Registering a child born abroad in Finland
Notify us of your child born abroad so that we can register them in the Population Information System. If you are a Finnish citizen, you have the obligation to notify any changes in your personal data to the Finnish Population Information System.
Finnish citizens
Your child who was born abroad will receive a personal identity code when you register them if they are born with Finnish citizenship. Your child will be born with Finnish citizenship if:
- the mother who gave birth to the child is a Finnish citizen
- the child's father is a Finnish citizen and the parents are married to each other.
If only the child's father is a Finnish citizen and the parents are not married to each other, your child will not receive Finnish citizenship automatically even if the paternity has been confirmed. To obtain Finnish citizenship for your child, you must submit a declaration of citizenship to the Finnish Immigration Service.
If the child has two mothers and only the child's non-birth mother is a Finnish citizen, your child will not be automatically born with Finnish citizenship even if maternity has been confirmed. To obtain Finnish citizenship for your child, you must submit a declaration of citizenship to the Finnish Immigration Service.
Other nationalities will not be added automatically unless they are directly shown in the birth certificate.
Citizens of other countries
A Finnish personal identity code can only be issued to a child born abroad if they live in Finland and meet the conditions for registration. Read more about the registration of a personal identity code and how to obtain it.
If your child has been born and lives abroad, we can record them as your child in the Population Information System. In this case, however, the child is not given a Finnish personal identity code and they can only be found under your data in the Population Information System. A personal identity code will only be issued if they move to Finland.
How we register parenthood and custody in Finland for a child born abroad
If you are of a different sex and married to each other and the child was born during your marriage, you are both automatically the guardians of your child. The person who gave birth to the child is the child's mother and their spouse is the child's father. However, note that your marriage must be recorded in the Finnish Population Information System. If your marriage has not been recorded in the Population Information System, submit a notification of the marriage concluded abroad at the same time when you are registering your child's birth. Visit our website for instructions for notifying a marriage.
If you are not married to each other when the child is born, the person who gave birth to the child is automatically the child's mother and guardian. However, the child's paternity must be confirmed so that we can record the child's father in the Finnish Population Information System. We can usually acknowledge a decision on paternity and guardianship issued abroad without a separate confirmation. If the child and both parents reside in Finland and paternity has not been confirmed anywhere else, we can usually also confirm paternity in Finland.
When your child is born abroad and has two mothers, the birth mother is automatically the child’s parent and guardian. We can usually acknowledge a decision on the parenthood and guardianship of the non-birth mother issued abroad.
Do the following
1. Fill in the notification form for a child born abroad
Notification form for a child born abroad
2. Check if you need to have the child’s birth certificate or any document relating to the confirmation of parenthood legalised and/or translated. Read more about the legalisation of documents.
3. Submit the documents either by visiting our service location in person, through a Finnish mission or by sending them by post to the 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.
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:
- form for a child born abroad which you have filled in
- the original or a certified copy of the birth certificate, legalised if required
- the original or a certified copy of any document relating to the confirmation of parenthood
- if necessary, translations of the certificates, legalised if required, or an appendix compliant with Article 39 of the Brussels II a Regulation (the original or a certified copy) appended to a decision on custody in the EU.
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 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.
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.
Frequently asked questions
Unfortunately, scanned copies are not sufficient. You must provide us with the original documents. In addition, you must verify whether you need to have the documents legalised or translated.
Yes, you do. Submit a notification of the marriage concluded abroad at the same time when you are registering your child's birth. Read the instructions on how to submit a notification of a marriage on our website.
Your marriage must be recorded in the Population Information System at the same time so that we can enter the information on the child's parents and guardians correctly.
We will not record other citizenships automatically unless the citizenship is clearly indicated on the birth certificate. If your child holds the citizenship of another country in addition to the Finnish citizenship, you must present evidence, such as a passport, of the other citizenship. Read the instructions on how to submit a notification of another citizenship on our website.
As a rule, cases are processed in order of arrival. We can speed up registration only for serious reasons, such as if there is a need to obtain a passport for a Finnish citizen born abroad.
Yes, because we do not receive them from other authorities.
Complete and submit the form "custody decision issued abroad" and the original legalised documents to us. Read the delivery instructions and legalisation instructions for documents.
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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Contact us
You can find the average processing times on our website.
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Telephone service
Telephone service number is +358 295 536 320
Service hours:
- Mon 9-15
- Tue-Fri 9-12