Marrying a foreigner in the Netherlands: rules, documents and residence

You can marry a foreign partner in the Netherlands if you both meet the conditions of Book 1 of the Dutch Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek, BW): you are both at least eighteen, neither of you is already married or in a registered partnership, you are not closely related, and you both consent freely. The marriage itself is concluded before the registrar of the municipality (gemeente). The main exception to keep in mind: the marriage gives your partner no automatic right to live here. Residence is a separate question, decided by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) or by EU free movement rules, so you need to plan both processes together.

Should you marry in the Netherlands or abroad?

Both routes can lead to a marriage that is valid in the Netherlands, but the paperwork falls in different places. If your partner is already lawfully here, marrying in the Netherlands is usually faster.

Marrying here means dealing with one gemeente, one registrar and one set of deadlines, and it fits well with an application to the IND. Marrying abroad means you have to meet the local conditions first. In some countries those include residence or waiting periods. Afterwards, you have the marriage certificate legalised, translated and registered in the Netherlands.

If your partner is already lawfully in the Netherlands and you want the residence application to follow straight away, marrying here is usually quicker. If you marry abroad, allow several extra months for legalisation and registration.

Which conditions does Dutch law set for the marriage itself?

Dutch marriage law applies to everyone who marries in the Netherlands, whatever their nationality. You must both be eighteen or older, unmarried, not closely related and able to consent freely.

Since the rules against forced marriage were tightened, there is no longer any exemption for minors. A marriage concluded abroad by a minor is not recognised here while that person is still a minor. Neither partner may be married or in a registered partnership elsewhere. That is why the gemeente asks for proof that any previous marriage has ended. Marriage between close blood relatives is prohibited. A person who cannot understand what marriage means cannot validly consent to it.

Does a religious ceremony count?

No. Only the civil ceremony creates a marriage. Article 1:68 BW forbids a religious ceremony before the couple have shown the minister of religion that the marriage has been concluded before the registrar.

The Dutch Criminal Code (Wetboek van Strafrecht) makes it an offence for the celebrant to ignore that rule. A church, mosque or temple wedding held first has no legal effect. It can also raise questions later in a residence file, so keep to the order: civil ceremony first, religious ceremony afterwards.

How do you give notice, and which time limits apply?

You start by filing a notice of intended marriage (melding voorgenomen huwelijk) with the gemeente where at least one of you is registered. After that, a minimum waiting period applies, and the notice does not stay valid indefinitely.

Under article 1:62 BW, the marriage cannot be concluded before the fourteenth day after the notice. The public prosecutor can grant an exemption for serious reasons. The notice also lapses after one year. If you have not married within twelve months of giving notice, you have to give notice again.

Which documents does the gemeente ask for?

Expect to provide valid passports or identity documents, birth certificates, proof that any earlier marriage has ended, and an extract from the population register. For a foreign partner, the gemeente may also check residence status.

Where one partner is not a Dutch or EU national and does not hold a permanent residence permit, the registrar asks the IND for advice. This is the check against a marriage of convenience (schijnhuwelijk), meaning a marriage entered into only to obtain residence. It can involve separate interviews and questions about how you met, where you live and which language you speak together. Honest, consistent answers and a documented shared history help you through that check. Differences between your two accounts are what usually stall it.

What if the registrar refuses?

The registrar refuses to conclude a marriage that would conflict with the law or with public order. The public prosecutor can also object to an intended marriage.

You can challenge a refusal in court, but it is far better to have your file in order beforehand. Is an earlier international divorce involved? Then check first whether that divorce is recognised in the Netherlands. If it is not, you are still married under Dutch law and cannot marry again.

How do you legalise and translate foreign documents?

Foreign certificates only count in the Netherlands once their origin has been confirmed. Depending on the issuing country, that means either an apostille or full consular legalisation, never both.

For documents from countries that are party to the 1961 Apostille Convention, a single apostille from the designated authority in the issuing country is enough. For other countries, full consular legalisation applies. The document is first authenticated by the local ministry of foreign affairs and then by the Dutch embassy or consulate. Always legalise before you translate, so that the stamps and seals form part of the translated document.

Translations into Dutch, English, French or German are generally accepted. Where a translation is required, it must be made by a sworn translator. Two details cause most of the delays in practice:

• Transliteration. A name written in Arabic, Cyrillic or Chinese characters must be rendered the same way on every document. A mismatch between passport and birth certificate has to be corrected before the gemeente will proceed.
• Validity. Some countries issue civil status documents with a limited period of validity. A certificate of no impediment obtained too early may have expired by the wedding date.

Which immigration route applies after the wedding?

Marriage does not by itself give your partner the right to live in the Netherlands. The route depends on the nationality and status of the partner who is already here.

Your partner joins a Dutch national or a permit holder

If you are a Dutch national or hold a Dutch residence permit, and your partner needs a visa, the standard route is the combined entry and residence procedure at the IND. As the sponsor, you apply for the provisional residence permit (machtiging tot voorlopig verblijf, mvv) and the residence permit at the same time. Our article on family reunification in the Netherlands sets out that procedure step by step. If you hold a permit as a highly skilled migrant, your partner is normally admitted as an accompanying family member and is exempt from the civic integration examination abroad.

The core conditions for this route are:

• you are both at least twenty-one;
• the relationship is genuine and exclusive;
• you, as sponsor, have sufficient, independent and lasting income, measured against the statutory minimum wage that applies at the time of the application;
• suitable accommodation is available.

Many partners must also pass the basic civic integration examination abroad at a Dutch embassy or consulate before the mvv is issued, unless an exemption applies. If the IND does not decide within the decision period, you can give it written notice of default and then appeal to the court; since 15 April 2025 the IND no longer owes an automatic penalty payment (dwangsom) for a late decision, although the court can still order a decision within a set period.

