Registration of Marriage in the Population Information System
If you are a Finnish citizen and you get married abroad, you must notify the marriage to the Finnish Population System.
Ask the person conducting the marriage, what documents are needed when the ceremony is performed before a foreign public authority. A Finnish certificate of no impediment can be ordered in multiple languages from (Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)the Digital and Population Data Agency(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) in your municipality of residence. Documents that are used abroad, must be legalised.
Some clergy members working among expatriate Finns, who are employed by Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (list in Finnish)(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window), have the right to conduct marriages abroad, but not the right to perform marriage ceremonies abroad.
You cannot get married at an embassy of Finland.
Notify the marriage to the Digital and Population Data Agency
When a Finnish citizen gets married outside Finland(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) it must be notified to the Local Register Office. You can also leave the notification at a Finnish embassy or send it there to be posted to the Digital and Population Data Agency.
The original marriage certificate or a copy of it, authenticated at the mission of Finland, must be appended to the notification. The document must be legalised and if it has been issued in some other language than Finnish, Swedish or English, an authorised translation in one of these languages must be provided. Translations made abroad must be legalised. Translations made by an authorised translator in Finland(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) are valid as such.
An apostille is not required for a marriage certificate issued by the authorities of an EU country. A translation of the certificate is not required, either when the document is accompanied by a multilingual standard form(Link to another website.) in accordance with the EU Regulation.
Form: Notification - Marriage abroad (pdf)(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
In Canada, you can leave or send the notification to the Embassy in Ottawa or the Honorary Consulate in Toronto or Vancouver.
In addition to the completed notification form, you need to attach the following documents:
- Marriage certificate issued by the appropriate provincial authority with Apostille authentication.
More information: Global Affairs Canada - Authentication of documents(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) - Copies of the passports of both spouses (the pages with personal information)
- Copy of the Permanent Resident Card or the Canadian visa in the passport of the Finnish citizen/s or photocopy of the Finnish citizenship decision (in case of multiple nationality)
NOTE! If both spouses are Finnish citizens, both have to fill out their own marriage notification form.
Transmission of population data notification through a Finnish Mission to the Digital and Population Data Service Agency is subject to service fee.