Applying for a Dutch passport or identity card if you live in Canada

You must prove that you are legally resident in Canada. You can do this by providing one of the following documents:

• a valid work or study permit
• a valid residence permit
• a Canadian naturalisation certificate (bearing the date of naturalisation)
• a Canadian citizenship certificate or card
• a valid Canadian passport
• If you are applying for a Dutch passport or ID card for your child for the first time, use their birth certificate as proof of legal residence. 

No proof of legal residence in Canada

If you have no proof of legal residence in Canada:

• Request a search of citizenship records via Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). This will show whether you are a legal resident of Canada.
• You can also show a letter from the Canadian immigration authorities stating that your residence permit application is being processed. You must also provide a valid passport before this application procedure can be completed.

If you live in the United States, you can prove legal residence by providing the following documents:

Provide one of the following documents. Which document you need, depends on your situation.

You have a visa or residence permit

• Bring a valid visa and supporting documents (a Form I-797, Notice of Action, issued by the Department of Homeland Security), or
• bring a valid residence permit

You also have US nationality

• If you were born in the United States, or if you already held US nationality when your last Dutch passport or ID card was issued, bring a valid United States passport.
• If you were not born in the United States and you acquired US nationality after your last Dutch passport or ID card was issued, bring a US certificate of naturalisation, a US certificate of citizenship or a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA). You must have your certificate of naturalisation or your certificate of citizenship legalised with an apostille.*

* To legalise your naturalisation certificate, we recommend to first obtain a 'Certified True Copy' of the document. After that, request authentications service to obtain the apostille on your Certified True Copy. Keep in mind that obtaining the apostille can take up to 3 months. You may also choose to obtain the apostille directly on the original naturalisation certificate, but please note, replacing a naturalisation certificate is a costly and lengthy procedure. As this is a federal document the apostille needs to be applied for in Washington D.C. and apostilles from other states will not be accepted.

You do not have valid US immigration documents

• Bring a Certificate of Non-Existence of Naturalization. You can request this document from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

You are applying for a Dutch passport or ID card for your child for the first time

• If your child has a United States passport, use it as proof of legal residence.
• If your child does not have a United States passport, use their birth certificate as proof of legal residence.

If you have a birth certificate or marriage certificate from Canada, you must have it legalised. Find out more about having documents from Canada legalised.

If you have documents from another country, find out if you need to have them legalised.

You can submit documents written in Dutch, English, German or French. If you have documents in another language, you should have them translated by a sworn translator.

Make an appointment online with the embassy in Ottawa

Changing or cancelling your appointment

After making an appointment it will be confirmed by email. The email will contain a link you can use to change or cancel your appointment.

Make an appointment at VFS Global

If you can’t make an appointment as fast as you need to, or if you don’t want to wait any longer, you can make an appointment at VFS Global. VFS Global has appointment locations in Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto.

Make an appointment online with the consulate-general in Vancouver

Changing or cancelling your appointment

After making an appointment it will be confirmed by email. The email will contain a link you can use to change or cancel your appointment.

VFS Global Vancouver

You can also make an appointment to submit your application via VFS Global in Vancouver. VFS Global is an external service provider. The location has longer opening times than the embassy in Ottawa and consulates-general in Vancouver and Toronto.

• Make an appointment online with VFS Global in Vancouver.

You can skip steps 4 and 5.

Make an appointment online with the consulate-general in Toronto

Changing or cancelling your appointment

After making an appointment it will be confirmed by email. The email will contain a link you can use to change or cancel your appointment.

VFS Global Toronto

You can also make an appointment to submit your application via VFS Global in Toronto. VFS Global is an external service provider. The location has longer opening times than the embassy in Ottawa and consulates-general in Vancouver and Toronto.

Make an appointment online with VFS Global in Toronto.

You can skip steps 4 and 5.

You can make an appointment to submit your application via VFS Global in Edmonton. VFS Global is an external service provider. The location has longer opening times than the embassy in Ottawa and consulates-general in Vancouver and Toronto.

• Make an appointment online with VFS Global in Edmonton
• If you want to submit applications for several family members at the same time, send an email to edmnlpp@vfsglobal.com to make an appointment.

You can skip steps 4 and 5.

You can submit your passport or ID card application at a border municipality in the Netherlands. If you wish to do this, you can skip steps 4 and 5.

• Apply for a passport or ID card at a Dutch border municipality

You can submit your passport or ID card application at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. If you wish to do this, you can skip steps 4 and 5.

• Apply for a passport or ID card at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

Bring all the documents on your personal checklist. Print out the checklist and bring it with you.

If you needed to have documents legalised and/or translated, bring the legalised and translated versions with you as well.

The overview of consular fees in Canada tells you how much you will have to pay for a passport or ID card and which payment methods are accepted.

Applying for a passport or ID card at a Dutch border municipality or at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport will cost you less.

No. If you need your current passport or ID card while your application is being processed, you can retain it for the time being.

When do I have to hand in my old passport or ID card?

If you are collecting your new passport or ID card in person, you should hand in your old one when you come to collect it.

If you are having your passport or ID card sent to you, you will need to first send your old one to the embassy or consulate-general. Only then will your new passport or ID card be sent to you. This means that there will be a period when you have no passport or ID card. If you want your old passport or ID card back, inform the embassy or consulate-general.

I have a residence permit or visa in my old passport, what should I do?

If your passport contains visas or a residence permit and you want to keep those pages intact, inform staff of this when you submit your old passport.

You can collect your new passport or ID card from the embassy in Ottawa, or from the consulate-general in Toronto or Vancouver:

• Ottawa: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday between 13:00 and 15:00.
• Toronto: Monday to Friday between 9:30 and 12:30.
• Vancouver: Monday to Friday between 9:30 and 13:30.

You do not need to make an appointment but first check which days our offices are closed.

Passport

If you include an Xpresspost envelope with your application, you can have your new passport sent to you. If you are applying via VFS Global in Edmonton, please see their sending instructions.

ID card

It is not possible to have your new ID card sent to you. You will need to collect it from the embassy in Ottawa, or from the consulate-general in Vancouver or Toronto.