Moving between Finland and Estonia

Check your address information in the Finnish Population Information System on the Personal Data page of the Suomi.fi Web Service.

You can also check your own details:

• By requesting an inspection from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency in writing using a separate form.
• By visiting the Digital and Population Data Services Agency in person.

If you notice that your permanent residence is listed as Finland even though you live permanently in Estonia, please submit a notification of move using the joint online service of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency and Posti.

Please note that after the notification of move, you will no longer have a municipality of residence or permanent place of residence in Finland. You will be registered as a permanent resident abroad, i.e. in Estonia, from the date the notification is registered.
 

If you actually live in Finland, but Estonia is listed as your place of residence in the Estonian population register, please inform the Estonian population register of your address in Finland by:

• sending a notice of residence by mail and attaching a copy of the personal data page of the identity document: Siseministeerium, Pikk 61, 15065 TALLINN.
• sending a digitally signed notice of residence by e-mail [email protected]
• on the website. It is necessary to have an ID card, Mobile ID and Smart ID.

Estonian Ministry of the Interior's Frequently asked questions page on population data exchange

In Finland, a permanent address refers to the permanent home address where you live. This address determines your municipality of residence. A permanent address in Finland enables you to, for example, use public health care services. Your municipality of residence also has an impact on your right to vote in municipal elections. Estonia also offers different rights and benefits to people who live permanently in Estonia. The country in which your permanent address is registered may affect your rights, benefits and obligations. For this reason, your permanent place of residence, i.e. permanent address, can only be registered in one place at a time.

If you move from Finland to Estonia for a period shorter than one year, for example because of work or studies, you can submit a notification of temporary move to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. In this case, your municipality of departure in Finland will remain your municipality of residence, and the rights and obligations associated with it will apply to you. You must also inform the Estonian local authorities that you are not moving to Estonia on a permanent basis. However, you may obtain an Estonian per-sonal identity code and have your contact details registered in the Estonian population register.

In a special situation, we can also mark your address in Estonia as temporary for a pe-riod longer than one year. Such a special situation requires that you have a closer con-nection to Finland than Estonia based on your living conditions. In this situation, living abroad can last for a maximum of three years.

The registered address must correspond to your actual residence, i.e. you must register an address in the country where you live.

EU citizens have the right to stay in another EU country for three months without registering. This also applies to staying in Estonia. If a Finnish citizen stays in Estonia for no more than three months at a time, the address does not need to be reported to the Estonian authorities. In that case, the permanent address in the Finnish register remains the permanent residence. The three-month period will start again at the beginning, for example if you make a weekend trip from Estonia to Finland.

Moving to Estonia is not a condition for obtaining a study place. To be accepted for a study place, students only need to have an Estonian personal identity code. However, it does not entitle you to free services in Estonia, such as public transport.
 

In 2024, Finland receives information only on Finnish citizens living in Estonia for comparison in the registers. 

At a later stage, the exchange of information will apply to three different categories of people:

1. People moving permanently from Finland to Estonia or from Estonia to Finland regardless of their nationality
2. Estonian citizens living in Finland
3. Finnish citizens living in Estonia

Both countries comply with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, and the treaty contains provisions that the exchanged personal information may only be used for the purpose of updating the population register. Once the information has been stored, population register data may only be disclosed to other authorities, for example, under the conditions allowed by the Population Information Act. Data subject to a non-disclosure order are not disclosed to Estonia.

The disclosure of information is based on legislation and a treaty concluded between the states of Finland and Estonia. However, if you have a non-disclosure for personal safety reasons, your address information will not be forwarded to Estonia, only the information that you live in Finland. The agreement can be found in the Finlex service (in Finnish).

According to the law, everyone is obliged to submit a notification of move whenever they move to a new address. A notification of move must be made when moving within Finland, to Finland from a foreign country or away from Finland.  

In addition, a Finnish citizen living abroad is obliged to notify the Digital and Population Data Services Agency if they move from one address to another abroad.

We process notifications in their order of arrival. Our processing times may temporarily increase in early 2026. There may also be differences in the processing times between Finland and Estonia. 

You can find our average processing times on the Processing times page. 

The Finnish or Estonian authorities will contact you if your permanent address is still registered in both countries at the beginning of 2026. The purpose of the contact is to determine which of the addresses in the registers should be marked as your permanent address. If the authorities are unable to reach you, the address you last moved to according to the register data will be confirmed as your permanent address.

If you live in both apartments yourself, you can choose which address will be your permanent address going forward. 

• If you choose the address in Estonia as your permanent address, submit an emigration notification (i.e. notification that your Finnish address is no longer valid) to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency at muuttoilmoitus.fi. 
• If you choose the address in Finland as your permanent address, submit an emigration notification (i.e. notification that your Estonian address is no longer valid) to the Estonian registration authority.   

If you have a permanent address registered in both countries at the beginning of 2026, the Finnish or Estonian authorities will contact you. The purpose is to determine which of the addresses will be marked as your permanent address. If the authorities are unable to reach you, the permanent address will be the address you last moved to. The dates of move are checked from the national population registers.

Your address does not directly determine whether you are entitled to Kela benefits. Even if your address is in Estonia, you may be entitled to Kela's health insurance and other benefits if, for example, you work in Finland.

Right to medical care

• If you have a municipality of residence in Finland, you will receive all the care you need from Finnish public health care services. You will need to pay the same client fee for the treatment as the residents of the municipality.
• If you do not have a municipality of residence in Finland, you are not automatically entitled to use public health care services. However, you may have the right on other grounds. If necessary, you can contact Kela to find out if you are entitled to medical care. If certain conditions are met, Kela will issue you a certificate of entitlement to treatment. With this certificate, you can prove your right to medical care in the Finnish public health care system at the same price as residents of the municipality.
• For example, if you are studying in Estonia and are still covered by Finnish health insurance, but you no longer have a municipality of residence in Finland, please contact Kela. Kela can then examine whether you can be granted a certificate of entitlement to treatment in Finland. In Estonia, you can receive treatment with a European Health Insurance Card issued by Kela. For more information about the right to care of students and other people without a municipality of residence, visit kela.fi.
• If you are covered by Finnish health insurance, you can receive reimbursement for private health care services and for travel expenses related to buying medicines and receiving treatment for your illness. Based on your municipality of residence, you may also be entitled to medical care compensation from Kela if certain conditions are met. So, your municipality of residence may also affect your right to receive reimbursement from Finland for medical care costs incurred abroad.

Student support

If you are a student and receive student financial aid or school travel allowance, the payment of your support will continue even if you register your municipality of residence in Estonia.

Social assistance

Basic social assistance is granted to an applicant or family permanently residing in Finland. The conditions for receiving social assistance are not determined solely based on the municipality of residence or address, but the assistance may also be granted if the person actually resides in Finland. Basic social assistance is not paid abroad.

Additional information

For additional information, please visit the website of Kela.

The Tax Administration will automatically receive information about your notification of permanent move from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

• If you are a Finnish citizen and move or have already moved to Estonia, you are generally liable to pay tax in Finland for the year of the move and the following three years. In this case, you will usually also have to pay taxes to Finland on your income from Estonia. Please report your income from Estonia on your Finnish tax return.
• If you work in Estonia for an Estonian employer, you usually also have to pay taxes on your salary to Estonia. The same salary is taxed in Finland, but the taxes paid to Estonia are compensated. In other words, double taxation will be eliminated in Finnish taxation. Finland and Estonia have a tax agreement, which determines which country has the right to tax income and how double taxation is eliminated.
• Visit the website of the Finnish Tax Administration to read more about taxation.