.png){kind=small}
The Netherlands have joined the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents in the year 1965. Therefore no diplomatic authentication or legalization of documents from the Netherlands is required for the legal communication with another member state of the convention. The documents only need to be stamped with an "apostille" by the issuing state's authorities in order to be valid in the state of destination.
Responsible for isssuing the apostille in the Netherlands are courts. It does not matter where exactly in the Netherlands the document was issued, it can be certified with an apostille in any regional court.
Regional courts also keep a register of all issued apostilles; in case of apostille authenticity, it is necessary to contact the secretariat of the regional court.
Documents drawn up in Dutch, German, French and English can be apostilled in the Netherlands without translation. For other documents a notarized translation is required.
An apostille is a stamp of rectangular shape. The heading "Apostille (Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961)" must be in French.
The following documents can be authenticated by apostille:
- Certificates of civil status (certificates of birth, death, marriage and divorce)
- Education documents (school reports, certificates, diplomas)
- Trade register excerpts
- Judicial decisions
- Notarially certified copies of documents
- Notarially certified translations
- Further notarial documents (authorizations, last will, declarations)
- Commercial documents legalized by a state organ of registration (articles of incorporation, registration certificates, tax registrations etc.)
Requirements for the documents:
An apostille can be issued exclusively on an original document. Therefor, the latter must be in an apparent good condition, all stamps and signatures have to be clear and readable. Furthermore, it must not contain alien marking and labels.
Additional services
In addition to the legalization of your documents, we can provide you with high quality translations.
If you want to bring company information before the court, it needs to be legalised as well. We are therefore offering extracts from the commercial register of the Netherlands including apostille and translation.
Netherlands Apostille Service - Original Documents Express Service 14 B Day
Express Service 7-10 Business Days