Foreign marriage or partnership registration in the Netherlands

Are you getting married or entering into a registered partnership in a country other than the Netherlands? Check which country's laws apply. This can be important for your rights and obligations as partners. For example, with inheritances, paying taxes or if you have children.

After your marriage or registered partnership in another country, you must register it in the Netherlands. Not every marriage is valid in the Netherlands. For example, both partners must be 18 years of age or older at the time of registration.

The conditions for registering a foreign marriage or registered partnership in the Netherlands include:

• If the marriage or registered partnership was concluded in a country within the European Union:
  • You have a deed and multilingual model form.
• If the marriage or registered partnership was concluded in a country outside the European Union:
  • The deed is in Dutch, English, German or French. Otherwise, have the document translated by a sworn translator in the Netherlands.
  • The deed is legalized or has an apostille stamp.
• Marriage or registered partnership is not intended to help your partner or yourself get a residence permit. The municipality will ask you to put that in a statement (Declaration of Registration of Marriage) if:
  • you or your partner (or both) are not Dutch,
  • you or your partner (or both) do not have the nationality of a country in the European Union,
  • you or your partner (or both) are not nationals of Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland or Switzerland,
  • you do not have a permanent residence permit.