Register a foreign certificate

Everybody with Dutch citizenship (and status holders) with a foreign certificate can make a request at the Municipality of The Hague. Also Dutch citizens who are living abroad. (Adoptive) parents, (adopted) children, spouses and registered partners, grandchildren, brothers and sisters can also make a request at the municipality.

• Sometimes you first need to register the foreign certificate in the Personal Records Database (BRP) in your place of residence. You are required to do this if you were registered as living in the Netherlands when the birth, marriage or registered partnership, or death took place abroad.
• Submit a request to have your certificate registered using the online form. You can also register several certificates at the same time.
• You will get a confirmation email with a reference number (LTK-nummer).
• Is your request complete? Then the municipality will ask you to send in the official documents (copies will not be accepted).
• Is your request incomplete or have you not sent in all of the documents? Then the municipality will not be able to process your request.
• Has the municipality approved and registered your documents? Then the municipality will notify you of this.
• You will get back the original documents. The municipality will return them by registered post. You will receive an invoice for the postal charges.

Have the documents you submitted been forged, falsified or obtained through fraud? The municipality will not register them and will not return them to you. It will report this to the police.

• The person named in the document must have (had) Dutch citizenship. Or have asylum status in the Netherlands.
• The foreign certificate must be drawn up and issued to you by a competent authority (an organisation which has the power to perform this function).
• You need to have certain certificates legalised (made official with a signature and stamp). Look at the website of the Dutch government(External link).
• The certificate must be written in Dutch, English, French or German. For other languages a certified translation is required. The translation is done by somebody who is allowed to translate official documents. Use a multilingual standard form for a certificate from the European Union (EU). Request this form from the authority which issued you the certificate.

• The foreign certificate which you want to have registered. If it is necessary, legalised and translated.
• A copy of a Dutch identity card or a Dutch passport, or a Dutch nationality certificate for the person named in the document.
  A copy of a Dutch identity card or a Dutch passport, or a Dutch nationality certificate is also needed for children..
• In the case of asylum status: a copy of a valid Dutch residence permit.
• A copy of the passport or identity document for the person who is making the request.

The documents you send in may be more than 6 months old.

Additional documents

In the following cases you have to send additional documents. Click on the subjects to see what you need.

You can only make your request online.

• Scan all the documents which are needed for your request. Scan the front and the back of your documents.
• Look up your citizen service number (BSN).

Free.

Your request can take up to 8 months. It is not possible to request an expedited procedure.

• You will not get a citizen service number (BSN) when you convert your document into a Dutch certificate.
• Would you like to look at your converted certificate? Apply for a copy at the municipality.
• You can always get a copy of your foreign document after it has been registered in the Netherlands. You do this in the country which issued you the document.

• Change your registered sex (transgenders born abroad)
• Register foreign documents in the BRP