Registration, personal identity code & change of address

At International House Helsinki, the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV) issues personal identity codes and enters data into the Finnish Population Information System. At International House Helsinki you can apply for a personal identity code and register your address as well as your municipality of residence.

You need a personal identity code to take care of many things related to everyday life, such as to open a bank account or to obtain a telephone subscription. Your employer also needs it to fulfill their responsibilities as an employer.

The Local Register Office also decides whether a Finnish municipality of residence (kotikunta) can be entered for you. If you have a municipality of residence in Finland, in most cases you are entitled to use the services provided by the municipality, such as public health care and daycare. A municipality of residence is also needed for obtaining a Finnish identity card and a driving license.

How to visit DVV’s service desk at International House Helsinki?

1) DVV serves customers mainly by appointment only. Book an appointment.

• Choose “International registrations” (under Personal law services).
• Or, if you have received a fast track residence permit from the Finnish Immigration Service, choose “Specialists, growth entrepreneurs and their family members who have been granted a residence permit in the Finnish Immigration Service’s fast track service” (under Fast track service for specialists and growth entrepreneurs). Read more about DVV’s fast track below.
• When selecting the service location, choose “Service location in Helsinki”
• Click “Select time”, then the time you wish to reserve from the calendar and fill in the requested information
• Click “continue to confirmation”
• Check the reservation info and remember to save the reservation by clicking “Save”
• Finally, you get a confirmation and summary of your reservation.

2) Please bring along the following documents when you visit:

• Valid passport or EU citizen’s ID card
• Employment contract (if your stay is work-related)
• Attendance letter/study certificate (if your stay is study-related)
• Residence permit (if you need a residence permit for Finland)
• Certificate of registration of an EU citizen’s right to reside (if you are an EU citizen)
• Registration information of a foreigner form. To ensure your visit goes smoothly we recommend completing all forms before you visit International House Helsinki. Our General Information and Guidance Services can provide you with assistance in understanding all forms.

3) If you have accompanying family members, please note that all family members need to personally visit DVV in order to get registered. When visiting DVV please also bring:

• For each family member:
  • Valid passport or EU citizen’s ID card
  • Residence permit (if required for stay in Finland)
  • Certificate of registration of an EU citizen’s right to reside (in case of an EU citizen)
• If you are married or in a same-sex registered partnership:
  • Original marriage or partnership registration certificate
  • Both parties should complete the form titled The registration information of a foreigner, preferably before the visit but also available at IHH
  • Appendix form to register marriage or registered partnership, preferably completed before the visit but also available at IHH
• If you have child/children who are under 18:
  • Children’s original birth certificates
  • EU Member States issue multilingual standard forms for which translation nor legalisation is not needed
  • Appendix form to register a child (one form per each child), preferably completed before the visit but also available at IHH

If any of the original documents are in languages other than Finnish, Swedish, or English, an official translation is needed. 

The original and translated documents must be legalised unless they are public documents issued by an EU Member State or a certificate issued by a Nordic country. 

EU Member States issue multilingual standard forms for which translation and legalisation is not needed.

Fast track service for specialists and growth entrepreneurs

If you have been granted a residence permit through the Finnish Immigration Service’s (Migri) fast track service, you can also register your personal data with the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s (DVV) fast track service for specialists and growth entrepreneurs. 

You can book an appointment to DVV’s fast track if you have been granted a fast track residence permit from Migri as a specialist, growth entrepreneur, EU Blue Card senior specialist, specialist based on internal company transfer, top- or middle-level manager, or as a family member of any of the above.

Read more in the following pages: 

DVV’s Fast Track service (for registering personal data to receive a personal identity code)

Migri’s Fast Track service (for residence permit applications)