Legalisation of documents from Egypt for use in the Netherlands
You want to use a document from Egypt in the Netherlands. You must first have it legalised by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Then you must have it legalised by the Dutch embassy in Cairo.
Good to know
- Documents in Arabic must be translated for use in the Netherlands.
- The Egyptian civil status records office can issue a bilingual digital official copy of birth, marriage, divorce and death certificates. You can request a bilingual copy in Arabic and Dutch/English/French/German. You no longer need to have a bilingual statement translated.
- Your document must be original and complete. If it refers to other documents or annexes, these must be included.
Legalisation of documents in Arabic is a three-step process.
Step 1: Having your document translated
If your document is in Arabic, you must have it translated into Dutch, English, French or German by a sworn translator.
- Have your document translated by the translation office of the Egyptian ministry that issued the document. It is important that your document is translated by a government translation office. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cairo does not accept any other translations.
- Have the original and the translation legalised.
Go to step 2.
- Have the original document legalised in Egypt. How to do this is explained in step 2 and 3.
- Have the legalised document translated by a sworn translator in the Netherlands. You do not need to have the translation legalised. You can find a sworn translator on the Legal Aid Council website.
Step 2: Legalisation by the Egyptian authorities
Have your document and, if applicable, the translation legalised by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Go to step 3.
Step 3: Legalisation by the Dutch embassy in Cairo
Have your document and, if applicable, the translation legalised by the Dutch embassy in Cairo.
To have a document legalised you need to make an appointment online.
The overview of consular fees tells you how much you will have to pay and which payment methods are accepted.
- Legalisation usually takes 1 working day.
- The embassy will contact you when your document is ready.
- The embassy does not send documents by post.
- Documents can be collected on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays between 08.00 and 12.00. You do not need to make an appointment, but first check which days the embassy is closed
Once your document has been legalised it is fit for use in the Netherlands.
It is then also fit for use in Aruba, Curaçao, St Maarten, Bonaire, Saba and St Eustatius.
Don’t have the document you need?
Find out below where to obtain a document that you need but do not yet have.
You can get a birth certificate or death certificate from the civil status records office (El Segel El Madany). They will issue you with an original electronic official copy. The embassy legalises original documents only. Copies or certified true copies cannot be legalised.
You can get a marriage certificate or divorce certificate from the civil status records office (El Segel El Madany). They will issue you with an original electronic document. The embassy legalises original documents only. Copies or certified true copies cannot be legalised.
To have the document legalised you must first have it translated. You will also need a photocopy of the original handwritten marriage or divorce certificate.
In Egypt
You can get a certificate of unmarried status from the civil status records office (El Segal El Madani). They will issue you with an original electronic document.
The Dutch embassy in Cairo legalises only certificates of unmarried status that have been issued by the Egyptian civil status records office.
In the Netherlands
If you are an Egyptian national in the Netherlands, you can have a sworn statement drawn up by the Egyptian embassy in The Hague. You must then have the document legalised by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Consular Service Centre in The Hague.
If you need to obtain another type of document, find out from the local authorities where you can do that.
After legalisation
Verification of your document in the Netherlands
Legalisation does not prove the authenticity of a document or the truthfulness of its content. A municipality in the Netherlands, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) or another authority may decide to verify these things. Legalisation of your document simply means that your document bears the correct signature.
How recently must your document have been issued or legalised
Organisations have different requirements for how recently your document must have been issued and legalised. For more information, contact the organisation in the Netherlands requesting the document.
Contact
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.