Granting mandates if you are unable to use electronic services
Read below how you can authorise another person to manage your affairs if you are aged over 18 and cannot use electronic services or identify yourself in them. Please note, that a foreign citizen living in Finland may only grant mandates if they have a valid foreigner’s identity card issued by the Finnish police.
Mandates can be granted or accepted electronically in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations only by adults who can identify themselves using their personal identification tokens, such as online banking codes or a mobile ID.
Persons who cannot identify themselves in the Suomi.fi service can still grant mandates or accept mandate requests by choosing between four ways of doing it.
To be able to use these alternative ways, the person granting the mandates must be able to understand what granting a mandate means. For example, if a person has advanced memory loss disease, it is likely they can no longer grant mandates or accept mandate requests in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations.
Take the following into account before granting mandates
Who should manage you affairs (who is the assignee)?
Which matters should the assignee manage?
How long should the mandates remain in effect?
If you cannot identify yourself in Suomi.fi, you can choose between four different ways to grant mandates
You can submit the mandate application independently at Authorisation with an application page if you have a computer, a tablet or a smartphone and online connection but you cannot identify yourself in Suomi.fi.
You can grant identical mandates to more than one person on a single application.
Follow these steps if you are able to print out the application
Once you have read the instructions and obtained all required documents, complete the mandate application.
Print out the application and sign the document.
Put the application and any appendices to it in a single envelope and bring or post the documents to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. You will receive detailed instructions when preparing the application.
If you do not have a valid Finnish passport or personal identity card, you must prove your identity separately according to the instructions you receive when preparing your application.
Follow these steps if you cannot print out the application
First read the instructions and act in accordance with them.
Once you have read the instructions and obtained all required documents, complete the mandate application. After completing the application, you can exit the application page because a draft of the document is saved in the system.
Book an appointment at a service location of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.
Sign the application printed out by the official.
Prepare to prove your identity according to the instructions you receive when preparing your application.
You will be notified by post once the mandates have been registered.
If you are unable to visit a service location to approve the mandate request because of limitations such as a physical disability, you can submit the mandate application jointly with the person you have selected as the assignee or with other assistant at Authorisation with an application page.
You can grant identical mandates to more than one person on a single application.
After you have read the instructions and obtained all required documents, complete the mandate application. If your assistant identifies themselves in Suomi.fi to prepare the application, the assistant can follow the application process.
Sign the application printout.
Your assistant will submit the application and any appendices to it for processing.
If you do not have a valid Finnish passport or personal identity card, you must prove your identity separately according to the instructions you receive when preparing your application.
You will be notified by post once the mandates have been registered. If you have started using Suomi.fi Messages, the notification will be sent to Suomi.fi Messages instead of being sent to you by post. Once the processing of your application is finished, a notification will also be sent to the e-mail address you provided on the application.
If you are unable to submit the application independently, book an appointment at a service location of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.
You can grant identical mandates to more than one person on a single application.
Follow these steps
Find the official names and personal identity codes of the persons you have selected as assignees and make a list of the services that you want them to manage on your behalf.
Bring to the service location your Finnish passport or personal identity card (valid or expired) or the valid foreigner’s identity card issued by the Finnish police. If you do not have a valid Finnish passport or personal identity card, bring with you any other photo identity card and prepare to answer the official’s questions.
The official will help you in the preparation of the application.
Sign the application at the service location.
The official will append to the application a copy of your personal identity card and will forward the application for processing. You will be notified by post once the mandates have been registered.
One way to grant mandates is to approve a mandate request that the person you have selected as the assignee has made in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations. For instructions on how to request a mandate, the assignee should go to Making a mandate request as a person page.
If you want to grant identical mandates to more than one person, each of these persons must make their own mandate requests.
Follow these steps
Give the person you have selected as the assignee your official name and personal identity code and explain which mandates you want to grant.
The person you have chosen as the assignee will send a mandate request to you according to the instructions on the page Making a mandate request as a person.
Once the mandate request has been made, book an appointment at a service location of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.
Bring to the service location your own valid or expired Finnish citizen’s passport or identity card, or valid foreigner’s identity card issued by the Finnish police. If you do not have a valid Finnish passport or personal identity card, bring with you any other photo identity card and prepare to answer the official’s questions. Foreigners can not identify themselves at the service location without foreigner’s identity card issued by the Finnish police.
The official will validate the mandates on your behalf.
Explain to the assignee that the mandates will become effective immediately or from the start date entered on the mandate request, and the assignee can start managing your affairs.
An attorney or a private guardian can submit a mandate application and request their granter to sign it. In addition to the signature, a copy of the granter's identity card must be appended to the mandate application. If the granter does not have a valid identity card, the mandate application includes instructions for other ways of proving identity.
If the granter can no longer understand the matter, the attorney or private guardian may sign the application on their behalf. In this case, only mandate themes that concern the granter's person may be selected for the application, and matters that concern the granter's person must fall within the competence of the attorney or private guardian . Remember that you must always try to ask your granter's opinion and follow their instructions when making important decisions related to your tasks.
A copy of the continuing power of attorney confirmed by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency or a copy of the guardianship order must be appended to the application if the attorney or guardian signs the application on behalf of their granter.
Remember that if you have a continuing power of attorney or you are a private guardian, you can automatically manage financial matters on behalf of the person who issued the power of attorney or is under guardianship, and do not need separate mandates.