Which documents are needed for my application?
Which documents you exactly have to submit may differ for each procedure and person. The documents required are referred to on the application form and/or this website in the information on the specific procedures. It is important that you fill in the application form completely and submit all the requested documents. Otherwise your application will be delayed or we will have to reject it.
During general information meetings these documents will be discussed and we will explain why they are important.
It may be that you are unable to get hold of a document in your country of origin. In that case you must draw up and sign a separate declaration in which you state that you cannot obtain the document in question.
Certified documents
The majority of documents have to be certified. A certified copy is a copy of a document with an original certification stamp (ink stamp) and the signature or initials of the person at the institute who has issued the document, or of a civil-law notary practising in the Netherlands. The certification stamp and signature or initials are proof that the content of the copy is identical to the original. We need a certified copy because this document has sufficient authenticity features.
Important to know
- Certified copies will not be returned and will remain part of your file with us.
- We strongly recommend that you do not send any original documents. Unfortunately, these often get lost in the mail.
- If you still want to send an original document, this is at your own risk.
- You can collect an original document after you have received a message from us that your file is complete.
- We recommend to collect the original within one month after receiving the letter. After this month, the original document will go to a central archive. From that moment on it is only possible to collect the document by appointment.