Phase 1: Digital First for public authorities’ messages

The obligation and the right to use Suomi.fi Messages remain unchanged. Since 2017, central government authorities, municipalities and wellbeing services counties have been required to use Suomi.fi Messages for electronic communication. Private entities performing public administrative tasks also have the right to use the support services.

What will change:

the number of recipients of electronic messages will grow to as many as 4 million citizens by 2026, and
the obligation for public administration organisations will specifically apply to the official service of documents.

What official mail needs to be sent via Suomi.fi Messages?

The following official services of documents must, for example, be sent via Suomi.fi Messages:

Decisions
Notifications (e.g. inspections or hearings)
Invitations (e.g. for legal testimonies or events where a party makes an oral statement)
Other documents that affect official processing (e.g. requests for supplementary information, inspection reports, notifications document arrival, estimates of when a decision was issued)

The above list is for reference only; each organisation must assess which of its own documents fall within the scope of section 54 of the Administrative Procedure Act.

An organisation must apply for an exemption from the obligation to use Suomi.fi Messages if it mainly uses a method other than Suomi.fi Messages for submitting its notifications.

An obliged organisation may send other communications via Suomi.fi Messages (e.g. reminders, appointment data, invoices, requests for additional information). Organisations may also receive electronic messages from their clients.

The benefits of Suomi.fi Messages for public administration organisations accumulate as the number of recipients of Suomi.fi Messages increases. In 2026, an estimated 4 million Finns will receive official electronic communications. Learn more about the benefits of Suomi.fi Messages to organisations on our blog.

Taking Suomi.fi Messages into use in an organisation step by step

Check the current status of Suomi.fi Messages in your organisation. Please note the measures are discussed here from the perspective of organisations subject to the given obligations.

1. Check the current status of using Suomi.fi Messages within your organisation

Does your organisation already use a Suomi.fi Messages interface?
If yes, is the interface in use or is it an unused legacy interface?

Organisations can review usage activity in the usage statistics. Reports for all Suomi.fi services are available by logging into Service Management. Please note that the legacy APIs will be decommissioned on 1 January 2027. This requires organisations to take action and move to the REST API.

2. Check which official notifications your organisation sends

Which of your organisation’s services, processes or decisions generate notifications in accordance with section 54 of the Administrative Procedure Act?
How and where are these notifications currently being sent to citizens?
Are personal identity codes collected in connection with your service or process?
What systems are used in the processing and sending of notifications?
Do your require exemptions for some cases?

3. Assess how your organisation’s operations and processes change

Who in the organisation (employee groups) need to be informed of the change?
What changes are required for systems and agreements?
How will the change affect data protection?
Will the data processed in your processes change?

4. Plan internal and external communications about the change and the use of Suomi.fi Messages

Ensure that your organisation’s customer service

Can instruct clients on using Suomi.fi Messages
Know where to find support and help for questions related to technical support and using Suomi.fi Messages
Are able to take into account any special needs of clients.

The communication material package created to support organisations’ external communications is available on the Digital First project website (dvv.fi). The package helps with informing clients about the Digital First change and ensuring that your customer service representatives are ready to answer any questions.

As part of the activation of Suomi.fi Messages, please use the Suomi.fi Messages communication materials as well. Please clearly communicate to your clients which services your organisation uses Suomi.fi Messages for and what communications your organisation sends via Suomi.fi Messages.

5. Start planning the activation or expansion of Suomi.fi Messages

What purposes could your organisation use Suomi.fi Messages for? What communications could be delivered to clients electronically?
At minimum, familiarise yourself with the service description, use cases and the features of good electronic messages.
Consider the technical implementation. Do you connect to Suomi.fi Messages REST API using your own system or integrations delivered by system suppliers?

6. Begin the activation of Suomi.fi Messages

The deployment is divided into administrative and technical deployment.
Administrative deployment includes, for example, the design of client paths and internal processes, planning message content, staff training and the preparation of a communication plan.
Technical deployment focuses on building and testing integration. Your system supplier or ICT experts supports you with technical deployment.

If the recipient is not using Suomi.fi Messages, your organisation can use either

paper mail sent by the organisation;
the paper communications channel of Suomi.fi Messages, i.e. the TKJ service (procured by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency and often less expensive; handles printing, enveloping and distribution on your behalf); or
another electronic channel that your organisation has assessed as safe.

In this case, and other cases where Suomi.fi Messages cannot be sent to the recipient, your organisation does not need to apply for an exemption.

There will always be clients who do not use Suomi.fi Messages or other electronic official services; your organisation must provide its services to these clients in the future as well.

If the system in your use currently has no Suomi.fi Messages integration or is not planning on using such integration, you have a number of options:

Send your notifications via another system in your use that includes Suomi.fi Messages integration (e.g. background integration with the case management system or other system).
Apply for an exemption either yourself, or agree with the system supplier on the use of an intermediary model when applying for an exemption.

All system integrations or future integrations known to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency are available here: System suppliers with Suomi.fi Messages integration - Suomi.fi Messages for public administration organisations - Suomi.fi for developers

If the obligation applies to your organisation, you must use Suomi.fi Messages in the activities intended for this purpose (Act on Common Administrative e-Service Support Services 571/2016).

This means that

Under the current Act, your organisation must use Suomi.fi Messages for electronic communications;
In 2026, your organisation must primarily send its notifications (the documents referred to in section 54 of the Administrative Procedure Act) to Suomi.fi Messages.

If your organisation has not yet applied for an exemption but uses an electronic messaging service other than Suomi.fi Messages for official notifications, the organisation must apply for an exemption to fulfil its obligation under in the Act. Otherwise, the organisation’s activities are non-compliant.

You do not need to apply for an exemption if:

Suomi.fi Messages deployment is in progress
Deployment is about to begin in the next few months: for example, if your question applies to December 2025, the deployment should begin by spring 2026.

You must apply for an exemption if:

You plan of deploying Suomi.fi Messages at a later date (for example, the organisation is waiting for implementation by the system supplier or a more stable financial situation), but there is no deployment schedule or plan.
It is known that Suomi.fi Messages will not or cannot be used for any of the organisation’s activities either ever or in the near future.
The organisation primarily uses another electronic messaging service for its notifications.

Updated: 14/4/2026

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Phase 1: Digital First for public authorities’ messages

Taking Suomi.fi Messages into use in an organisation step by step

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