Okay, maybe it's no to Marriage in Amsterdam, but just REALLY good friends

Our new friend Krzysztof replied to me recently about the marriage process for gays in Amsterdam. It doesn't look good for us Americans, unless we actually move or study there, but then again, we expected as much.

It was interesting nevertheless, and I thought it may be of interest to others as well.

Thank you for the e-mail. The day after the round trip I realizedI had been quite stupid not to ask for your address as I discussed the marriage matter with Bart, my husband. He actually thought you can get married but without any chance for the document to be legalised in the USA. I wanted to check it out, but waited for a notice from Scotland in order to have a recipient's address.
Today, I did a smallresearch and shortened your way throughout the jungle of Dutch rules and regulations. Here is what I found:-The lady in the Civil Service Dept. of my city district was very friendly, but said you can not get married because none of you a) neither is a Dutch citizen b) nor has a residence permit c) nor figures on any citizens list of any community in The Netherands (bevolkingsregister).-This is what I heared from the very helpful lady at theMinistry of Foreign Affairs, the less friendly one at the international deskof the city council of The Hague and from the totally incompetent guy from the Ministry of Justice. The latter however sent me to the instution I knew I would end up sooner or later.-The Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND: Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst) which is one of the most severe and worst functioning institutions of this country. So I called them, pretty biassed, and to my big surprise not only the lady was friendly, but also helpful. To my question in which way you could get a residence permit (verblijfsvergunning) she responded that you need to have a residence goal. Those goals can be:1) paid work (arbeid in loondienst) 2) study at a recognised univerity or hogeschool (like auniversity but not scientific) 3) medical treatment 4) setting up your own enterprise 5) exchangeand some others which mattered less.

Study seemed to me to be the easiest one, so I asked for the conditions. Those are: 1) it has to be a recognised institution of education 2) you must be accepted and present a proof of inscription 3) and a passport 4) it must be a full time study 5) you have to prove in an official document you're not a dangerfor society 6) and you must prove to have enough money on your accountThe only positive thing is that being USA citizens at least youdon't need a visa. However, the moment one of you would be inpossession of a residence permit both of you need another wheelbarrow ofdocuments (a legalized document of birth is one of them).

I'll give you the address of the IND and the place in theirwebsite you can find it all: www.ind.nl choose English, choose residence wizard, choose I want to come to The Netherlands, fill in the form (more than 3 months probably) and choose study click left on conditions. This site will give you more possibilities to come here than those I have quoted above. As for the marriage itself, this is step three after getting here and obtaining a res. permit. A marriage is to be arranged according to Dutch regulations. The formulas proclaiming you married for the Dutch law will most probably be pronounced in Dutch, therefore. As you know, the document won't be valid in the USA. I hope to have helped you on your way a bit. If you have any questions, you can also call me home on: +31-20-######. I can guide you through the university labyrinth if you want to take thatway. I did an English spoken MA, too. Now, I'm going to prepare dinner for Bart, so I have to leave you. Say hello to Tim. Groetjes, Krzysztof