Henkilötunnus and kotikunta: the number is not the gate

The Finnish personal identity code, the henkilötunnus, usually comes by itself for an EU citizen. When Migri, the Finnish Immigration Service, registers your right of residence, you are in most cases automatically entered in the population register. You get the code with it.

But the code opens little. For your municipality's services, such as healthcare and childcare, you need a kotikunta, a municipality of residence. According to Migri you do not get that automatically. For that you go to the population data agency DVV yourself.

The pitfall is the clock: the municipality of residence goes back at most one month from your notification.

How do I get a personal identity code?

There are three roads, and which one you take depends on what has to happen first.

Route	When	What you bring	How long
Via Migri, with the EU registration	in most cases automatic with a positive decision	nothing extra	comes with the decision
Via DVV, online form plus visit	if Migri could not register you	passport, proof of legal residence such as the registration certificate, proof of work or study	2 to 3 weeks for work or study, otherwise 3 to 4 weeks, from the visit
Via Vero, at some service points	if you start working straight away	a real employment contract; a preliminary contract or an offer letter is not enough	usually 1 to 3 business days

If you choose the DVV route, watch one hard deadline: everyone you request a code for must visit in person within one month of submitting the form, children included.

With the same form you request the code for your children under 18 who move at the same time as you. One parent does that. Write your name on every form exactly as in your passport. Migri registers you with the details of your travel document.

Why does the kotikunta matter more than the code?

Because the kotikunta opens the doors. Migri writes that you need a municipality of residence for the services of your city or municipality, such as healthcare and childcare. DVV adds that with a municipality of residence you can:

• get a Finnish identity card and a driving licence;
• use services provided by authorities;
• receive benefits or allowances.

You can only have a municipality of residence in one country at a time.

DVV sets three general conditions:

• you have arrived in Finland;
• you intend to live there for at least one year;
• you stay there legally.

On top of that, one specific condition must be met. For a Dutch citizen that is usually the right of residence registered with Migri, or a family member who already has a Finnish municipality of residence.

If you also want your marriage or your children registered, DVV asks for an official document. Check with DVV whether it needs to be legalised or translated.

Do not wait with the application. DVV grants the municipality of residence from the day you meet the conditions, but never more than one month before the day of your notification. Whoever waits three months after the move gets only one of them back. And an ordinary notification of move is not an application: you use DVV's online form, or on paper the form for changing a temporary address into a permanent one.