Official procedures, insurances and permits

Procedures Checklist:

1. Arranging work and residence permits

Depending on certain factors, such as your nationality and circumstances — whether you're coming to the Netherlands as a student or expat —, you'll need permits to live and work here. There are  differences between permits for students permits, and work permits.

2. Registering with the municipality

When you're coming over to live in the Netherlands from abroad, you will need to register with your Dutch municipality. You can do so through the website of the municipality concerned or by visiting an expat center in your region. 

Municipality Arnhem | Municipality Nijmegen | Municipality Wageningen |  Welcome Center Food Valley

Once you're in the country, you need to visit the town hall to apply for your Citizen Service Number ('Burgerservicenummer' - BSN in Dutch).

Are you intending to move to a different part of the Netherlands? Make sure to give timely notice! This can usually be done anytime between one month prior to five days after your moving date. If you're moving to a new house inside the same municipality, you simply change your address with your municipality. If you're moving to a different one, you need to register yourself and anyone in your household with the new municipality. They'll take care of the deregistering you from your current municipality. Check the website of the relevant municipality for more information.

The Dutch government needs to know who's living in the country. That's why it's also important to deregister once you've decided to emigrate from the Netherlands to another country. Your personal data will be removed from the Personal Records Database ('Basisregistratie Personen' - BRP in Dutch) and other governmental institutions will be informed about your departure. You can deregister a month before your date of departure. It's highly important that you fill in the right date of departure; not doing so will lead to the government taking the date of notice as your official date of departure. Are you living in the Netherlands with your family and emigrating? Don't forget to deregister them too!

3. Finding accommodation

It definitely rains a lot less than you might expect, but still a roof over your head is not exactly a luxury. We have therefore compiled the various options for finding accommodation, for students as well for working people. 

4. Finding the right education

Whether you're coming to the Netherlands to study or need to find a school for your kids; the Dutch education system will have something for you. We have outlined the Dutch educational system and described the admission procedures.

5. Taking out insurance policies

As a rule, Dutch people are generally well insured. Certain types of insurance are legally required, others aren't. It's good to read up on the different options. We have outlined the different types of insurance for you.

The checklist continues after this video!

6. Opening a bank account

Once you've got your BSN, you can open a bank account. You'll definitely need one, for instance so that your employer knows where to transfer your salary to.

7. Registering with a GP

We of course hope you'll be in great health during your entire stay here and need very few GP visits. Still, it's important to register with a nearby GP as soon as possible. Click here for more information regarding the healthcare system and registration with a GP.

8. Registering with a dentist

The same applies to the dentist. Most Dutch people visit the dentist twice a year for an oral check-up. Make sure to find a nearby dentist soon.

9. Telephone and internet

If you don't have a Dutch phone contract, your calls might become quite expensive! We've written an article on mobile phone providers and contracts. Read that here.

10. A Dutch driving license

If you're staying in the Netherlands for a longer period of time, you'll need to convert your old driving license into a Dutch driving license. We've written this article to explain how that process works exactly.