The Finnish identity card (Finnish: henkilökortti; Swedish: identitetskort) is one of two official identity documents in Finland, the other being the Finnish passport. Any citizen or resident can get an identification card.^[2] Finnish citizens will get indication of citizenship on the card. It is available as an electronic ID card (Finnish: sähköinen henkilökortti; Swedish: elektroniskt identitetskort), which enables logging into certain services on the Internet, local computers or adding digital signatures into LibreOffice ODF documents or creating DigiDoc formatted containers that also allows encryption during content transfer. ID card is applied at a police station and it is issued by the police.

Possession of an ID card or any ID document is non-compulsory in Finland, though interactions with officials and companies, like voting, picking up a parcel from Posti offices or buying alcohol when a salesperson suspects buyer to be under 18 or 30 years old, can be difficult or impossible without an ID card, a passport or a driving licence.

Driving licences are also widely used for general identification purposes even though they are not officially recognised as such. Some places, such as the postal service,^[3] accept social security cards with the photograph of the bearer but they are not widely used and have not been issued in a long time.

In domestic non-electronic identification the driving licence has remained in a leading position, since most of the population have to have a licence anyway, and a driving licence is valid for almost every situation where non-electronic personal identification is needed.

In some cases, an emergency ID card, valid between 15 days to 3 months, is issued.

A driving licence permit is required to get a driving licence as you cannot undergo theory and practical tests without it. Prerequisites include category-specific age and health requirements, being a permanent resident or a student with at least six months of residency, and no suspended licenses in other EU or EEA countries. The permit is valid for three years.

Driving instruction can be obtained through a driving school, relative with a driving instruction permit, or with a combination of the two. It is possible to obtain driving instruction before applying for a driving licence permit as a student of a driving school or through an instructor who has been granted a driving instruction permit. Passenger car driving instruction includes at least 18 hours of instructions in total, including risk recognition training, theory, and driving lessons. In addition, for new licensees, an additional four-hour training for candidates for first driving licences (EAS) is required.

After driving instruction, the theory test is undertaken, which can be attended one month before turning 18. After successfully passing the theory test, the driving test can be taken once you have turned 18. It is also possible to be taken at the age of 17 if you have an age exception permit issued by Traficom or if you are studying a professional driver training course which includes obtaining the right to drive lorries or buses.