Submitting foreign documents to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency
Deliver the documents as follows:
A) Through the Finnish mission
If you are a Finnish citizen and live abroad, submit the necessary documents to the DVV through a Finnish mission abroad in person or by mail.
The Finnish diplomatic mission will send your scanned documents to DVV and return the original documents to you. The diplomatic mission charges a fee for its service in accordance with its price list. As the original documents may be unique, it is recommended to submit the documents primarily through a Finnish diplomatic mission.
Submitting the documents through a diplomatic mission benefits you in the following ways:
- You can be sure that your documents will arrive at DVV and will not disappear on the way
- The diplomatic mission delivers your documents electronically and quickly to the DVV so that your case can be started immediately.
- You can keep the original documents.
B) By post
If you submit the documents by mail to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, deliver them as certified copies following the instructions based on the country of origin of the document found under the headline "Documents". Read detailed information about the legalisation of documents. Notice that the certified copies are not returned, they will be kept for six months after which they will be destroyed.
If you deliver original documents to DVV, they will be returned to you as ordinary mail (not registered mail) under your responsibility. Original standard extracts from registers issued by the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland) and Estonia are not returned. They will be kept for six months after which they will be destroyed..
If you send documents from outside the EU, send them as standard mail. This is the best way to avoid customs.
NOTE: Do not send money or a passport in the envelope to DVV.
Send the 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, PB 58, 22101 Mariehamn, FINLAND.
C) By bringing the documents to our service location
Book an appointment in advance.
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.
Inquiries and email messages will not speed up the processing of notifications. We will contact you if we need further clarification. Otherwise, we will not contact you until registration is complete. If you have provided your e-mail address, we will send you a notification of registration in the Population Information System as an encrypted e-mail message. If you have not provided your e-mail address, we will send you a notification of registration to the Population Information System by mail.
So, just be patient and wait.
Instructions in French for submitting foreign documents to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency
Instructions for submitting foreign documents in French: dvv.fi/remettre-des-documents-etrangers-a-l-agence-du-numerique-et-du-registre-de-la-population
Documents
If you send documents from outside the EU, send them as standard mail. This is the best way to avoid customs.
If you send documents with tracking information, add content information to the letter.
Posti recommends that the content information should show the following information:
- non-commercial delivery
- contains documents
- no monetary value/free-of-charge.
NOTE: Do not send money or a passport in the envelope to DVV.
If your original document was issued in a country that is not a Nordic Country or an EU Member State, we recommend that you provide the documents to us in the following manner:
- Obtain the original document and the necessary legalisations. Have the document translated if it is in a language other than Finnish, Swedish or English. A translation made abroad must also be legalised. See more detailed instructions for legalising and translating documents.
- After this, ask the notary public of the country concerned to notarise the authenticity of the copy of the original legalised document. The above-mentioned copy must also be legalised.
- Fill in the appropriate notification form: Life changes while living abroad
- Then post the notification form, copy/copies of passport(s) and the legalised copy of the original legalised document and the legalised translation 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.
The documents submitted in accordance with the instructions given will not be returned. They will be destroyed six months after their arrival at the Agency.
Please note! If you do not follow the instructions and submit the original document to us, we will return the document to you as ordinary mail at your own risk.
Documents sent before 1.7.2021 will be stored for ever and returned only upon request and by ordinary post.
Public documents include certificates the main purpose of which is to confirm one of the following matters: birth, a person being alive, death, name, marriage, capacity to marry, marital status, divorce, registered partnership, registered partnership status, dissolution of a registered partnership, parenthood, adoption, domicile and/or residence, or nationality.
If your document is a public document issued by an authority of an EU Member State as described above, you shall submit the documents in the following manner:
- Obtain the original document. If the document is in a language other than Finnish, Swedish or English, also obtain a multilingual standard form as a translation aid to be attached to the document from the relevant authority or have the document translated by an official translator in one of the EU Member States. Find an official translator by area.
- After this, ask the notary public of the country concerned or an authority authorised to issue certified copies of original documents under the national legislation of the country concerned to notarise the authenticity of the copy of the original document. For more information, see: Find information about authorities authorised to issue certified copies of original documents by area.
- Fill in the appropriate notification form: Life changes while living abroad
- Then post the notification form, copy/copies of passport(s), a copy of the original document and potential standard form or translation 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.
The documents submitted in accordance with the instructions given will not be returned. They will be destroyed six months after their arrival at the Agency.
Please note! If you do not follow the instructions and submit the original document to us, we will return the document to you as ordinary mail at your own risk.
We will not however return original extracts from the Estonian population register. They will be destroyed six months after their arrival at the Agency.
