Marriage concluded abroad
If you have got married abroad, please notify us following the instructions on this page. We will record the information about your marriage in the Finnish Population Information System to keep your personal data up to date. At the same time, we can record your surname if it changed when you got married. If you are a Finnish citizen, you have the obligation to notify any changes in your personal data to the Finnish Population Information System.
Recording a changed surname
If you changed your surname when you got married, we can also record your new surname. The change of surname should be indicated either in the marriage certificate or the proof of identity document.
However, if your new surname is not shown in the marriage certificate or your proof of identity document, we can register your new surname based on your notification under certain conditions. This is possible if you live in Finland or are a Finnish citizen and if your spouse consents to adopting his/her surname. We can also register your new surname based on a separate certificate. Read more about changing your name abroad.
Finnish citizens living in Sweden
The Swedish authorities will inform us of the marriage. 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.
Notification of a marriage outside Finland
2. Check if the original certificate or extract from the population register must be legalised and/or translated.
- You must present the certificate either as an original or as a certified copy
- If your document must be legalised, a copy of it must be requested of the legalised document. The copy is then also legalised.
- A certified copy can be issued either by a notary public or by the same authority that issued the original document
3. Deliver the documents as follows:
A) Through the Finnish mission
- If you are a Finnish citizen or a foreign citizen permanently residing in Finland
- Otherwise, you can ask the diplomatic mission whether it is possible to submit documents through them
B) By post
- Send the form and documents 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.
C) By bringing the documents to our service location
NOTE. Only electronic documents that can be verified can be sent by email (for example, the document was originally issued electronically by a foreign authority). If necessary, the electronic document must also be legalised. An electronic document does not mean a scanned document.
See more detailed instructions for submitting documents.
4. Please note that inquiries and email messages will not speed up the processing of the notifications. We will contact you if we need more information. You will receive an extract from the Population Information System after your details have been recorded. Check that the 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.
This is how you get the document:
You will receive a notification of registration after your data has been saved.
You will receive a notification via encrypted email when your data has been saved. If you have enabled Suomi.fi Messages, you will receive a message there instead of via email. If you do not have Suomi.fi Messages or email, you will be notified by letter.
We will contact you if we need more information.
Check that all your details have been entered correctly. If the information you have provided cannot be entered in the Population Information System, we will send you a decision on the case. Instructions for submitting a request for administrative review are attached to the decision.
Frequently asked questions
Scanned copies of documents alone are not sufficient. You must also submit the original documents to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. See also separate instructions for the legalisation and translation of a document.
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Contact us
You can find the average processing times on our website.
If your message contains personal or other confidential information, remember to use secure email. Choose the address [email protected] as the recipient.
Telephone service
Telephone service: 0295 536 320
Service hours: Mon–Fri 9–15
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.
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