I am going to have a child. What should I do to register the birth of my child?

Registering the birth of a child takes places at the gemeente  where your child was born (municipality). Please bring the following documents:

• Valid passport or identity card (ID card) of the person registering the birth. Or a driving license if the person registering the birth lives in the municipality where the birth is being registered
• Valid passport or ID card of the mother or a driving license if the mother lives in the municipality where the birth is being registered

The following documents are not compulsory when registering a birth. It may, however, be useful to take them with you:

• Birth notification from the hospital or midwife showing the child’s birth names and the date and time of birth
• Where applicable, a copy of the declaration of acknowledgement of parentage if the child was acknowledged before birth
• Declaration of surname choice if the child’s surname was decided when acknowledging the child before birth.

This is not the case. You have to register your baby within four months after birth. The baby will receive healthcare free of charge until reaching the age of 18.

After the birth of your child, it is suggested that you should consider making a will if you have not already done so. If the unexpected happens and both you and your partner die suddenly, it is in your best interests to stipulate in a legally-recognised document who should become the guardian. If no will exists in these circumstances, the Dutch courts may decide that your baby/child should be put into state care as an orphan. To make a will in the Netherlands, you should make an appointment with a Dutch notaris (notary). Please note that if you have already made a will, you are advised to amend it to reflect the fact that you now have a child (a dependent).

If you have already made a will in your previous country of residence or origin, this document will be recognised by the Dutch authorities as long as it conforms to the legal requirements of the country in which it was written and does not contain any stipulations which would conflict with any public order or public morality legislation in the Netherlands.

Please note that the Dutch court will automatically go through the process of establishing legal guardianship should both parents of the child die suddenly. However, this may take some time if your will was made in another country and thus not registered with a Dutch notary. It is thus suggested that you should make your close relatives (parents or siblings) aware of the existence of your will and where it can be found.

Children born in the Netherlands to parents who are not Dutch citizens will not normally have the right to Dutch nationality at birth. However, if either of the child’s parents is a Dutch citizen, then the child will  acquire Dutch nationality at birth under the following situations:

• The mother is a Dutch citizen on the day of the child’s birth
• The father is a Dutch citizen on the day of the child’s birth. He is also married to or in a registered partnership with the non-Dutch mother
• The father is Dutch but not married to or in a registered partnership with the non-Dutch mother and he acknowledged the child before birth

Please note that it does not matter whether the child was born in the Netherlands or abroad.