Registration of Divorce in the Population Information System

If you are a Finnish citizen and you are granted a divorce abroad, you must notify the dissolution of marriage to the Finnish Population System.

In principle, all divorces granted in a foreign state are recognised without a separate confirmation in Finland. If necessary, the Helsinki Court of Appeal(Link to another website.) can by application confirm whether a divorce granted in a foreign state is recognised in Finland. 

Divorces in EU

Divorces granted in the EU area after 1 March 2001 are recognised as such in Finland provided that they are accompanied by a certificate issued in accordance with the EU provisions. The certificate can be obtained from the authority that has granted the divorce. Further information is available on the European e-Justice Portal(Link to another website.) and on the Your Europe website(Link to another website.).

Divorce in other countries

As regards other divorce judgments, the original document or a certified copy, given in the country where the original was issued, must be presented and the divorce judgment must have been duly legalised. The judgment must be translated into Finnish, Swedish or English. Translations that have been made abroad must also be legalised. Documents translated by an authorised translator in Finland are acceptable without a separate authentication.

Where do I send the document?

Divorce judgments can be left with a Finnish mission, from where the document will be delivered or sent to the Digital and Population Data Agency, or you can send the document directly to Digital and Population Data Agency(Link to another website.) (address: Digital and Population Data Agency, P.O. Box 1003, 00531 HELSINKI, Finland). You can also deliver the document yourself to the nearest service point of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency in Finland. Missions charge a fee for sending documents.

You will need the following documents:

  1. Fill in the form (Link to another website.)
  2. copies of passports of both spouses
  3. copies of the Japanese residence card of both spouses (if applicable)
  4. from the ward office a koseki tohon (if one of or both spouses are Japanese citizens) or a juri shomeisho (if both spouses are non-Japanese). Apply for an Apostille to the document from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  5. The document must then be translated into English, Finnish or Swedish by an official translation agency, after which a notary public must authenticate the translation and, finally, apply for an Apostille. This process is done by the translation agency. Please find Translation Agencies in Japan which know how to do translation correct. Translations made by authorised translators in Finland(Link to another website.) are acceptable as such.

You can come to the embassy after booking an appointment time but we recommend you to send these documents to the Embassy by post (Letter Pack) and embassy will transfer them to the DVV (Digital and Data Population Agency of Finland). If you wish to receive the  original documents back, include an extra Letter Pack with your address to the same envelope.

When you have all the documents ready please let us know by email Consulate.TOK(at)gov.fi and we will send you payment instructions. Please check Embassy's service fees.