The documents you need
- Identity: a valid passport. You send a certified copy with the power of attorney.
- The power of attorney: when you sign from abroad, the Dutch notary drafts a power of attorney. You sign it before a local notary. It is then legalised with an apostille under the Hague Convention, as described in the legalisation guide. In countries outside the convention, the documents are legalised through the embassy.
- Address proof: a recent utility bill or bank statement showing your residential address.
- UBO details: the ultimate owners with their identification. These are filed in the UBO register at incorporation.
- Corporate founder? Then you also add the foreign company’s extract, articles and proof of signing authority, legalised in the same way.
Translations and dates
Documents in English are generally accepted. For documents in other languages, you add a sworn translation. Extracts and address proofs should be recent, usually less than three months old.
Each year, every Dutch BV files the same set of documents. These are the VAT returns, the corporate tax return, the annual accounts at the KVK and the UBO check. We do all of it for you. See corporate secretarial services in the Netherlands.
Which company to register, the documents from your country, the costs and the timeline, on one page: company formation in the Netherlands for non-residents.
Start with the slowest steps
Start with the apostille and any translations, because they take the most time. When the file is complete, the incorporation itself takes only days. You can read about the whole process in the registration guide. For the rest of the setup, see the full incorporation guide.