# Finland — records retrieval dossier > EasyPassport knowledge base for citizenship-by-descent record retrieval. **General > guidance to confirm on the official pages listed under Sources — not legal > advice.** Fees, URLs, offices, and processing times change; verify before quoting. ## Vital records (birth / marriage / death) - **Holding office:** Modern civil vital records live in the Population Information System (Väestötietojärjestelmä), maintained by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency — DVV (Digi- ja väestötietovirasto). DVV issues birth, marriage, death, civil-status and — most useful for a citizenship claim — the 'Certificate of person and family relationship information' (todistus henkilö- ja perhesuhdetiedoista). CRITICAL SPLIT: the computerised Population Information System only reliably covers people alive/registered from roughly 1970 onward. For an ancestor born, married, died, or emigrated before then, the authoritative record is the CHURCH population register kept by the ancestor's Lutheran (or Orthodox) parish, most of which has been deposited at the National Archives — DVV will often have nothing on an early-1900s emigrant. - **How to request:** Two DVV channels: (1) SELF-SERVICE online portal (cheaper, immediate e-certificate) — but ONLY for yourself and your own dependants, so it does NOT work for a deceased ancestor; (2) for another person / an ancestor, order via DVV's online form (lomakkeet.dvv.fi/lomakkeet/6960/lomake.html — 'Certificate of person and family relationship information'), by secure email, or by phone, stating an acceptable purpose of use. For a genealogical ancestor whose record predates the electronic system, request an extract (virkatodistus) from the relevant parish, or use the National Archives for records over 100 years old. - **Online portal:** https://todistukset.dvv.fi - **Who may request:** A certificate order must be placed for an 'acceptable purpose of use' (a citizenship/estate/family-relationship need qualifies). Self-service is limited to the requester and their dependants; ancestor/third-party records are ordered via the online form/email/phone. Parishes and the National Archives release older church-register data on genealogical grounds (records over 100 years old are open self-service). - **Cost:** DVV certificates are fee-based; self-service certificates are cheaper than staffed channels and the exact price is shown at the time of ordering (DVV's pages do not publish a fixed euro figure for the family-relationship certificate — confirm at order time). National Archives self-service viewing of >100-year church registers via Astia is free; ordering a certified extract from a parish or archive carries a separate fee. - **Timeline:** Self-service e-certificates are available immediately online; staffed/form and parish extract requests take longer (allow weeks). No official fixed SLA is published for ancestor extracts. - **Language:** DVV certificates can be ordered in Finnish, Swedish or English. Underlying historic church registers are handwritten in SWEDISH until the late 19th century, then Finnish in Finnish-speaking parishes — the record itself is not in English. - **Notes:** Finland had no separate state civil-registration office for most of its history: the Evangelical-Lutheran Church (and Orthodox Church) kept the official population register, and the church only fully handed general population registration to the state system in the late 20th century. So 'vital records' for any pre-~1970 ancestor = parish registers, not a DVV database. Uniform parish series exist from the 18th century; comprehensive from mid-19th century. ## Historical & church records (before civil registration) - **Parish / church:** Lutheran parish registers are the primary genealogical source: 'history books' (historiakirjat) = chronological lists of births/baptisms, banns/marriages, and deaths/burials; plus 'communion/confirmation books' (rippikirjat) that track whole households and record moves between parishes. Written in Swedish until the late 1800s, then Finnish. Records OVER 100 years old are digitised and freely browsable self-service in the National Archives' Astia service (astia.narc.fi/uusiastia) and in the Genealogical/Family History Association (SSHY) digital archive (sukuhistoria.fi). Search aids: HisKi database (Genealogical Society of Finland, indexed births/marriages/deaths), Katiha/Karelia database for ceded Karelian parishes, and Kari Kujansuu's Digihakemisto crowd-sourced index. Records UNDER 100 years old are restricted: you must either order a paper extract (virkatodistus) from the holding parish or apply for a research use-permit through the National Archives. - **National / state archive:** The National Archives of Finland — Kansallisarkisto (https://kansallisarkisto.fi/en/) — holds the deposited archives of Lutheran parishes (Orthodox parish archives are concentrated at the National Archives in Mikkeli). Search/order via the Astia service (astia.narc.fi/uusiastia); church registers over 100 years old are open self-service, newer ones need a use-permit (via portti.kansallisarkisto.fi). The Archives also hold the Senate/autonomy-era records, court judgment books, tax/land records back to the 1530s, and the General Register of Settlement. - **Notes:** For a descent claim the church register is what