Legalising Iranian Documents for the Netherlands

Last updated: October 15, 2026 · Aval Visa content team

You hold Iranian documents, such as a birth certificate, a marriage certificate or a certificate of unmarried status, and a Dutch authority needs them. That may be the IND, for a partner’s or child’s residence permit, or your municipality when you register on arrival. Because Iran is outside the Apostille Convention, there is no apostille for these documents. Instead, you legalise Iranian documents for the Netherlands in three steps, all in Iran, the last at the Dutch embassy in Tehran, whatever your nationality.

Founders on the Netherlands startup visa follow the same rules as spouses, workers and students: whichever route of immigration to the Netherlands you take, the steps are the same.

Legalisation, not an apostille

The Netherlands is one of 130 parties to the Apostille Convention, and Iran is not among them (HCCH status table, updated 30 June 2026). NetherlandsWorldwide’s list of apostille countries leaves Iran out too.

Legalisation does not prove that a document is genuine or that its content is true, and your municipality or the IND may still verify it.

The Tehran chain: three steps for a document issued in Iran

NetherlandsWorldwide’s page on documents from Iran sets out the route. A sworn translator in Iran translates the Persian document into English. Iran’s Ministry of Justice legalises that translation first, then its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Last, the Dutch embassy in Tehran legalises the translation.

Step	Done by	Cost
1. Translation into English	A sworn translator in Iran	Varies
2. Iranian legalisation	Iran’s Ministry of Justice, then its Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Iranian fees, which vary
3. Dutch legalisation	The Dutch embassy in Tehran (online appointment; bring the original)	€25, in cash euros

The IND’s translation and legalisation page accepts documents in Dutch, English, French or German, and translations made in the Netherlands by a translator sworn in by a Dutch court. For each country’s process, though, it refers you to NetherlandsWorldwide, which says Iranian certificates such as birth and marriage certificates “must always be translated and legalised in Iran”. The document must be original and complete, with any documents or annexes it refers to.

Getting official copies from Iranian offices

NetherlandsWorldwide names where to get each one:

Birth or death certificate: an official copy from the Personal Status Registration Organization (Edareh Sabt-e Ahaval).
Certificate of unmarried status: the same organisation; take your original identity booklet (Shenasnameh). Iranian nationals living in the Netherlands can get it from the Iranian embassy in The Hague.
Marriage certificate: an official copy from the Bureau of Affairs Concerning Documents (Edareh Ommor Asnad) at the Ministry of Justice. You need the marriage certificate drawn up and signed by a notary appointed by that bureau, and your Shenasnameh.
Divorce certificate: an official copy from the same bureau.

Legalisation at the Dutch embassy in Tehran

The embassy is open (NetherlandsWorldwide’s Iran FAQ, 5 October 2026). The embassy’s own page gives its hours as Sunday to Thursday, 8:00 to 12:00, by appointment only. It is closed on Fridays and Saturdays, and on 15 November and 23 December 2026. The address is No. 60 West Arghavan Street, Dibaji North Street, Farmanieh, Tehran.

On NetherlandsWorldwide’s appointments page for Iran, the “Legalisation of a foreign document” entry links to the embassy’s own online scheduler. It runs on vfsvisaonline.com, but the appointment is at the embassy itself. If it shows no free slots, try again later. VFS Global’s Tehran centre, open again since 6 October 2026, takes applications for visas such as Schengen and airport-transit visas; it does not legalise documents.

The embassy’s fee table for Iran (Consular fees 2026, updated 10 September 2026) lists €25 to legalise a document. You pay in cash and in euros only, and the embassy does not accept coins or €200 and €500 notes, so have the euros ready in smaller notes. The business.gov.nl start-up page adds that legalising, translating and sending documents may cost extra.

You collect the legalised document the same day or the next working day, with no appointment needed. The embassy does not send documents by post. Collection runs Sunday to Wednesday from 14:30 to 15:00, and Thursday from 12:00 to 12:30.

