Legalisation of documents from Kenya for use in the Netherlands
To use a document from Kenya in the Netherlands, you must first have it legalised by the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Good to know
- Documents in Swahili must be translated for use in the Netherlands. Documents in English do not have to be translated.
- Your document must be original and complete. If it refers to other documents or annexes, these must be included.
Step 1: Having your document translated
If your document is in Swahili, you must have it translated into Dutch, English, French or German by a sworn translator.
- Have the document translated by a sworn translator.
- Have the original and the translation legalised.
Go to step 2.
- Have the original document legalised in Kenya.
- 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.
Go to step 2.
Step 2: Have your document legalised
Have your document and, if applicable, the translation legalised by the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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 an official copy of a death certificate or birth certificate from the population register in Nairobi (Department of Civil Registration, Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government).
If you got married under Kenyan civil law, you can get an official copy of the marriage certificate from the marriage register in Nairobi (Attorney General’s Office, Sheria House, Marriages Department).
If you got married under Muslim law, you can get this document from the Khadi court.
You can get an official copy of a divorce certificate from the registrar at the law courts in Nairobi.
You can only get a certificate of unmarried status if you are a Kenyan national and you have specific plans to get married.
You can get the certificate from the marriage register in Nairobi (Attorney General’s Office, Sheria House, Marriages Department). If you are unmarried, you can use this certificate to prove this.
If you need another type of document, ask the local authorities where you can get this document.
Help with obtaining documents and having them legalised
The Consular Service Centre can assist Dutch nationals with obtaining documents and having them legalised in Kenya.
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.