The military service document is issued by The local military service office. Required for some visa categories for Thai male applicants; check whether the destination asks for it. It is then translated to the standard Netherlands accepts, legalised at Consular Affairs and attested at the destination mission where the receiving body requires it.
Request it from The local military service office. Required for some visa categories for Thai male applicants; check whether the destination asks for it.
Translation by a sworn translator (beëdigd vertaler) into Dutch or English as the receiving office specifies
File the original with its translation at the Department of Consular Affairs, MFA.
Attest at the Netherlands mission in Thailand where the receiving authority requires it.
Anyone submitting a military service document in support of a visa application, a civil-status registration, an employment file, or a court or registry filing in Netherlands is normally required to submit both the Thai original issued by The local military service office and a properly certified translation. Filing only the translation is one of the most common reasons a file is returned unread.
Foreign nationals sending a military service document back for use in Netherlands — to prove family status, claim an inheritance, apply for a benefit or confirm an address — should first confirm whether the receiving body requires legalisation by the Department of Consular Affairs, and whether the Netherlands mission in Thailand must attest the document afterwards.
Employers posting staff to Netherlands, or filing contract and registration documents, should prepare the whole bundle as a single set so that personal names, company names and spellings match on every page. A one-letter discrepancy between passport and certificate routinely forces the entire certification chain to be restarted.
Before starting the certification chain for Netherlands, gather the following in one pass. Doing so keeps the file to a single round and avoids having to re-issue documents later.
Each certification answers a different question, and choosing the wrong one costs a full round trip. For a military service document intended for Netherlands, the differences are as follows.
Translation by a sworn translator (beëdigd vertaler) into Dutch or English as the receiving office specifies
Registration at the gemeente normally requires the fully legalised civil-status document; uncertified copies are not accepted.
In practice, confirm the required format with the receiving authority in writing before starting: two bodies in the same country often differ. Some accept a translation certified in Thailand, while others insist on a translator registered in the destination country itself.
Tell us the receiving authority in Netherlands, the purpose of the document, your filing deadline and the certification format it specifies, and send a photo of the military service document and passport page for a first review. We will map out only the steps your file actually needs.
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Obtain the military service document from The local military service office, translate it to the accepted standard, have it legalised by the Department of Consular Affairs, then attested at the Netherlands mission in Thailand where the receiving body requires it.
Required for some visa categories for Thai male applicants; check whether the destination asks for it
Thailand acceded to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention on 30 June 2026 and it enters into force for Thailand on 28 February 2027, so no Thai Apostille is issued yet, so no Apostille is issued in Thailand. The working route is certified translation, legalisation by the Department of Consular Affairs (MFA), and then attestation at the destination country’s mission in Thailand where the receiving authority requires it.
Translation by a sworn translator (beëdigd vertaler) into Dutch or English as the receiving office specifies, and every part of the document must be translated, including stamps, signatures and marginal notes.
The IND and the municipality (gemeente) handling residence registration
Registration at the gemeente normally requires the fully legalised civil-status document; uncertified copies are not accepted.
It is a public record issued by a state authority, so it can enter consular legalisation directly once an accurate translation is attached.
Connect the names as a chain using change-of-name records or a spelling confirmation, then translate and legalise them together as one bundle.