Documents sent before 1.7.2021 will be stored for ever and returned only upon request and by ordinary post.
See instructions in section Documents from outside the Nordic Countries and the EU.
- Obtain the original decision on child custody and request a certificate in accordance with Article 39 of the Brussels IIa Regulation* for it. In this case, you do not need to have the original decision translated.
- After this, ask the notary public of the country concerned or an authority authorised to issue certified copies of original documents under the national legislation of the country concerned to notarise the authenticity of the copy of the original decision. For more information, see: Find information about authorities authorised to issue certified copies of original documents by area.
- Fill in the notification form: Correction/addition to register information – international matters
- Then post the notification form, copy/copies of passport(s), a copy of the original decision and the certificate in accordance with the Brussels II a Regulation 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.
The documents submitted in accordance with the instructions given will not be returned. They will be destroyed six months after their arrival at the Agency.
Please note! If you do not follow the instructions and submit the original document to us, we will return the document to you as ordinary mail at your own risk.
Documents sent before 1.7.2021 will be stored for ever and returned only upon request and by ordinary post.
*Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000.
A divorce granted abroad can be recorded in the Finnish Population Information System on the basis of a register extract; in this case, see Public documents from the EU area. However, a divorce granted abroad can also be recorded in the Finnish Population Information System on the basis of a legally valid court decision. If you notify of your divorce by submitting a court decision, you shall provide us with the necessary documents in the following manner:
- Obtain the original final decision and request a certificate in accordance with Article 39 of the Brussels IIa Regulation* for it. In this case, you do not need to have the original decision translated.
- After this, ask the notary public of the country concerned or an authority authorised to issue certified copies of original documents under the national legislation of the country concerned to notarise the authenticity of the copy of the original decision. For more information, see: Find information about authorities authorised to issue certified copies of original documents by area.
- Fill in the appropriate notification form: Life changes while living abroad
- Then post the notification form, copy/copies of passport(s), a copy of the original decision and the certificate in accordance with the Brussels IIa Regulation 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.
The documents submitted in accordance with the instructions given will not be returned. They will be destroyed six months after their arrival at the Agency.
Please note! If you do not follow the instructions and submit the original document to us, we will return the document to you as ordinary mail at your own risk.
Documents sent before 1.7.2021 will be stored for ever and returned only upon request and by ordinary post.
*Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000.
If your document was issued in Norway, Denmark, Iceland or Estonia we recommend that you provide us with the necessary documents as follows:
- Obtain the original, signed and/or stamped document (e.g., utdrag ur folkeregister).
- Fill in the appropriate notification form: Life changes while living abroad
- Then post the notification form, copy/copies of passport(s) and the original document to the address 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.
The documents submitted in accordance with the instructions given will not be returned. They will be destroyed six months after their arrival at the Agency.
Documents sent before 1.7.2021 will be stored for ever and returned only upon request and by ordinary post.
If you are a Finnish citizen living in Sweden, you do not need to notify the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of changes in your personal data in Sweden, as the data will be automatically transmitted to Finland from the Swedish authorities. There may be delays in the transfer of the information.
Exception: If you are citizen of both Finland and Sweden, Sweden will not forward your personal data. If you have dual citizenship, you must therefore submit the notifications yourself. For example, if a mother has Finnish citizenship when a child is born, but the child is given both Swedish and Finnish citizenships, the parents are obliged to notify of the birth of the child themselves.
However, the following information is not updated in Finland through official channels as described above, but you must personally take care of providing the information:
- changes in address information in Sweden
- information on children's guardians is not updated in Finland if the parents are not married.
When notifying of changes in your personal data described above, we recommend that you provide us with the necessary documents issued in Sweden in the following manner:
- Obtain the original, signed and/or stamped “Personbevis”.
- Fill in the appropriate notification form: Life changes while living abroad
- Then post the notification form, copy/copies of passport(s) and the original document to the address 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.
The documents submitted in accordance with the instructions given will not be returned. They will be destroyed six months after their arrival at the Agency.
Documents sent before 1.7.2021 will be stored for ever and returned only upon request and by ordinary post.
If your document was issued in Sweden, we recommend that you provide us with the necessary documents in the following manner:
- Obtain the original, signed and/or stamped “Personbevis”.
- Fill in the appropriate notification form: Life changes while living abroad
- Then post the notification form, copy/copies of passport(s) and the original document to the address 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.
The documents submitted in accordance with the instructions given will not be returned. They will be destroyed six months after their arrival at the Agency.
Documents sent before 1.7.2021 will be stored for ever and returned only upon request and by ordinary post.
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