Iranian documents for the IND and your municipality

A founder’s own application, form 9541, asks for any document not in Dutch, English, French or German to be translated by an authorised translator, with a copy of the original sent alongside a copy of the translation. The form itself lists no birth or marriage certificate. You need your birth certificate after you arrive, legalised and translated if necessary, to register in the Personal Records Database (BRP). Because an Iranian birth certificate can only be translated and legalised in Iran, deal with it before you travel.

For a partner, the IND’s residence permit page asks for official foreign documents to be legalised and translated into Dutch, English, French or German. The sponsor’s form 7518 advises starting the legalisation several months before you apply, and the IND warns that it can take a lot of time.

After the embassy appointment for the MVV and residence permit, you have 3 weeks to send your own application and documents to the IND and pay the fee (IND: applying from abroad). Any legalised document the form asks for must be ready before that appointment.

Documents issued outside Iran

A document issued outside Iran, such as a Turkish or UAE document held by an Iranian living there, is legalised in the country that issued it, not in Tehran. If that country is a party to the Apostille Convention, its apostille is enough, but the Netherlands does not accept apostilles from Pakistan or Bangladesh. Where the country is not a party, there are often two steps: an authority there, usually its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then the Dutch embassy or consulate.

Where the document was issued	Route to the Netherlands
Iran	Sworn English translation in Iran, Iran’s Ministry of Justice, then its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then the Dutch embassy in Tehran
Türkiye, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Oman or Canada	An apostille from the issuing country
Pakistan or Bangladesh	Legalisation instead of an apostille, because the Netherlands does not accept apostilles from these two countries
UAE, Qatar or Kuwait	Usually two steps in that country: an authority there, often its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then the Dutch embassy or consulate
The Iranian embassy in The Hague (certificate of unmarried status only)	The Consular Service Centre in The Hague

For any other country, NetherlandsWorldwide sets out the route on that country’s own page.

The Hague is not a shortcut for documents from Iran. Its Consular Service Centre (CDC) does not legalise a statement from the Iranian embassy there about an Iranian birth or marriage certificate. It can, however, legalise a certificate of unmarried status issued by that embassy. For any other document from the embassy, email a scan to info.consulair@minbuza.nl, and the CDC will tell you whether it can legalise it.

At Aval Visa, we check whether your situation fits the route you have in mind, list the documents it needs and where each was issued, and plan the order of translation and legalisation around your embassy appointment. We prepare the file with you; you file the application yourself, and the IND decides it. To go through your documents with us, start your assessment.

Common questions

Can Iranian documents be apostilled for the Netherlands?

No. HCCH’s table of 130 contracting parties has no Iran entry, so an Iranian document goes through legalisation, and its last stamp comes from the Dutch embassy in Tehran.

Can I have my Iranian certificate translated in the Netherlands?

Not a certificate issued in Iran, even if you live in the Netherlands now. NetherlandsWorldwide asks for an English translation by a sworn translator in Iran, legalised in Iran.

The exception is a certificate of unmarried status from the Iranian embassy in The Hague. If it is not in Dutch, English, French or German, a sworn translator listed on the Legal Aid Council website can translate it.

How long does a legalised document stay valid?

Once legalised, birth and marriage certificates stay valid. The IND does not check when a birth, marriage or death certificate was issued or legalised, but a declaration of single status must be no more than 6 months old. Other organisations set their own rules.

An already legalised document cannot be legalised again; for a more recent one, request a new document and have that legalised.

Can we convert our Iranian marriage certificate into a Dutch one?

Not if neither of you is or was a Dutch national and neither of you has asylum status in the Netherlands, as with a typical Iranian founder couple. You then use the legalised Iranian certificate.

The Hague’s National Tasks department can register a foreign marriage certificate, even before you live in the Netherlands, and the IND then accepts a copy of the Dutch one instead of the legalised foreign certificate. But NetherlandsWorldwide limits conversion to those three situations.

Can someone else take my document to the embassy?

NetherlandsWorldwide’s general rule on legalisation is that someone else may have a document legalised for you, and that person needs no written authorisation from you. The appointment still has to be booked in the embassy’s online system.

Sources

Checked October 2026.

This article is general information, not legal advice, and it describes published official rules rather than any individual case.

Legalising Iranian documents for the Netherlands (2026)

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