Registering a birth and acknowledging parentage of a child abroad

If your child is born outside the Netherlands you must register their birth in the country where they were born. How you do that varies by country. If you live in the Netherlands, you must also register the birth in the Netherlands. It is usually possible to acknowledge parentage of a child in the country where the child is born. You can also do this in the Netherlands.

Registering a birth

You must always register the birth of your child in the country where they were born. How you register a birth varies by country. If you live in the Netherlands and your child was born abroad, you must also register the birth in the Netherlands.

If your child was born outside the Netherlands, you must register their birth with the authorities in the country where they were born. Such authorities include the local registrar of births, deaths, and marriages, and the municipality where the birth took place. How quickly you have to do this after the child’s birth varies by country. After registering the birth you will receive a birth certificate for your child. Check carefully that the information on the certificate is correct.

If you live outside the Netherlands, you can have your child’s foreign birth certificate converted into a Dutch one at the municipality of The Hague’s Foreign Documents Department. This is not mandatory, but it can be useful if you ever need an extract of the birth certificate in the future.

Having the document converted does not take care of your child’s registration in the Non-residents Records Database (RNI). You can register your child in the RNI at any of the 19 municipalities in the Netherlands with an RNI desk. Find out more about registering in the RNI

If you live in the Netherlands, you must also register the birth with the municipality where you live, using the foreign birth certificate. Do this as soon as possible after returning to the Netherlands. The municipality will then enter your child’s information into the Personal Records Database (BRP).

Foreign birth certificates are not automatically valid and recognised in the Netherlands. In some cases you must first have the birth certificate legalised and/or translated. Then you can have the document converted or registered.

From 1 January 2024, your child can have both your surname and your partner's surname. Even if your child is born abroad. Would you like to give your child a combined surname and is this not possible in your country of residence? Then go to a municipality in the Netherlands to record the choice of name. You can also authorise someone to do this for you. Read more on the page Which surname can I choose for my child? on Rijksoverheid.nl (information in Dutch).

Acknowledging parentage of a child

When an unmarried couple has a child, the father is not automatically recognised as the child’s legal parent. The father must first acknowledge parentage of the child. By doing so the father declares that he is the child’s parent. A biological father who does not acknowledge parentage of a child is not the child’s legal father.

It is usually possible to acknowledge parentage of a child in the country where the child is born. You can also do this in the Netherlands. The rules for acknowledging parentage of a child vary by country.

When a married couple has a child, the father does not need to acknowledge parentage of the child.

The rules for acknowledging parentage of a child vary by country. In some countries, you will receive a declaration of acknowledgement of parentage after completing a certain procedure. In other countries, if a parent’s name is stated on the child’s birth certificate this automatically means they acknowledge parentage of the child. There are also countries where it is not possible to acknowledge parentage of a child.

Acknowledgements of parentage made outside the Netherlands are not always legally valid in the Netherlands. This depends on the country where the acknowledgement of parentage was made. And in some countries acknowledging parentage does not automatically grant someone parental responsibility for the child. By law, only those with parental responsibility for a child have a say in the child’s upbringing.

Dutch nationality through acknowledgement

If your child did not automatically acquire Dutch nationality at birth, they may still be able to become a Dutch national if you acknowledge parentage of them. Whether this is possible depends on your specific situation.

Find out more about acquiring Dutch nationality through acknowledgement of parentage

If you live in the Netherlands or if you are Dutch and live abroad, you can acknowledge parentage of a child in the Netherlands. This is possible even if you cannot acknowledge parentage of the child outside the Netherlands. You can do this at the municipality or a notary. You can also authorise someone to do this in the Netherlands on your behalf. To do this, you must get a notary to draw up a power of attorney. You cannot acknowledge parentage of your child at a Dutch embassy or consulate-general. You do not have to be a child’s biological parent to acknowledge parentage of them.

You can acknowledge parentage of a child before the birth, when registering the birth or any time after that. Acknowledgement of parentage in the Netherlands is not always legally valid outside the Netherlands. This varies by country.

Find out more about acknowledging parentage of a child in the Netherlands on Government.nl.