Vehicle registration certificate

The registration certificate is based on EU Directive 1999/37/EC on the registration documents for vehicles. The Directive on the registration documents for vehicles requires that the paper used in the certificate is protected against forgery using different security factors. The Directive sets specific requirements for the content of the certificate.

The registration certificate consists of two parts. Part I (technical part) includes technical data of the vehicle and information on its owner and holder. Part II (notification part) is meant to be used when notifying changes in the register. Both parts are printed on A4-size forms, which are pre-printed in the same format. The forms differ from each other by the document’s name printed at the top of the form and by the number of the part.

Both parts (Part I and Part II) of the registration certificate are printed for the customer when a registration notification is submitted. In connection with a periodic inspection, the customer will be given a new technical part (Part I). Only the most recently printed parts are valid.

The printing order can be checked from the three-digit serial number printed on the registration certificate. Because a new technical part is always printed at each periodic inspection, the serial numbers of the different parts of the certificate may differ from each other (for example, notification part 003 and technical part 005). The technical part also contains the valid serial number of the notification part.

Old registration documents and extracts from such documents are still valid

The old red and white registration document was replaced with the harmonised greenish registration certificate (Part I, Part II) in May 2004. The registration certificate was renewed in November 2007 in connection with the new Vehicle Traffic Data System. At the beginning of 2010 the Finnish Vehicle Administration AKE, Finnish Civil Aviation Authority, Finnish Rail Agency and the safety functions of the Finnish Maritime Administration were merged to become the Finnish Transport Safety Agency Trafi. At that point the registration certificate was also updated for Trafi. All abovementioned registration certificates are still valid for vehicle registration and operation, even abroad.

For the time being, Finland is not planning to change the old registration documents or certificates for new registration certificates. A registration document will be renewed when changes need to be made to the registration information, for example upon a change of ownership