Your partner joins an EU citizen

If the partner already here is a national of another EU or EEA state or of Switzerland, and is exercising free movement in the Netherlands, the family member derives a right of residence from EU law instead. That route has its own, lighter conditions and does not apply the income requirement in the same form.

It does require the EU national to be working, self-employed, studying or otherwise self-sufficient here.

Can a short-stay visa be used as a bridge?

No. A partner who comes to the Netherlands on a short-stay Schengen visa, or visa-free, may attend the wedding. But that stay does not convert into residence and does not allow work. Overstaying it damages the later residence application.

Which law governs your matrimonial property?

For an international couple, the Dutch statutory regime does not apply automatically. European or treaty rules first decide which country’s matrimonial property law applies, and only if that is Dutch law does the Dutch regime follow.

This is the point on which cross-border couples are most often mistaken. For couples who married on or after 29 January 2019, Regulation (EU) 2016/1103 determines the applicable law. Without a valid choice of law, it points first to the law of the state where the spouses have their first common habitual residence after the marriage. For marriages concluded between 1 September 1992 and 28 January 2019, the 1978 Hague Convention on the law applicable to matrimonial property regimes performs that function.

What does the Dutch regime look like?

Where Dutch law applies, the default since 1 January 2018 is the limited community of property. What each partner owned before the marriage stays private, as do gifts and inheritances received during it. What you build up during the marriage is shared, and debts follow the same division.

Do you want a different arrangement, or certainty about which law applies? Then you need a prenuptial agreement (huwelijkse voorwaarden) in a notarial deed, drawn up by a Dutch civil-law notary. The deed can include a choice of law within the limits the Regulation allows. Our article on property within and after marriage explains how the regimes work out in practice. Tax and succession consequences follow separate rules. Those questions belong with a tax adviser and, for wills, with the notary.

Is a marriage concluded abroad recognised in the Netherlands?

Yes, as a rule. Under article 10:31 BW, a marriage is recognised if it was validly concluded under the law of the country where it took place, and a certificate from a competent authority creates a presumption that it was.

Article 10:32 BW sets out the exceptions. Recognition is refused where it would be manifestly incompatible with Dutch public order. That applies in particular to polygamy, marriage between close blood relatives, marriage of a minor, marriage of someone unable to consent, and forced marriage.

How do you register a foreign marriage here?

No court decision is needed, but the marriage still has to be entered in the records. Take the original certificate, legalised by apostille or the consular route and translated where required, to the gemeente where you live, so that the personal records database is updated.

Dutch nationals living outside the Netherlands register a foreign certificate with the gemeente of The Hague, which keeps the register for people without a Dutch address. Do this promptly. Banks, insurers, the tax authorities and the IND all work from the registered data, and a marriage that is not registered here can hold up a residence application.

What about children, names and nationality?

Marriage affects parentage and naturalisation, but not your legal surname. Each point has its own rules.

A child born to a married man and woman has both spouses as legal parents by operation of law. In other situations, or where the child was born before the marriage, parentage may have to be established separately, for instance by acknowledgement or a court order. The marriage does not repair that by itself. Nationality follows its own statute and is not conferred by marriage. Marriage to a Dutch national does, however, shorten the period after which your partner can apply for naturalisation.

Does your surname change?

No. Dutch law does not change anyone’s surname on marriage. What the law allows is name use (naamgebruik): a spouse may use the other partner’s surname, alone or in combination with their own, and can record that preference with the gemeente.

The surname in the passport and in the register stays the same. That regularly confuses foreign authorities and employers, so keep one spelling across all documents.

What should you check as the partner who lives here?

As the sponsor you carry the IND conditions for the residence application. Check these points before the wedding:

• Check that you are both at least 21, the minimum age for the partner route at the IND.
• Check your income against the IND income requirement that applies on the date of the application.
• Check that your address is registered and suitable for two people.
• If you were married before, check that the divorce is recognised in the Netherlands.
• Decide before the wedding whether you want huwelijkse voorwaarden or a choice of law in a notarial deed.

What should you check as the foreign partner?

Most delays come from documents issued in your home country. Check these points as early as possible:

• Request your birth certificate and proof that any previous marriage ended, with an apostille or consular legalisation.
• Check that your name is transliterated identically on your passport and every certificate.
• Check how long each certificate stays valid, so it has not expired by the wedding date.
• Check whether you must pass the civic integration examination abroad or qualify for an exemption.
• Do not overstay a short-stay visa; it does not convert into residence.

What can we do for you when you marry a foreign partner?

Our family lawyers and immigration lawyers advise couples with a cross-border marriage on each step:

• We check whether an earlier foreign divorce or a marriage abroad is recognised under articles 10:31 and 10:32 BW.
• We review your documents for legalisation, translation and consistency before you give notice.
• We assess in advance whether the IND income and integration conditions are met and prepare the residence application.
• We file an objection (bezwaar) with the IND if the application is refused, within the four-week deadline.
• We advise on the law that governs your matrimonial property and coordinate the prenuptial deed with a civil-law notary.

Summary

• You can marry a foreign partner in the Netherlands if you are both eighteen or older, unmarried, not closely related and consenting freely; only the civil ceremony counts.
• Give notice at the gemeente; under article 1:62 BW you can marry from the fourteenth day after notice, and the notice lapses after one year.
• Legalise foreign documents by apostille or consular legalisation, keep names consistent and use a sworn translator where needed.
• Marriage gives no automatic residence right: the IND route or the EU free movement route applies separately.
• Check which law governs your matrimonial property, and record a choice in huwelijkse voorwaarden if you want certainty.

Frequently asked questions