Note: This information serves as a general overview. If you decide to get married in the Czech Republic, we strongly recommend you to take care of formalities well ahead and contact the specific City Hall or the local church for details. 

We recommend to start with the information on the Dutch Govt. website related to this topic.

https://www.nederlandwereldwijd.nl/wonen-werken/trouwen-in-het-buitenland

The Hague City Hall or the Dutch Embassy in Prague may give you an official advice related to the process in order to register the marriage in The Netherlands afterwards.

If you decide to get married in the Czech Republic, the basic rules are as follows:

1) The application to enter into a marriage as well as specific details about the procedure shall be obtained from the respective Office of Vital Records (‘matriční úřad’) or the local church.

2) A Dutch citizen is required to present the following documents to the Czech local authorities:

a) International Birth Certificate containing the applicant's date and place of birth and information about his/her parents, eg an abstract from the register of births.

b) Document (passport) proving his/her nationality.

c) If widowed, the Death Certificate of the deceased spouse (or a death certificate of any deceased partner if he/she lived in a partnership).

d) If divorced, the final divorce decree (or a final judgment terminating a registered partnership)

e) Certificate proving his/her legal competence to enter into marriage (not older than six months at the date of the marriage).

f) Document confirming his/her permanent residence 

3) If the Dutch bride or groom does not speak or understand Czech, the presence of an interpreter is required during the ceremony, at their expense.

 

Note: Please check with the respective municipality office which formalities are required for the Dutch documents.

The Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2016 on promoting the free movement of citizens by simplifying the requirements for presenting certain public documents in the European Union came into force on 16 February 2019. According to this Regulation, certain public documents do not need an apostille, and translation made by a sworn translator can be substituted by the so called multilingual standard form. Regulation covers particularly public documents, such as birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate, certificate of no impediment to marriage), and also for example extract from the criminal records, certificate of nationality, documents on divorce, certificate on registered address or certificate that a person is alive. The Regulation covers public documents issued by one of the EU Member States, which are presented in original or in a certified copy. Further information can be found on this website: https://beta.e-justice.europa.eu/551/EN/public_documents

Should you need a translation of a document:

The Register of sworn interpreters and translators in The Netherlands is posted by the Dutch Legal Aid Council here: https://www.bureauwbtv.nl/ik-zoek-een-tolk-vertaler/een-tolk-vertaler-zoeken.

A list of sworn translators in the Czech Republic can be found on the website of the Czech Chamber of Sworn Translators here: https://www.kstcr.cz/cz, or on the website of the Czech judiciary or the websites of regional courts: https://www.justice.cz.