proves the ancestor's Finnish birth and parentage before the electronic era. Because parish coverage is by locality, you must know (or reconstruct via emigration records) the ancestor's home parish. Ceded-territory (Karelian) parishes' registers survived and were centralised — use Katiha. A useful free guide is the Migration Institute's 'How to trace your roots in Finland' (2024). ## Apostille / legalization - **Competent authority:** Digital and Population Data Services Agency — DVV (Digi- ja väestötietovirasto), through its Notary Public (julkinen notaari). DVV is Finland's sole designated Competent Authority under the Hague Apostille Convention for Finnish public documents. - **URL:** https://dvv.fi/en/apostille-en - **Process:** Deliver the ORIGINAL document (with an original wet-ink signature — no electronically-signed documents) to a DVV service location, by post or in person. A public document issued by a Finnish authority, a licensed physician, or an AUTHORISED (sworn) translator can be apostilled directly; a private document must first have its signature/signatory competence certified by the Notary Public (requires an in-person visit). For in-person service book a Notary Public appointment via the DVV appointment system (secure.vihta.com/public-ng/dvv). Tell them the destination country and that you need an Apostille. The apostilled document is mailed back (or handed over on the spot if you booked an appointment). - **Cost:** EUR 38 per Apostille certificate (stated on the DVV apostille page). - **Notes:** Finland IS a Hague Apostille member — DVV apostilles only FINNISH documents (each country apostilles its own; DVV cannot apostille a foreign birth certificate). Key trap: for the reverse direction, documents you submit to Migri that were issued WITHIN the EU or the Nordic countries generally do NOT need an apostille at all (EU Regulation 2016/1191 and Nordic agreements); apostille/legalisation is only needed for documents from non-EU, non-Nordic Hague states, and full consular legalisation (foreign ministry + Finnish mission, sometimes VFS Global verification first) for non-Hague countries. > **Apostille authority — verification (✓ confirmed against HCCH, 2026-07):** Both facts verified against the official HCCH source. (1) Apostille authority CONFIRMED: HCCH's Finland authority page (hcch.net, aid=319, updated 27 Jan 2025) names the Digital and Population Data Service Agency (DVV) as Finland's sole Designated Competent Authority under the 1961 Apostille Convention (Art. 6), contact julkinen.notaari@dvv.fi, Notary Public / julkinen notaari, useful link https://dvv.fi/en/services-of-notary-public, apostille price EUR 38. Minor naming nit only: HCCH spells it 'Service' (singular) vs the research's 'Services' (plural) — same agency, no substantive correction. (2) Portal URL https://todistukset.dvv.fi CONFIRMED LIVE (HTTP 200): resolves to the genuine official DVV self-service certificate portal 'Todistukset vaestotietojarjestelmasta' (Population Information System certificates), author DVV, offering birth/marriage/residence/civil-status certificates plus an apostille add-on (59 EUR/person). Not a 404 or hallucinated URL. ## Translation - **Requirement:** For a Migri residence-permit/citizenship application, attachments in a language OTHER than Finnish, Swedish or English must be translated. Finnish archive/parish records (in Finnish or Swedish) therefore need NO translation for Migri. It is the applicant's own foreign-issued documents (foreign birth/marriage certificates of the applicant and intermediate generations) that must be translated into Finnish, Swedish or English. - **Notes:** Translations must be done by an AUTHORISED (sworn) translator — search the register of authorised translators at the Finnish National Agency for Education (akr.opintopolku.fi) — or by a translator recognised as official by another EU state. A translation by a non-authorised translator is accepted only if the translation is itself legalised. EU-issued birth/marriage/death/partnership certificates need no translation if accompanied by the EU multilingual standard form (requested from the same authority that issued the certificate). The applicant pays for translations. ## Emigration & naturalization (the chain-break) - **Emigrant / exit records:** The Migration Institute of Finland (Siirtolaisuusinstituutti / Migration Institute of Finland, Turku) runs the Emigrant Register, searchable online at siirtolaisrekisteri.siirtolaisuusinstituutti.fi. Two core exit-record databases: the PASSENGER LIST (~318,000 records — Finland Steamship Company/FÅA ships, mostly departing via Hanko, covering 1892–1896, 1899–1914, 1920–1960) and the PASSPORT LIST (~299,000 records — provincial governments'/city registries' passport lists, late 19th century to ~1922, by province: Oulu 1897–1922, Vaasa 1890–1920, Turku-Pori 1889–1920, Kuopio, Viipuri, etc.). These often reveal the ancestor's home parish and emigration date. The Institute also holds a 'Naturalizations in Finland 1832–1946' database (14,000 records — people who became Finnish, i.e. the reverse direction). - **Destination naturalization:** The chain-break turns on whether the emigrant ancestor NATURALISED in the destination country and WHEN. Under the OLD Finnish Nationality Act (before 1 June 2003), a Finn who voluntarily acquired a foreign