Apostilles and Legalisation

Legalisation of Dutch Documents for Use Abroad

If you need to use a Dutch official document abroad, it will have to be translated. This translation must then be signed and certified by the sworn translator, and it will only be legally valid abroad if it is legalised or if it includes an apostille. This is an authentication on the signature of the sworn translator. An apostille or legalisation consists of a self-adhesive label that is filled in by a court registry officer, and signed and stamped by the court registrar.

If the country where you wish to use the document is a signatory to the Apostille Treaty, there is a simple procedure to render official documents legally valid abroad, and that involves the court applying an apostille to the document. More than 100 countries have signed up to this treaty.

Documents that are intended for countries that are not signatories to the Apostille Treaty require legalisation. The legalisation procedure is also performed by a Dutch court, but the document must subsequently be certified by the Consular Services Centre* of the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Affairs in The Hague, and by the embassy or consulate of the country the document is destined for. It is only then that the document becomes legally valid in the country concerned.

Legalisation of Foreign Documents for Use in the Netherlands

Official documents issued abroad usually carry an apostille from the country of origin. In order to use these documents in the Netherlands, you need to have this document translated by a sworn translator in the Netherlands. In that case you will not need any apostille or legalisation, given that the documents are already suitable for official use.

You can also have certain foreign documents legalised in the Netherlands. For example, these may be documents issued by a foreign embassy or consulate located in the Netherlands. These are usually consular declarations or sometimes certified true copies or excerpts from the national civil register of that country. The most common consular declarations are: the declaration of renunciation of nationality and the single status declaration.

As soon as these documents are translated by a sworn translator, you can contact the Consular Services Centre* of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in The Hague. The documents will then be legally valid for use in the Netherlands.

For more information concerning the legalisation of Dutch or foreign documents, please refer to the National Government website (Rijksoverheid). Naturally, please feel free to contact my agency if you have any queries.

* Consulair Dienstencentrum (CDC)