in our service location. 

 

4. Please bring the following documents with you: 

• Valid passport  
• Residence permit card or residence permit decision (paper or electronic) 
• Employment contract. 
• If you want us to store in the Population Information System other personal data, such as your family relationships, please include the original, legalized and (if required) translated certificates verifying this information. Remember to check if the certificates must be legalised and/or translated.  

 

5. Inquiries and email messages will not speed up the processing of notifications.

• We will contact you if we need further information.  
• You will receive a confirmation from us once your data has been registered. Check that the data 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.