Apostille in Netherlands

Netherlands
Netherlands Antilles
Aruba

In the Netherlands apostilles can be requested at the regional court house ("Arrondissements rechtbank"). Select the court house which belongs to the region in which the certificate (birth, death, marriage) or other official document was issued (e.g. divorce decree, notary document). There is a walk in service or mail in service.

The Registrars of the Courts of first instance

Addresses:

Rechtbank 's-Gravenhage
Office address:
Prins Clauslaan 60
2595 AJ 's-GRAVENHAGE
Postal address:
Postbus 20302
2500 EH 's-GRAVENHAGE
Tel.: +31 (70) 381 31 31

Rechtbank 's-Hertogenbosch
Office address:
Leeghwaterlaan 8
5223 BA 's-HERTOGENBOSCH
Postal address:
Postbus 70584
5201 CZ ’s-HERTOGENBOSCH
Tel.: +31 (73) 620 20 20

Rechtbank Alkmaar
Office address:
Kruseman van Eltenweg 2
1817 BC ALKMAAR
Postal address:
Postbus 251
1800 BG ALKMAAR
Tel.: +31 (72) 527 46 46

Rechtbank Almelo
Office address:
Egbert Gorterstraat 5
ALMELO
Postal address:
Postbus 323
7600 AH ALMELO
Tel.: +31 (546) 83 27 27
Fax: +31 (546)65 73 44

Rechtbank Amsterdam
Office address:
Parnassusweg 220
1076 AV AMSTERDAM
Postal address:
Postbus 84500
1080 BN AMSTERDAM
Tel.: +31 (20) 541 21 11
Fax: please call for the fax number of the relevant department

Rechtbank Arnhem
Office address:
Walburgstraat 2-4
6811 CD ARNHEM
Postal address:
Postbus 9030
6800 EM ARNHEM
Tel.: +31 (26) 359 20 00
Fax: +31 (26) 359 33 33

Rechtbank Assen
Office address, principal location:
Brinkstraat 4
9401 HZ ASSEN
Tel.: +31: (592) 33 92 22
Postal address:
Postbus 30009
9400 RA ASSEN

Rechtbank Groningen
Office address:
Guyotplein 1
9712 NX GRONINGEN
Postal address:
Postbus 781
9700 AT GRONINGEN
Tel.: +31 (50) 316 61 66

Rechtbank Leeuwarden
Office address:
Zaailand 102
8911 BN LEEUWARDEN
Postal address:
Postbus 1702
8901 CA LEEUWARDEN
Tel.: +31 (58) 234 13 41
Fax : +31 (58) 234 14 25

Rechtbank Maastricht
Office address:
St. Annadal 1
6214 PA MAASTRICHT
Postal address:
Rechtbank Maastricht
Postbus 1988
6201 BZ MAASTRICHT
Tel.: +31 (43) 346 54 65

Rechtbank Middelburg
Office address:
Kousteensedijk 2
4331 JE MIDDELBURG
Postal address:
Postbus 5015
4330 KA MIDDELBURG
Tel.: +31 (118) 677000
Fax: +31 (118) 677480

Rechtbank Roermond
Office address:
Willem II Singel 67
6041 HV ROERMOND
Postal address:
Postbus 950
6040 AZ ROERMOND
Tel.: +31 (475) 352 222

Rechtbank Rotterdam
Office address:
Wilhelminaplein 100 - 125
3007 BL ROTTERDAM
Postal address:
Postbus 50950
3007 BL ROTTERDAM
Tel.: +31 (10) 297 12 34

Rechtbank Utrecht
Office address:
Vrouwe Justitiaplein 1
UTRECHT
Postal address:
Postbus 16005
3500 DA UTRECHT
Tel.: +31 (30) 22 33 000

Rechtbank Zutphen
Office address:
Martinetsingel 2
7201 DT ZUTPHEN
Postal address:
Postbus 9008
7200 GJ ZUTPHEN
Tel.: +31 (575) 59 35 00

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for legalising Dutch documents for use abroad. The applicant must have arranged any prior legalisations that may be necessary. For example, a translation produced by a sworn translator must be legalised by the district court, then by the Ministry of Justice before proceeding finally to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Once the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has legalised your document, you may go the embassy or consulate of the country where the document is to be used, for further legalisation. These offices are usually located in The Hague, Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Brussels.

Documents

Dutch documents, for example certificates from the register of births, deaths and marriages and other documents issued by Dutch municipalities, can be legalised immediately by the Legalisation Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Procedure

- Find out whether the country you need the document for is signatory to a legalisation convention. If so, legalisation by Ministry of Foreign Affairs may not be necessary. See section 5, Legalisation Conventions.

- Submit the signed, original Dutch document.

- Ensure the document was issued no more than one year previously.

- If you require legalisation of a copy of a Dutch document (a certified true copy), you must send the original as well.

- Where necessary, make sure prior legalisations by other Dutch authorities have been carried out. This is the legalisation chain.

- If you require legalisation of a translation of a Dutch document, you must send the original as well. Ensure you observe the full legalisation chain for translations.

- Any document issued in a foreign language in the Netherlands (apart from English, French or German) must be accompanied by a translation produced by a sworn translator.

Hand the document in to the ministry’s Legalisation Division. This can be done by a family member or friend.

Apostille costs are about EURO 12.50. You can wait for the apostille if you use the walk in service. Documents handed in before 11.30 can be collected the same day. You will normally have to wait about an hour. Documents handed in later than 11.30 can be collected from 9 a.m. on the next working day. Expect about six weeks of processing time for mail in service. The Legalisation Division is open on working days from 9 to 12.30.

Please contact the court house concerned for exact details:

• Alkmaar
• Almelo
• Amsterdam
• Arnhem
• Assen
• Breda
• Den Bosch
• Den Haag
• Dordrecht
• Groningen
• Haarlem
• Leeuwarden
• Maastricht
• Middelburg
• Roermond
• Rotterdam
• Utrecht
• Zutphen
• Zwolle

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands: listing and information on the various legalization conventions
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands: legalization information per country (in Dutch)
• Court houses in the Netherlands: http://www.rechtspraak.nl/

If you are visitor, please go directly to

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Bezuidenhoutseweg 67
2594 AC The Hague
The Netherlands

The Ministry is located near Central Station and the Babylon shopping centre. The Legalisation Division is on the first floor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is open to visitors from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. Dutch documents presented before 11.30 are available for collection the same day. The office is not open to the public in the afternoon.

The Legalisation Division is open for telephone enquiries from Monday to Friday from 09.00 to 12.30 h.

Telephone 070 348 4787 or 5901
Fax 070 348 6675
Website: www.minbuza.nl

Netherlands Antilles

The Lieutenant Governor of an island or a group of islands.

The authority designated for the island of Curaçao – the Lieutenant Governor of the island of Curaçao – has delegated his competence to issue the certificate referred to in Article 3, first paragraph, of the Convention to:

1. the Head of the Births, Deaths and Marriages, Population and Electoral Registers of the island of Curaçao, and

2. the acting Head of the Births, Deaths and Marriages, Population and Electoral Registers of the island of Curaçao.

Aruba

de Directeur van het Centraal Bureau Juridische en Algemene Zaken* (the Director of the Central Bureau for Legal and General Affairs)."