Diploma legalisation

If you are you planning to work or study abroad, you will often need to have your Dutch educational certificates, such as your diploma or list of grades, legalised. Your employer or school can tell you whether legalisation is necessary.

You apply to DUO for this legalisation. After that, you will need to finalise the legalisation at your local district court or the Consular Service Centre.

How legalisation works

  • First, you apply to DUO to have your educational documents legalised. You can do this in person at our service desks in Amsterdam, Groningen, and Rotterdam or you can apply for legalisation by registered mail to Groningen. DUO will check if your relevant document meets all the requirements.
  • After that, you will need to go to a district court or the Consular Service Centre. They will finalise the legalisation process.

Requirements for legalisation

Your educational document must be:

  • original and complete
  • printed on original paper from the educational institution
  • signed by a representative of the educational institution

Your educational programme must also be officially recognised by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

Official recognition: check Mijn diploma's

If the details of your diploma are registered in Mijn diploma's, you can be certain that your educational programme is officially recognised.

Are the details of your diploma are not registered here? Or can’t you log in to Mijn DUO? Then you can send a copy of your educational document to diplomaservices@duo.nl.

Log in to Mijn DUOwith DigiD

Legalisation at our service desk

  • Make an appointment Link opent externe pagina .
  • Bring your original educational document to the appointment.
  • We will check your educational document. If we are able to legalise it, we will do so immediately.
  • After that, you will need to go to a district court or the Consular Service Centre to finalize the legalisation.
Address and opening hours service desk Amsterdam

Opening hours

Monday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Address

Kingsfordweg 1
1043 GN Amsterdam

Please do not send any registered mail to this address.

Pin only

You can only pay with pin.

Address and opening hours service desk Groningen

Opening hours

Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Address

Kempkensberg 12
9722 TB Groningen

Pin only

You can only pay with pin.

Address and opening hours service desk Rotterdam

Opening hours

Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Address

Laan op Zuid 45
3072 DB Rotterdam

Please do not send any registered mail to this address.

Pin only

You can only pay with pin.

Legalisation by registered mail

  1. Complete the Application legalisation or diploma description form. 
  2. Send the form to DUO, together with your original educational document. Do so using registered mail. The address is on the form.
  3. We will check your educational document. If we are able to legalise it, we will send you a payment request by email.
  4. After your payment, we will legalise your educational document. You will receive your legalised document within 3 weeks.
  5. After that, you will need to go to a district court or the Consular Service Centre to finalise the legalisation.

Fees

Legalisation at one of our service desks costs €6 per educational document.

Legalisation by registered mail costs €6 per educational document, plus a non-recurring €10 administration fee. We will send you a payment request by email.

Contact

If you have any questions, you can call the Diploma Services department on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 12 noon: +31 50 599 77 78. Or send an email to diplomaservices@duo.nl.