Registration of citizenship
You can have several citizenships recorded in the Population Information System. We can record your citizenship in the Population Information System based on a valid passport, an original decision on naturalisation or some other reliable evidence.
If you are a Finnish citizen, you have the obligation to notify the Finnish Population Information System of the foreign citizenship you have received.
Read more about losing and retaining Finnish citizenship.
If you are applying for Finnish citizenship, contact the Finnish Immigration Service.
Which documents can I use to prove my citizenship?
- We will enter the date on which you received your citizenship as the date of receiving citizenship.
- Verify whether you need to have the decision legalised and/or translated. Read more about the legalisation of documents. Legalisation is not required if you present us with the decision and your new passport at the same time.
- Submit the original document or a certified copy of it.
- Do not send your passport to us by post.
- In addition, you must present a decision on naturalisation or equivalent document issued by official authority. The decision on naturalisation does not need to be legalized or presented as original. Present a translation if required.
- A certified passport copy issued by another EU country does not need to be legalised. However, copies issued by other countries need to be legalised. Read more about the legalisation of documents.
- In addition, you must present a decision on naturalisation or equivalent document issued by official authority. The decision on naturalisation does not need to be legalized or presented as original. Present a translation if required.
- The passport must be valid.
- We will enter the date on which you received your citizenship as the date of receiving citizenship.
- The certificate does not need to be legalised.
*We accept photo identity cards from the following countries:
• EU countries, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, or San Marino
- In addition, you must present a decision on naturalisation or equivalent document issued by official authority. The decision on naturalisation does not need to be legalized or presented as original. Present a translation if required.
Do the following
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Find out whether the document must be legalised and/or translated
You must present the document 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.
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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.
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We will contact you if we need more information
Please note that inquiries and email messages will not speed up the processing of the notifications.
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
The citizenship cannot be removed but it can be marked as terminated. If you want to terminate the only citizenship registered for you in the Population Information System, we must register the citizenship of another country for you before the termination.
In most cases, you must provide us with a decision or certificate stating that your citizenship has been terminated. If necessary, the document must be legalised (Read the instructions for legalisation).
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Contact us
You can find the average processing times on our website.
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Telephone service
Telephone service: 0295 536 320
Service hours: Mon–Fri 9–15