Collect documents for family formation

• A copy of your passport or ID card.

• A copy of your and your partner's passport. You must send a copy of the page with identity information as well as all pages with travel stamps.

You must prove that you have enough income. Which documents you need to send depends on your situation:

• If your contract is valid for 12 months or more, you must send a copy of your current contract.

• If your contract is valid between 6 and 12 months, you need to send a copy of your current and previous contract(s) for the past 12 months. Here you will also need a statement from your employer stating that you have work for the next 6 months.

• If your contract is shorter than 6 months or you work through a temporary agency, you must send a copy of your current contract.

• If you own your own business or if you are a freelancer, you need to send the profit and loss statements for the current financial year, the previous financial year and the year before.

Again, this depends on your situation:

• If your contract is valid for 12 months or more, you must send the pay slips for the last 3 months. In case of irregular income, you have to send the last 12 months.

• If your contract is still valid between 6 and 12 months, you must send all pay slips for the past 12 months and your last annual statement.

• If your contract is for less than 6 months, if you work flexibly or with a temporary agency, you must send all annual statements for the last 3 years and copies of all contracts for the last 3 years.

• Do you have your own business or are you a freelancer? Then you must send your tax returns (income tax) and profit and loss statements for the last 3 years. You must also enclose the provisional and final assessments.

You must send proof of full outsourcing of payroll to the

• If you are married or have a registered partnership, you must send a copy of the marriage certificate.

• If you are not married, you must send a copy of an unmarried declaration from your partner. You do not have to send this declaration yourself because you have Dutch citizenship or a residence permit. This declaration that your partner is not married must come from your country of origin. The declaration cannot be older than 6 months. You must also prove that you and your partner are in a relationship. Show this with photos, messages via chat or social media, airline tickets or money transfers.

• You must also send a relationship statement. You can download the relationship statement from the IND website. You have to fill it in and sign it.

Keep in mind that the IND wants to receive the original proof that you are in a relationship at a later date.

Please note: Always have official documents from abroad legalised and translated into Dutch, English, French or German.

Read here what legalising means and how to do it.

If you are employed, you and your employer fill out an employer's statement. You can also find this on the IND website.

You also need to complete and send a background statement

With the

Your partner sometimes needs to pass the basic civic integration exam abroad

• Are you a Dutch citizen? Then your partner must pass the basic civic integration exam abroad. You must enclose a copy of the results with the application.

• Do you have a residence permit? Then your partner does not have to take this exam, but you must request an exemption from the IND and also send it along with the application.

Learn more about the basic exam and exemptions on the IND website.