Frequntly asked questions on moving in Finland

The processing time for notifications of move is longer than usual at the turn of the month, especially in December/January, May/June and August/September. We ask you not to ask us about the schedule for processing your notification, as it will slow down the processing of all notifications. 

Once we have processed your notification of move, your new address will be updated in the Population Information System.  You can check whether your address has already changed Check your own personal data service. Please note that the new address will never be updated before the date of your move. 

You cannot cancel an existing notification of move or modify it yourself. However, you can cancel the notification or modify it within one month of the date of the move you originally notified.

In such a case, do not submit a new notification of move yourself but please contact us by email at https://turvaviesti.dvv.fi (secure email). In the secure messaging service, select Muuttoneuvonta as the recipient. 

Tell us your name, birthday, what information should be changed and how.

Submit a notification of move immediately either electronically or using a paper form. 

The mover must submit a notification of move her/himself.  

You cannot submit a notification of move on behalf of a person who is able to do it her/himself. If the mover is unable to submit a notification, you can do so on her/his behalf in the easiest way by electronic means 

• if you have a power of attorney from the mover. Remember to send us the power of attorney by e-mail.  
• if you are a guardian or a person who supervises the interests of another.  

If you move out of your apartment but do not have a new address, you must submit a notification of move using a paper form.  

If your municipality of residence changes and you reside in a new municipality without a permanent address, you must tell us what your residence in the new municipality is based on. You can fetch a form to prepare this report from our service location. Deliver the form and the notification of move in paper form at the same time, either by post or by bringing them in any of our service locations. 

The non-disclosure order does not affect the filing of a notification of move. 

You must first unblock the move notification so that you can submit a notification of move. Read more about blocking a notification of move and deleting it. 

You can order a paid extract of your housing information from us. Find out more about ordering a residence certificate. 

Before ordering a certificate, first check the Check your personal data service to make sure that your correct address is displayed in the Population Information System. 

You can review them Check your own personal data service.

You can notify to us of an extra resident by Notification about an extra resident form.

You can check the Check your own personal data service to see how many residents are registered in the apartment.

If an error has occurred in the processing of your notification of move, you can ask us to correct the address or municipality of residence using an online form. Please, fill in the form carefully and explain precisely which information should be corrected and how it should be corrected.

Please note that we cannot

• add missing addresses afterwards 
• delete previous address information.

If you are unable to handle your matter online, you can use the PDF form. Please note, that notifications sent via the online form will be processed faster. Save the PDF form on your computer before filling it out. Please return this by post to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, P.O. Box 1003, FI-00531 Helsinki.

You may prohibit the disclosure of your data for direct marketing, personal matriculation and family research purposes and for updating the customer register or other similar register. You can also prohibit the disclosure of your contact information as a contact, address or other similar information service. 

For example, if you want your address not to appear in search engine results, contact your service provider. 

If you or your family's health or safety is threatened, you can apply for a non-disclosure order. In such a case, we will only disclose your address information to authorities that have the right to process information subject to a non-disclosure order. Read more about the non-disclosure.

For receiving post, you can notify to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency a postal address that is different from the address in which you live.  

You can enter the postal address in our service. Enter the postal address in the “What address do you move to?” field, and in the additional information field, type that this is a separate postal address.  

You can notify the postal address using a paper form. You will find the paper form by selecting the topic “Separate postal address that is not the address of permanent residence” in the section of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.  

Even if you have a separate postal address, make a notification of move to us whenever your residence address changes and you live there at least three months.

The municipality of residence of the person is the municipality in which the person actually lives. In other words, the municipality of residence cannot be selected, but it is determined by the place of residence. 

However, there are some situations where the municipality of residence does not change. 

If you have more than one apartment that you use for living, or you have no apartment at all, your municipality of residence is the municipality that you consider to be your municipality of residence and to which you have the closest connection. For example, a close connection means that your family members live there or you work in the municipality. 

Notify the Finnish Patent and Registration Office.

