Legalising Dutch Land Registry (Kadaster) documents for use abroad

A document from the Dutch Land Registry, the Kadaster, does not get an apostille straight away. First the Consular Service Centre (CDC) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalises the Kadaster's signature. Only then does the court add the apostille. If the document is going to a country that has not joined the Apostille Convention, the embassy of that country comes after the CDC instead. Allow 15-20 working days for the whole route.

Which Kadaster documents do authorities abroad ask for?

Notaries, banks and governments abroad mostly ask for an ownership extract or a mortgage extract. Both are certified, and the Kadaster sends them on paper.

Ownership extract

The ownership extract (eigendomsinformatie) shows who owns a house, flat or plot of land. It also states whether a ground lease applies, the registered size and, where known, the price at the last sale. A notary abroad asks for it in an inheritance or the sale of a Dutch home. You can order it as a Land Registry ownership extract with apostille.

Mortgage extract

The mortgage extract (hypotheekinformatie) lists the mortgages and attachments registered on a property: the lender, the registration date and the registered amount. The outstanding balance is not in it. A bank abroad wants to see it when you borrow there with your Dutch home as security. See the Land Registry mortgage extract with apostille.

Copy of a deed

The Kadaster also supplies copies of deeds, such as a transfer deed or a mortgage deed. Whether the CDC legalises such a copy is something we assess case by case. There is no fixed product for it: describe the document through Other document with apostille, and you receive a quote first if needed.

Why the CDC first, and then the court?

An apostille confirms that a signature is genuine. The court only adds one to signatures it can verify. The Kadaster's signature is not among them, but that of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is. The Dutch judiciary says so plainly on rechtspraak.nl: have a Kadaster document signed by the CDC first, then request the apostille from the court.

The CDC legalises Kadaster documents directly, without another authority in between. It does not always accept a document that is more than a year old. So order a fresh copy, even if you still have one at home.

For background on the apostille itself, read what an apostille is and how it works.

Apostille country or non-Convention country?

The destination country decides the last step. If the country has joined the Apostille Convention of 1961, the route ends at the court.

If the country is not part of the Convention, an apostille has no value there. After the CDC, the document goes to that country's embassy or consulate, which legalises it again. Embassy fees differ from one embassy to the next. You start that request through legalisation for non-Convention countries.

Who may request Kadaster information?

Under Articles 99 and 100 of the Dutch Cadastre Act, anyone may request copies from the public registers. You do not have to be the owner or give a reason. You can request the ownership extract for the home of a parent who has died, or the mortgage extract for a house you want to buy.

There is one restriction. Since 2023, searching by an owner's name has been limited to notaries, bailiffs, estate agents, financial institutions and government bodies. Searching by the address of the property is open to everyone. If a plot has no address, such as farmland, the cadastral designation works: municipality, section and parcel number.

A no-property statement (negatieve mededeling) from the Kadaster declares that no real estate or registered ship is recorded in a name in the Netherlands. The person concerned requests it from the Kadaster directly. We therefore do not offer it.

What does it cost?

The Kadaster, the CDC and the court each charge their own fee per document, and the rate of the apostille service covers all three. On top of that come the post between the authorities and the time at each counter. Through our apostille service you pay one all-in rate per document, excl. VAT, that covers these costs. Shipping to you and a digital copy are separate lines in your order.

How long does it take?

The Kadaster sends an ownership extract within two working days, a mortgage extract within five. The paper document then travels to the CDC and on to the court. Each of those steps takes a few working days plus postage time. Together with shipping to you, the chain comes to 15-20 working days.

It cannot go faster. Each authority works with the paper original, and the Kadaster supplies certified ownership and mortgage extracts by post only. If you have an appointment with a notary or bank abroad, order well ahead.

Does the document need a translation?

That is up to the recipient. A notary in Spain or a bank in Germany will often want a sworn translation of a Kadaster document, sometimes including the apostille. Check before you order. If a translation is needed, have the apostilled copy translated so that the translation covers the apostille too. A digital copy helps here, because a sworn translator works from a scan.