Guidance

Netherlands: Knowledge Base profile

Updated 29 July 2025

Version 6.0

About: Netherlands

This document contains useful information about Netherlands which will assist His Majesty’s Passport Office staff process passport applications.

Contacts

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Publication

Below is information on when this version of the document was published:

• version 6.0

• published for Home Office staff on 28 April 2025

Changes from last version of this document

This document has been updated:

• to confirm for legitimation of children born before 1 July 2006, you need paternity declaration or court judgement

• following the exit from the EU to remove the link to the European justice website for parental responsibility and added the information to a separate document (page 15)

• to confirm that documents issued outside of the Netherlands can only be accepted if they have been legalised

Netherlands: names

This section gives HM Passport Office staff information about names in the Netherlands.

On a Netherlands passport, a person can:

• have multiple forenames displayed (usually up to a maximum of 5)

• choose to display the surname of their spouse on the second line of their passport

Change of name

Name changes are allowed in the Netherlands.

To change a:

• forename, an application must be made to the court

• surname, a request can be made to the Ministry of Justice in the Netherlands (this will only be considered in certain situations)

Changes of name by deed poll are not recognised by the authorities in the Netherlands.

When a name change is granted, the court will instruct the public registrar to alter the registered birth certificate. As the court order is subject to public appeal, the name change will become official three months after the court order is issued.

The surname of a Netherlands national does not change when they marry.

The only way a Netherlands national can change their name to their married surname is if the:

• marriage took place abroad

• marriage certificate states the name after marriage shall be the name of the spouse

• person signs a declaration that they wish for foreign law to be applied so they can use the name of their spouse

When this is the case, the Netherlands national’s birth certificate and Personal Records Database (BRP) will be updated to show the new name, and a Netherlands passport will be issued in the new name.

Netherlands: nationality

This section gives HM Passport Office staff information about nationality in the Netherlands.

Dual nationality is recognised in the Netherlands.

Where a Netherlands citizen voluntarily acquired another citizenship before 1 April 2003, the Netherlands citizenship would be automatically lost.

From 1 April 2003, where a Netherlands citizen acquires another citizenship, they will continue to lose their Netherlands citizenship unless the person is:

• born in the country of the other nationality and is resident there at the time of the acquisition of that nationality

• resident in the country of the other nationality, and has been for an uninterrupted period of five years before they turned 18 years old

• married to a person who possesses the other nationality (a spouse who is deceased is not recognised)

Netherlands citizens can legally hold a dual citizenship if the:

• person acquires Netherlands citizenship through the option procedure (including former Netherlands citizens resuming citizenship)

• person naturalises as a Netherlands citizen and obtains an exemption from the requirement to renounce their foreign citizenship (for example, a person who is married to a Netherlands citizen)

• Netherlands citizen naturalises in another country, exempt from the loss of nationality rule (for example, a person married to a citizen of that country)

Netherlands: legitimacy and parental responsibility

This section gives HM Passport Office staff information about legitimacy and parental responsibility in the Netherlands.

Legitimacy

The Netherlands recognises the difference between legitimate and illegitimate births.

A child will be considered:

• legitimate if the:

  • parents were married when the child was born

  • parents were unmarried at the time of birth and the father has recognised the child (through either a paternity declaration or a court ruling)

• illegitimate if the:

  • parents never marry and the father has not recognised the child (through either a paternity declaration or a court ruling)

Parental responsibility

In the Netherlands parental responsibility (known as parental authority) is linked to legal parentage and can only be held by 2 people at any time.

The legal mother is the child’s mother if she is the woman:

• who gave birth to the child

• who has adopted the child

• who has acknowledged parenthood of the child

• whose parenthood has been determined by a court

A biological mother will have automatic parental responsibility, unless she:

• is a minor, under the age of 18 years (unless they are 16 -17 and have been granted a declaration of age of majority)

• is under guardianship (if the mother is under 16 the child will have a guardian until the mother turns 18)

• has a mental disorder that prevents her from having parental authority

The female partner (in a marriage or civil partnership) of the woman who gave birth to the child will have parental responsibility if she made a declaration of parentage to the birth registry and:

• the child was born on or after 1 April 2014 and the donor is unknown pursuant to the Human Fertilisation (Donor Information) Act; or,

• the known donor does not acknowledge parenthood of the child

The child’s legal father is the man who:

• is married to, or in a civil partnership with the mother at the time of the birth of the child

