Information about legalization/apostille stamp for birth and marriage certificate

Immigrants need to bring an original legalised birth certificate for their registration with City Hall. Married couples should also provide their legalised marriage certificate.

If the certificate is not provided in English, Dutch, German or French, it must be translated by a sworn translator into one of these languages.

Please note:

• International exchange, bachelor and master students who will be living in Groningen do not have to bring a legalised birth or marriage certificate in order to register with City Hall of Groningen.
• For a marriage in the Netherlands a legalised birth certificate is required.
• In case of becoming a Dutch citizen a legalised birth certificate and a legalised marriage certificate (if applicable) must be provided.

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 a stamp on the certificate. Further information about legalisation can be found on the website of the Dutch Embassy or Consulate-General of your country of origin.

How to arrange legalisation?

There are two sorts of legalisation which vary from country to country: please see the overview below.

1. Legalisation: you need to bring your original certificate to a governmental authority of your home country first, and afterwards to the Dutch consulate of embassy.
2. Apostille stamp: this is issued by a designated central authority. In the Netherlands this is the registrar at the district court. In other countries it is often the Minister of Justice or Foreign Affairs. An overview of all the designated authorities in the various countries is to be found at the website of the Hague Conference on International Private Law .