Wilma Schlizewski unexpectedly learned that her official country of residence has changed from Finland to Estonia.
Wilma Schlizewski’s official address is currently in Estonia. Pete Anikari
Tattoo artist Wilma Schlizewski, 67, learned on Tuesday that she no longer lives in Finland, according to official information.
It happened by chance when Schlizewski went to buy a lottery ticket as usual.
– The kiosk’s aunt said I don’t have any customers. I said how is that possible when a couple of days earlier I had won the lottery and won ten euros, Schlizewski tells Iltalehte that he was surprised.
Playing Veikkaus gambling requires registration, and only an adult with a permanent address in Finland can get a membership.
After his visit to the kiosk, Schlizewski had contacted Veikkaus. There they asked if Schlizewski is possibly a foreigner.
It turned out that the previous day, the Digital and Population Information Agency had transferred Schlizewski as having permanently moved abroad in its system. The same entry was on the suomi.fi website and in Schlizewski’s tax information. Estonia was listed as the official place of residence instead of Finland.
Schlizewski has a company in Estonia, but he has always lived officially in Finland. At the moment, he lives in Helsinki with his Finnish spouse.
In order to remedy the situation, Schlizewski has been instructed to file a notice of return move. However, the system does not allow you to file a return emigration notification immediately after the permanent emigration. He also has not found out what his official address abroad is according to official information.
Due to his official residence, Schlizewski lost some of his rights in Finland.
– If I needed to go to a health center or a hospital, I would be a foreigner. As a returnee, I would get grace periods again, Schlizewski sighs.
Wilma Schlizewski has a company in Estonia, but her actual home is in Helsinki. Jenni Gästgivar
In the spring of 2024, Iltalehti reported on the government decree, according to which a citizen can no longer have a place of residence in both Finland and Estonia at the same time. In September 2022, Finland and Estonia agreed on the registration of the population and the electronic exchange of population data.
Information regarding migration between Finland and Estonia has been transferred between the countries automatically from December 2025. Statistics Finland in February 2026, an exceptionally large number of emigrations was recorded, some of which can be explained by corrections made to the population information systems. According to a previous survey, a total of 12,000 people had a permanent address registered in both Finland and Estonia.
Digital and Population Information Agency writes on its website that if a person has a permanent address in both the Finnish and Estonian population registers, the authorities will contact the person so that the permanent state of residence can be determined.
According to DVV, a person who does not have a domicile in Finland does not automatically have the right to use Finnish public healthcare services. However, the right may be fulfilled on other grounds.