Registering a civil partnership in the Netherlands

Do you want to form a civil partnership? If so, you must first notify the municipality. You must do this at least 2 weeks and a maximum of 1 year before you want to form the civil partnership.

The registration of a civil partnership is subject to a number of conditions (in Dutch), such as:

you must be at least 18 years of age;
you cannot enter into a civil partnership with someone who is already married or in a civil partnership
you cannot be related to one other, e.g. grandparent, grandchild, parent, child or sibling.

Do you want to enter a civil partnership in the Netherlands with a foreign citizen? There are other conditions that must be met.

This is how it works for you

Your (future) place of residence falls under:

Municipality of De Bilt

Here is some information from your municipality.

Get married or register partnership

You make a number of choices when planning and registering your intention to enter a civil partnership. These choices relate to the type of ceremony and the venue. The costs depend on your wishes and the possibilities in the municipality of gemeente De Bilt.

Ceremony

The ceremony is the official part of entering your civil partnership. You can choose from:

no ceremony (free of charge);
simple ceremony;
elaborate ceremony.

If you choose an elaborate ceremony, you can choose who leads the ceremony. You can choose from:

wedding registrar from the municipality;
or someone else appointed as a registrar in another municipality. This person can then be appointed for one day in De Bilt.

If you choose a wedding registrar from the municipality, a registrar from the municipality of gemeente De Bilt will contact you a few weeks before the planned date to introduce themselves and find out more about you and your partner.

Do you want a family member or an someone you know to conduct the ceremony? If so, you must contact the municipality yourself.

Location of the ceremony

You can hold the ceremony to enter your civil partnership at various locations in the municipality of gemeente De Bilt. You can choose from a municipal building or other specified locations.

Registering an intended civil partnership

You register your intended civil partnership with the municipality in which you wish to enter the civil partnership. Provide the details of yourself, your partner and your witnesses. This can be done up to 2 weeks before the ceremony date.

If you have set a date, you then have to make a written notification of your intended marriage or registered partnership. This used to be called 'ondertrouw'.

You will receive the (pre-completed) notification form from us, together with the confirmation of the reserved date.

We ask that you return the notification form to us within three weeks. There must always be at least 14 days between the date of your wedding or partnership registration and the date on which we receive the form.

no ceremony (for residents only): free of charge
simple ceremony: reduced price
extensive ceremony: depending on the wedding location

You do not pay any costs for the application for a registered partnership. For more information please contact the municipality at telephone number 030 - 228 94 11.

More information