Partnership registered abroad 

In Finland, only two partners of the same sex can have a registered partnership. If you have registered your partnership abroad with a partner of a different sex, we cannot enter it as a registered partnership in the Population Information System. In some cases, however, we can consider the possibility of acknowledging your relationship as a marriage. 

If you have registered a partnership abroad with a partner of the same sex, we can also record your partnership in the Finnish Population Information System. This will keep your personal data up to date. If you changed your surname when your partnership was registered, we can also record your new surname. 

If you are a Finnish citizen, you have the obligation to notify any changes in your personal data to the Finnish Population Information System. 

Registration of a changed surname  

If you changed your surname when you registered your partnership, we can also record your new surname. The change of surname should be shown either in the partnership registration certificate or your proof of identity document.     

However, if the new surname is not shown in the partnership registration certificate or your proof of identity document, we can record your new surname based on your notification under certain conditions. This is possible if you live in Finland or are a Finnish citizen. A changed surname can also be recorded based on a separate certificate. Read more about changing your name abroad.   

Finnish citizens living in Sweden  

The Swedish authorities will inform us of your registered partnership. If you are a citizen of both Finland and Sweden, Sweden considers you 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 partnership registered abroad  

2. Check if the original documents related to the partnership registration need to be legalised and/or translated.     

Read more about the legalisation of documents. 

3. Submit the documents either by visiting a service location in person, through a Finnish mission or by sending them by post to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, P.O. Box 26, FI-68601 Pietarsaari, Finland. Unfortunately, we cannot accept scanned documents. Submit all the necessary documents at once to speed up the process. Read our website thoroughly to ensure you have the necessary documentation.

See more detailed instructions for delivering documents.  

Required documents:   

• notification form for a partnership registered abroad which you have filled in   
• the original or a certified copy of the partnership registration certificate, legalised if required  
• if necessary, the original or a certified copy of the translation of the certificate, legalised if required  

4. 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 when your registered partnership and possible change of surname have been recorded. Check that your 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. 

N. B.! Cases are processed in their order of arrival. Unfortunately, we cannot speed up an individual case unless there is a very exceptional and very important reason for doing so. For example, opening a bank account is not a sufficient justification for speeding up the process.