• has adopted the child

• has acknowledged parenthood on the child’s birth register

• whose parenthood has been determined by a court

Fathers will have parental responsibility (parental authority) if:

• they are married to, or in a civil partnership with, the mother at the time of the child’s birth and they are:

  • the birth father; or

  • the stepfather and no other father acknowledged the child as his

• they are not married or in a civil partnership with the mother and they acknowledge parentage:

  • before 1 January 2023 and applied for joint parental authority

  • after 1 January 2023, (provided no exceptions apply, see below)

Parents who acknowledged their child on or after 1 January 2023 who are not married or in a civil partnership, do not automatically get parental responsibility if:

• the mother does not have parental responsibility (for example, when the mother is a minor or under guardianship)

• two people already have parental responsibility for the child (for example, a mother and stepfather)

• at the time of acknowledgement, the parents agreed the mother would have sole parental responsibility

• the acknowledgement of parentage came through as a substitute court order (the person will only become the legal parent 3 months after the court order and only when they apply for a deed recognition of parenthood at the local civil registry and it is added to the child’s birth certificate as a subsequent entry)

• the child has a guardian (for example, a local authority if the child is in care)

Parents who do not have parental responsibility can apply for it at a later date.

Following a divorce or separation, both parents will usually continue to have parental responsibility for their children. It is possible for the court to assign custody and parental responsibility to one parent as part of divorce proceedings, and this must be documented in a parenting plan.

Guardianship is where responsibility for a child is held by someone other than the child’s parents. Where the birth parents are unwilling or unable to exercise parental responsibility, this can be transferred to another person:

• after the parents’ death:

  • through a will

  • by the parents adding the guardian’s details to the parental responsibility register (Centraal Gezagsregister)

• by the court for example:

  • if the child is in care

  • the mother is a minor or is not capable of caring for the child

Netherlands: adoptions

This section gives HM Passport Office staff information about adoptions in the Netherlands.

Adoption is legal in the Netherlands.

If the adoptive parents are not Netherlands nationals, they must hold Netherlands residence permits and live in the Netherlands.

Netherlands: surrogacy

This section gives HM Passport Office staff information about surrogacy in the Netherlands.

Surrogacy is legal in the Netherlands, as long as the surrogate does not receive any money or compensation (Commercial surrogacy is illegal).

Netherlands: civil partnerships

This section gives HM Passport Office staff information about civil partnerships in the Netherlands.

Civil partnerships are recognised in the Netherlands, and they are referred to as a ‘geregistreerd partnerschap’ (registered partnership).

Netherlands: documents

This section gives HM Passport Office staff information about documents in the Netherlands.

Documents issued in the Netherlands must be legalised by at least 2 Netherlands authorities.

The legalisation will show the documents have been issued by an official authority, and this must take place in the Netherlands. The Netherlands Embassy in the United Kingdom cannot legalise these documents.

HM Passport Office cannot accept Multilingual Standard Forms (MSFs) issued by EU member states. An MSF is a translation aid to help another EU member state to understand a public document in a different language.

Birth certificates

All births in the Netherlands must be registered at the local town hall within 72 hours of the birth. Birth certificates are only issued on request.

Netherlands birth certificates will only show the date they were issued, not the date the birth was registered. As the birth certificates are not issued automatically, a customer may not always have a birth certificate that was issued within 12 months of their birth.

If the customer provides HM Passport Office with a birth certificate issued more than 12 months after they were born, a ‘peoples data document’ from the Personal Records Database must be provided alongside the birth certificate to confirm when the birth was registered.

A customer can request an extract from the birth registers from the local authorities. The extracts from the birth registers may be:

• a domestic version, in Dutch

• an international version, intended to be used for overseas authorities

On a birth certificate issued in the Netherlands, the father’s name may be entered at a later date to when the certificate was originally issued. The name is usually added on a continuation sheet titled ‘Later Entry Concerning Recognition’.

Marriage certificates

Marriage certificates are usually issued at the time of the marriage in the Netherlands.

A marriage in the Netherlands is only valid if it has been solemnised by the ‘ambtenaar van de burgerlijke stand’ (the registrar).

Copies of marriage certificates are available from the local municipal office where the marriage was held.

Death certificates

A death must be registered in the local municipality where it occurs. A death certificate is issued by the registrar of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships.

All deaths are recorded on the National Index.

Identity documents

A voluntary identity card scheme is available in the Netherlands.

The identity cards are:

• not laminated

• multilingual