[Netherlands] Birth Cert and other requirements?

[Elizabeth+Fred 35]

Hi,

In preparation of paperwork-to-come, I was looking at making sure I, as the beneficiary, have all my own documents available. Which is good, because it looks I do need to work on them. I'll post it here so others can also use it as a checklist..

1. Vaccination log: as a "standard" Dutch child from the mid-60's, I have had all the usual shots, but the vacc record ("the yellow book") is not available anymore. So, I got a signed statement from my family doctor for that, and he will also administer a new dose of DKT and Hep-B when
its getting close to the date of the medical. In most cases, it's simpler and cheaper to have this done before the medical, so you'll be good to go by the time you have your medical, and, later, for the AOS and/or ROC paperwork.

2. Birth certificates are not normally issued for children in The Netherlands. Since we need one for the K-1 (and later) paperwork, you will have to obtain one, and you do that in the town or city where you were born, NOT where you currently live if that is different. You have to request the "Internationale Geboorte-akte" (Intl Birth Cert) from them, NOT THE STANDARD ONE. It is currently not clear to me if that document has to be separately legalised for use with the Consulate.

--> Can anyone update me on this one?

Once you have the birth cert, you can have it legalised at the CDC in The Hague (Consular Documents Certification agency) where they can legalise the document for you, either in person or by mail. Another option would be to have a court ("Legalisatiebalie van de Rechtbank") legalise the document by placing an Apostille seal on the document. The clerk of my birth town advised me to use the Apostille method on the birth certificate, as that is a recognized way to do it.

--> What have other people from The Netherlands used as a birth certificate?

3. A police record as such is not available in The Netherlands, but you can request a "Verklaring van Onbesproken Gedrag" (VOG), or a statement of good behavior. You can request it directly from the Dept of Justice, or you can go through the clerk at City Hall of the city or town where you live. Since each application for a VOG needs a *reason*, the U.S. Consulate will send a form letter with their packet3 which acts as the reason for the request. Fill out the form, add the form letter to it, and you should have the VOG in 4 to 5 weeks.

So far, that seems to be it. Obviously, you DO need to bring a valid NL Passport to your interview, so make sure its still valid for at least 6 months after the interview date. As suggested by several people, it MIGHT be a good idea to get a new one before the interview (when you go to city hall for the VOG request, for example) as that will be valid for 10 years. If your NL passport expires while you are in the U.S. with your spouse, and something happens, you may have to request a new passport from within the U.S., which a lot harder to do...

Hopefully, this helps others, especially if we can get the above questions answered

[Sirdaniel42 86]

3. A police record as such is not available in The Netherlands, but you can request a "Verklaring van Onbesproken Gedrag" (VOG), or a statement of good behavior. You can request it directly from the Dept of Justice, or you can go through the clerk at City Hall of the city or town where you live. Since each application for a VOG needs a *reason*, the U.S. Consulate will send a form letter with their packet3 which acts as the reason for the request. Fill out the form, add the form letter to it, and you should have the VOG in 4 to 5 weeks.

I did this process a few years ago and at that point in time it was not necessary to get a VOG, the American Consulate will get in contact with the Dept of Justice to obtain the information they need.

[Sirdaniel42 86]

2. Birth certificates are not normally issued for children in The Netherlands. Since we need one for the K-1 (and later) paperwork, you will have to obtain one, and you do that in the town or city where you were born, NOT where you currently live if that is different. You have to request the "Internationale Geboorte-akte" (Intl Birth Cert) from them, NOT THE STANDARD ONE. It is currently not clear to me if that document has to be separately legalised for use with the Consulate.

--> Can anyone update me on this one?

I did not have my Intl Birth Cert legalized, at the consulate they took the copy and returned the original to me which was nice because I could use it for the AOS process.

[KayDeeCee 4,895]

~ Moved from K-1 Process to Europe regional - topic is specific to the Netherlands ~