Legalised Birth Certificate
The Dutch authorities are unfortunately often confronted with falsified documents. As a consequence of this, they have become very strict in demanding certification that the document is genuine and says what you claim it says.
Legalization
As a rule, the signature or seal placed on a birth certificate, marriage certificate of certificate of not being married must be checked by two relevant authorities and declared to be genuine. This is known as 'legalization'. The two relevant authorities are:
- The organisation to which the body that issued the certificate is accountable. Usually this will be the ministry of foreign affairs in the country where the certificate was issued;
- The Dutch embassy or diplomatic representative in the country where the certificate was issued.
Translation
If one of your certificates is not written in Dutch, English, French or German, a translation into one of the above mentioned languages is needed; the translation needs to be done by a sworn translator. |