Registering an adopted child with the municipality
Have you adopted a child outside the Netherlands? If so, you must register your adopted child with your municipality within 5 working days of their arrival in the Netherlands. If your child has been adopted in the Netherlands, you do not need to go through this registration process. The district court to which you submitted the application for adoption carries out the registration on behalf of you at the municipality.
Last updated on 21 march 2023
Adopting a child outside the Netherlands
You can adopt a child from:
- the Philippines;
- Hungary
- Lesotho;
- Portugal;
- Taiwan;
- Thailand;
- South Africa.
For more on how to adopt a child from outside the Netherlands visit the website of Fiom, a centre of expertise on adoption (in Dutch).
Adopting a Dutch child
Read more on adopting a child who has the Dutch nationality on Rijksoverheid.nl (in Dutch).
Laws and regulations
Wet basisregistratie personen, artikel 2.38 (in Dutch).