Declaration of Marital Status in American Samoa

Declaration of marital status

If you wish to marry abroad, you may need a declaration of marital status. To obtain one, you must produce several documents to prove that you are not married or in a registered partnership.

What documents do you need when applying?

If you have never been married

• proof that you have Dutch nationality, this may be any one of the following documents:
  • a Dutch passport
  • a Dutch national identity card
  • a certificate of Dutch nationality
• an address and proof of registration of place of residence
• a declaration of unmarried status. If you are no longer registered in the Personal Records Database (BPR) in the Netherlands, request this as an extract from the Non-residents Records Database (RNI). You will then have proof of your marital status at the time you left the Netherlands.

If you have previously been married

• proof that you have Dutch nationality, this may be any one of the following documents:
  • a Dutch passport
  • a Dutch national identity card
  • a certificate of Dutch nationality
• an address and proof of registration of place of residence
• divorce certificates, foreign judgments or a death certificate

You may need to have the original legalised and translated. The rules vary per country.

The term ongehuwd (unmarried)

The term ongehuwd (unmarried) is used only if you have never married or entered into a registered partnership. If you have been married previously or been in a registered partnership, the term gescheiden (which means you have divorced or terminated a registered partnership) or weduwe/weduwnaar (widow/widower) will be used in the declaration. Details of any and all previous marriages or registered partnerships must appear on the document.

How to apply for a consular certificate at the Dutch embassy in Wellington?

You can send all the required documents per post to:

Netherlands embassy
Attn. Consular section
Co-operative Bank Building, 10th floor
Corner Featherston & Balance streets
Wellington 6011

You can also scan the documents and send them per email. The certificates need to be specified for it’s purpose, so please mention the purpose of the certificate in your letter or email.

On average it takes 3 working days for the certificate to be produced and posted to the submitted address*. If you send originals, these will also be returned.

* Do you live in Fiji, New Caledonia, Samoa or Tonga? Then the embassy will send the certificate to the honorary consulate in those countries. You can pick up the certificate at the honorary consulate.

If you want to come in person to the embassy in Wellington, you'll have to make an appointment via the online appointment system.

How much do you need to pay?

For the costs of a certificate you can check the overview of consular fees.

Applications via post or email

For applications by post or email you increase the amount with the shipping costs* for the courier. For both applications by post and via email, the total amount must be paid by cheque to the embassy. Please mention on your cheque:

Kingdom of Netherlands - Regional Support Office Asia, and mention "consular certificate + your name".

Applications in person

If you want to apply in person, you will have to pay the total cost (certificate + shipping costs * if applicable) at the time of your application.

* Shipping within New Zealand: NZD 9.00. Shipping to American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Niue, Pitcairn Islands, Tokelau Islands, Tuvalu or Wallis and Futuna: NZD 18.00.

Any questions?

In case you have a question, you can send an email via the contact form.