What is a vehicle registration certificate?

The registration certificate is printed on Traficom A4 security paper. A registration certificate issued to a vehicle is valid until the vehicle registration data changes. 

You need the technical part abroad, the notification part is needed less often

Keep the technical part (Part I) in the vehicle when travelling abroad or on the Åland Islands. You do not need it in mainland Finland. 

You do not need the notification part (Part II) to report changes to your vehicle’s registration data. Instead, you can identify yourself as the owner of your vehicle either in My e-Services or at a registration office and report any necessary changes. 

When selling your vehicle, submit a notification of transfer using My e-Services, which also enables the electronic transfer of ownership to the buyer.  

You will need both parts of the registration certificate if you sell the vehicle for registration abroad or to Åland. In this case, hand over both parts to the buyer.

Order a new registration certification at My e-Services

If you need a new registration certificate to replace a lost or damaged certificate, for example, you can order it using Traficom’s My e-Services. You can order the entire registration certificate or only the technical part. 

The registration certificate is uniform in all EU countries

The most important information from the Transport Register is printed on the registration certificate. An EU Directive specifies the mandatory data which are preceded by harmonized Community codes. The mandatory details on the technical part (part I) include type/variant/version, if available (D.2), trade name (D.3) and type approval number, if available (K). The aforementioned details must also be entered in the notification part (part II), together with the date when the vehicle was taken into use (B) and the vehicle class (J).

Both parts of the registration certificate must have

• the name of the Member State that issued the certificate (Finland) and its international identifier (FIN)
• the name of the competent authority (Finnish Transport and Communications Agency)
• the word "registration certificate", as well as the part name (Part I or Part II) in all EU languages
• the words “European Community” in the language or languages of the Member State; in the case of Finland, in both domestic languages
• the document number (printed in the lower right corner of the document).

The paper used for the registration certificate must be protected against counterfeiting by various security features. Traficom has selected watermarks and graphics as the security features. The watermark model is the agency logo, and the graphic element (road element) on the left side of the form repeats the word “Traficom”.

The registration certificate is based on the EU Directive (1999/37/EU) on the registration documents for vehicles, which aims to harmonise the appearance and content of vehicle registration documents in the Member States. This will facilitate the understanding of the documents in different Member States and promote the freedom of movement of vehicles.

Read more about registration certificate models