Decision notices and letters delivered primarily via OmaKela as of January 2026

Starting from January 2026, you will get decision notices and letters issued by Kela in digital format only via the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish) if you use OmaKela and have given Kela your email address or phone number. Kela will not send paper copies of the decision notices and letters to you by mail. You will get a notification via Suomi.fi Messages or by email or text message when you have a new decision or letter available in OmaKela. The change will take effect at Kela on 15 January 2026.

Customers who do not use OmaKela will continue to get Kela’s decision notices and letters as paper mail. Even if you do use OmaKela, you can opt to get your decision notices and letters by mail. You can set your preference in OmaKela or contact Kela’s customer service to ask us to set it for you after the change takes effect.

“Customers get a better experience when they use our e-service because decision notices become available in OmaKela the moment they are issued. At the same time, prioritising digital services creates significant savings for Kela in terms of mailing costs, and over 1.5 million customers have already opted out of paper mail. The digital first approach increases paperless contacts with our customers and, above all, creates more consistency across all official communications,” says Anu Lantonen, Head of Section for Benefit Document Production at Kela.

This year, Kela has sent approximately 6.4 million letters as paper mail and over 8 million electronically. Kela achieved its savings goal for printing and mailing costs in 2025 (EUR 6 million) ahead of time in November.

The shift to the digital first approach for Kela-issued decision notices and letters is based on the reform of the law governing Kela’s operations that was approved in November 2025.

All official communications to go digital

All public authorities will begin to prioritise digital communications in 2026 after the Act on the Primacy of Electronic Services and Communication in the Public Sector enters into force. The exact implementation date will be confirmed later on during the parliamentary proceedings. Suomi.fi Messages will be automatically enabled for all adults aged 18 or over who log in to public e-services with Suomi.fi authentication.

Starting from 2026, letters, decisions and invoices issued by various authorities will be delivered to your Suomi.fi inbox. However, Kela will still deliver decision notices and letters to you via OmaKela. You will get a notification in your Suomi.fi Messages when you have new mail in OmaKela.

More information

• OmaKela – Kela’s e-service for individual customers
• Amendment of Kela’s governing law: the names of claims determination specialists to be removed from decisions, increase in online contacts and more extensive access to information for Kela
• From the beginning of 2026, mail from the authorities will primarily arrive electronically