Legalisation of foreign documents for use in the

Knowledge Centre for International Staff

Foreign nationals are required to bring an original legalised birth certificate for their registration at their municipality of residence. Married couples should also provide their legalised marriage certificate.

These certificates must be provided in English, Dutch, German or French. If not in one of these languages, the documents need to be translated by a sworn translator. Both the originals and the translated version(s) need to be brought to the Netherlands.

What is legalisation? A document issued in your home country which needs to be used in another country must be 'authenticated' or 'legalised' before it is valid and recognized in that other country (e.g. the Netherlands). The proof of legalisation is usually a stamp on the certificate.

The legalisation process involves checking the origin of the relevant document. Legalisation is official confirmation that the signature of the civil servant that has signed a document, or the seal or stamp on the document, is legitimate.

This process involves a legalisation by: 1. The country’s own authorities (usually the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country where the documents were issued) and;

2. By the Dutch mission in the country for use in the Netherlands. Contact the Dutch mission in your home country for further details.

Check the rules for the country where the document originated The rules on legalisation vary across countries because some countries are parties to legalisation conventions. Legalisation conventions contain agreements on how countries recognise each other’s official documents. Always check the rules that apply to the country where the document originated.

If the country is a party to the Apostille Convention, you can have documents from that country legalised via a single procedure – the issue of an apostille stamp. This is usually done by the country’s justice or foreign ministry. You can find a summary of all authorities in each country that are competent to issue apostille stamps on the website of Conference on Private International Law.

Thus, there are two types of legalisation:

1. Legalisation: bring your original certificate to a governmental authority (usually the Foreign Ministry) of your home country first, and afterwards to the Dutch consulate of embassy.

2. Apostille stamp: the best-known legalisation convention requires only a single action: an apostille. Apostilled documents do not require further legalisation by the embassy or consulate of the country in which it is to be used. In most countries, the Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues the apostille after verifying that the document and its signature are genuine. An overview of all the designated authorities in the various countries can be found at the website of The Hague Conference on International Private Law.

Maastricht University – Knowledge Centre for International Staff (KCIS) Last updated: 18.02.2016