Attesting Finnish Documents (FAQs)

Yes - Finland is a member of the Apostille Convention.

Finnish documents can be legalized for use abroad with an Apostille Stamp when destined for other signatory countries without additional certification by the destination country.

When Finnish documents are required for non-apostille countries, such as United Arab Emirates - Taiwan - Malaysia - Thailand - Qatar they need additional authentication by the embassy of the destination country.

For further information about Apostille certification in Finland, see:
Finland Apostille Services

Submission within the European Union
Certain Finnish documents do not require Apostilles when they are presented to authorities of other European Union countries (the receiving authority should accept the original or a certified copy).

When applying for certain public documents, a multilingual standard form may be requested to accompany the original. A multilingual standard form must always be issued and signed by a Finnish authority, providing a translation aid designed to help the receiving authority to understand a public document which is in a language not accepted by the receiving EU country.
See: EU Multilingual standard forms

Finnish documents not requiring Apostilles include birth, death, marriage certificates, absence of a criminal record (a clean criminal record of a Finnish citizen), certificates of nationality and residence:
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/1191

Other Finnish documents, including academic certificates, still require Apostille certification and certified translation to be valid in other EU countries.

Documents that can be authenticated in Finland with an Apostille Stamp include:

• Finnish birth and marriage certificates
• Reports on family relationships
• Life Certificates
• Civil status certificates
• Criminal Record Extracts
• Company registration and tax documents
• Court documents
• University and academic diplomas
• Certificates signed by registered doctors etc.

Other documents may require prior certification by a notary or other authority.

To confirm whether your document is eligible for apostille authentication in Finland, please Contact us and we’ll check your document free of charge. For further information about our Finnish apostille services and for assistance obtaining official copies of Finnish documents, see:
Finland Apostille Services

Apostilles from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency are obtained on Finnish documents in 1 - 2 business days

Document legalization (or attestation) is a procedure which authenticates a public Finnish document so that it can be submitted in another country for official or legal purposes - for example, if you need to submit a Finnish birth certificate to the authority or embassy of another country, it will often need to be legalized.

Legalizing a document in Finland certifies the authenticity of the signature appearing on the document as that of an authorized public official in Finland and confirms the capacity of that official.

• Because Finland is a member of the Apostille Convention, Finnish documents can be legalized by means of an Apostille Stamp when being submitted to countries that are also members of the Hague Apostille Convention
• If a Finnish document is required for a country that is not a member of the Apostille Convention, it will need to be legalized both by Finnish authorities and by the embassy of the recipient country (embassy in Finland or non-resident embassy accredited to Finland).
  See: Document legalization - Wikipedia

Isarey Certification Services provides a range of services in Finland including Apostille and legalization services, notarization services, certified translation services and document retrieval services.

You can see reviews from past clients who have used our attestation and apostille services:

• ISAREY reviews on Trustpilot
• ISAREY reviews on Google

Finnish civil status certificates can be ordered from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. Certificates can be ordered online (self-service) with an online banking code or mobile certificate, by email or by phone.

Certificates are generally available in Finnish, Swedish, English, Spanish, Italian, French and German. It is possible to attach a multilingual EU standard form to a Finnish and Swedish certificate in any of the official languages of the EU.

If an Apostille stamp or legalization is needed, a paper certificate is required.

• Order a Birth certificate
• Order a Marriage Certificate
• Order a Life certificate
• Frequently asked questions about certificates and extracts

To obtain an Apostille on a Finnish birth, death or marriage certificate, the original signed paper copy is required.

Apostilles are not required when submitting Finnish certificates of marital status to the authorities of another Member State of the European Union.

A multilingual standard form may be requested to accompany the original. A multilingual standard form must always be issued and signed by a Finnish authority, providing a translation aid designed to help the receiving authority understand the certificate when in a language not accepted by the receiving EU country.

EU Member States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 (EU GDPR)

Apostilles are not required when submitting Finnish birth, death and marriage certificates to the authorities of another Member State of the European Union. A multilingual standard form may be requested to accompany the original. A multilingual standard form must always be issued and signed by a Finnish authority, providing a translation aid designed to help the receiving authority understand the certificate when in a language not accepted by the receiving EU country.

EU Member States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 (EU GDPR)

To obtain an Apostille on a Finnish Criminal Record Extract, the original signed paper copy is required.

Finnish Criminal Record Extracts (Police Certificates) can be obtained from the Legal Register Centre

Paper certificates are required if the certificate is to be legalized or authenticated with an Apostille. If there is no data on criminal records, the extract can be issued in English, German, French or Spanish.

Apostilles are not required when submitting Finnish Criminal Record Certificates to another Member State of the European Union when the certificate is issued to a Finnish national and when the criminal record is clean (no convictions). In other cases, the recipient Member State may require an Apostille.

EU Member States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 (EU GDPR)

Finnish Criminal Record Extracts (Police Certificates) are obtained from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. Criminal Record Certificates required for submission to non-apostille countries are legalized by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and will need additional attestation by the embassy of the recipient country. An original paper certificate from the Legal Register Centre is required for authentication.

Finnish degree certificates and course transcripts can now be attested for use in Saudi Arabia with an Apostille Stamp from the Finnish Digital and Population Data Services Agency. Attestation by the Saudi Cultural Bureau and embassy is no longer required since Saudi Arabia acceded to the Apostille Convention in December 2022.

Finnish degree certificates and course transcripts can now be attested for use in China with an Apostille Stamp from the Finnish Digital and Population Data Services Agency. Attestation by the Chinese embassy is no longer required since China acceded to the Apostille Convention in November 2022.

Apostille Stamps for Finnish University diplomas and course transcripts can be obtained from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. The original certificate is required for certification by a Finnish notary. The Apostille can then be applied to the notarized true copy. Degrees needed for submission in non-apostille countries are legalized by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and will need additional attestation by the embassy of the recipient country (e.g. embassy of Vietnam, Thailand, Taipei Representative Office (Taiwan).

For latest procedure to legalize Finnish documents for use in the United Arab Emirates or Qatar, please Contact us

A power of attorney must be sworn before a Finnish notary. An Apostille Stamp can then be obtained from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.