citizenship AUTOMATICALLY LOST Finnish citizenship — so an ancestor who naturalised as (e.g.) American, Canadian or Australian before 1 June 2003 typically broke the descent chain at that moment (and could not pass Finnish citizenship to children born after the loss). Since 1 June 2003 Finland accepts dual citizenship and acquiring another nationality no longer causes loss. Check the destination country's naturalisation records for the date: e.g. USA — USCIS Genealogy Program / NARA; Canada — LAC; Australia — NAA. A SECOND chain-break to check: anyone born on/after 1 June 1961 who is a dual citizen can lose Finnish citizenship at age 22 unless they retained a 'sufficient connection' to Finland. - **Notes:** Because these two rules (pre-2003 loss on foreign naturalisation, and the age-22 rule) are exactly what determines whether the line is still Finnish, resolve it BEFORE filing: request Migri's 'Determination of citizenship status' (application KAN_9, paper fee EUR 280) — Migri will formally rule whether you/your ancestor are considered Finnish citizens. There was a limited 2003–2008 declaration window for former citizens who had lost citizenship; today former citizens use the OLE_EN former-Finnish-citizen residence route. ## Gotchas - The modern DVV Population Information System does NOT contain your early-1900s emigrant ancestor — it only reliably covers people registered from ~1970 on. Requesting the ancestor's birth from DVV self-service will fail; you must go to the ancestor's PARISH register (now at the National Archives via Astia) instead. - Records are locality-based and language-shifted: parish registers are handwritten in SWEDISH until the late 19th century (then Finnish), and are organised by home parish — you must first identify the ancestor's parish (the emigration passport/passenger lists are the usual way to find it) before you can pull the birth record. - The 100-year rule: church registers over 100 years old are free self-service (Astia/SSHY/HisKi), but anything from roughly 1910 onward is closed — you cannot browse it and must either order a certified extract from the parish or apply for a National Archives research use-permit. This bites exactly the 1910s–1940s generation most descent claims need. - Apostille direction confusion: DVV apostilles ONLY Finnish documents. It cannot apostille your foreign (US/AU/etc.) birth certificate — that must be apostilled by the ISSUING country. Conversely, if your intermediate documents are EU- or Nordic-issued, Migri usually needs NO apostille at all (EU Reg 2016/1191 / Nordic agreements) — paying for an unnecessary apostille is a common waste. - The real make-or-break fact is the pre-1 June 2003 automatic loss of Finnish citizenship when the ancestor naturalised abroad — a US/Canadian/Australian naturalisation certificate dated before 2003 can silently break the whole chain, and Finnish parish records won't show it. You must pull the DESTINATION country's naturalisation date and, ideally, get a Migri 'Determination of citizenship' (KAN_9, EUR 280) ruling. - Ceded-territory (Karelian) and Orthodox records are handled separately: Karelian parish registers are in the National Archives' Katiha/Karelia database, and Orthodox parish archives are concentrated at the National Archives in Mikkeli — searching only the mainstream Lutheran Astia/HisKi sources will miss an ancestor from those populations. ## Sources - [DVV — Apostille (competent authority, EUR 38, process)](https://dvv.fi/en/apostille-en) - [DVV — Order a certificate from the Population Information System (birth/marriage/death/family-relationship certificates, channels, languages)](https://dvv.fi/en/certificates-from-the-population-information-system) - [DVV — Instructions for legalisation (EU/Nordic exemption)](https://dvv.fi/en/instructions-for-legalisation) - [National Archives of Finland (Kansallisarkisto) — What materials do we have? (parish archives, 100-year rule, Astia, Orthodox at Mikkeli)](https://kansallisarkisto.fi/en/what-materials-do-we-have-) - [Genealogical Society of Finland — Parish Registers (history/confirmation books, Swedish-then-Finnish, Astia/SSHY/HisKi/Katiha, <100yr permit)](https://www.genealogia.fi/en/genealogy/sources-for-genealogists/parish-registers/) - [Migri — Descendant of a Finnish citizen by birth (required attachments incl. National Archives/parish certificates)](https://migri.fi/en/descendant-of-a-finnish-citizen) - [Migri — Interpretation, translation and legalisation (authorised translator requirement, EU multilingual form)](https://migri.fi/en/interpretation-translation-and-legalisation) - [Migri — Determination of citizenship (KAN_9, EUR 280)](https://migri.fi/en/determination-of-citizenship) - [Migri — Loss of citizenship (dual citizenship allowed since 1 June 2003; age-22 rule)](https://migri.fi/en/loss-of-citizenship) - [Migration Institute of Finland — Genealogy / Emigrant Register (passenger & passport lists, naturalizations 1832–1946)](https://siirtolaisuusinstituutti.fi/en/archives/genealogy/) - [HCCH — Finland apostille authority declaration (Competent Authority = DVV)](https://assets.hcch.net/docs/a600a94a-84cf-4e69-b0d1-d78d76f6d7a9.pdf) --- General guidance, not legal advice. EasyPassport is a document-organization tool, not a law firm. Confirm your own case with the relevant authority or a qualified professional.