• If the child and the child’s both guardians move together from the same address to a new one, one of the guardians can submit the notification of move on behalf of the whole family.
• If only one guardian moves from a shared home with minor children, the guardians should agree on the housing arrangements for the children before submitting a notification of move. When guardians send us a paper notification of move with the signature of both guardians, we can ensure that the guardians have agreed on the housing arrangements for children together. If another guardian's signature is missing, the processing of the notification of move is delayed significantly.  
• If only one guardian moves with a minor child from the home where they have lived by themselves, the guardian can submit a notification of both of them. 

Minors who have reached the age of 15 can also submit their own notification of move themselves.

You cannot notify two permanent homes for the child, as a person can only have one permanent address at a time in the Population Information System.  

Information about alternate living is automatically saved in the child's guardian data and will not be entered in the address information.

A temporary address can be saved for up to one year. If the minor lives in the address for more than one year, the move and address are permanent.  

If she/he has two apartments in residential use, she/he may choose which address to notify as permanent. You do not even have to notify us the other address. 

Minors who have reached the age of 15 can submit their own notification of move themselves. 

Read also the above section “How is the municipality of residence determined?”.

If the child has been taken into custody or taken into care as a matter of urgency, the municipal social worker submits the notification of move.

Notification of move is always the responsibility of the mover. If your spouse has moved to your apartment and thus made a notification of move, you do not need to notify us of the move.  

If you move from different addresses to a shared home, you both have to submit your own notification of move. In turn, if you move from one home to another, one of you can report the move with a single notification.

Your move is temporary if you change your permanent address for less than one year and return to your permanent address. When you move temporarily, your permanent address will also remain valid.  

You must indicate the end date of the temporary move, i.e. when you will move back to your permanent address.  

If you have two apartments for residential use, you can choose which one to report as the permanent address. You do not even have to notify us the other address. 

You will need to submit a notification of move to indicate your current temporary address as the new permanent address.  

Remember to enter your previous permanent address in the “What is the address you are moving from?” field of the notification of move. Do not enter your current temporary address. This allows us to easily record your move correctly.

You can cancel a temporary move within one month of the move-in date you originally announced.  

You can shorten the end of the temporary move period (for example, you have initially indicated that the temporary residence will last until the end of November, but you inform us that it will end at the end of October). 

Send us a message by e-mail at https://turvaviesti.dvv.fi (secure email). In the secure messaging service, select Muuttoneuvonta as the recipient. Include in the message  

• your name 
• your date of birth 
• which temporary address it is  
• the end date of the temporary move, i.e. when you will move back to your permanent address.

Make the notification of move so that you make the address of the service or nursing home the new address of the mover.  

If you wish to provide a separate postal address than the residence address, you can do so with the same notification of move. In the additional information field, enter the postal address and that you want it to be the postal address. 

Submit a notification of move for yourself either electronically or using a paper form.  

Then, make another notification of move for the postal address on behalf of the person whose mail you want to continue to receive.  

• You can enter the postal address in our service. Enter the postal address in the “What address do you move to?” field, and in the additional information field, type that this is a separate postal address.  
• You can notify the postal address using a paper form. You will find the paper form by selecting the topic “Separate postal address that is not the address of permanent residence” in the section of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. 

No, you cannot.  

If you have two apartments for residential use, you can choose which one to report as the permanent address. You do not even have to notify us the other address. 

You cannot notify a new address or postal address for a deceased person, as we will not update the details of a deceased person. Instead, Posti can be informed of the address to which the mail of the death estate should be delivered. 

Yes, you do. The old building will be removed from the register because no one can live there anymore. You will have to notify us that you live on the same property in a new house.

Please note that if you submit an electronic notification of move, you cannot enter an identical address as the old and new address. In the notification’s field “What is the address you are moving from?”, leave out for example the house number. However, please enter your new address correctly.

Submit a notification of move even if you only move elsewhere for a while. A permanent address can only be used for a short time, i.e. it does not require long-term living. When you move to the new apartment in a few moments, make a new notification of move. 

No, it is not. A holiday residential building cannot be used for year-round living without changing its intended purpose. You can apply for a change in the use of a building from the municipal supervisory control of building.

If you want to direct your post to your holiday home for example during summer, you can make a notification to Posti.