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Moving to any new country comes with a laundry list of tasks which needs to be finished within a set period. As if the move wasn't exhausting enough, you are expected to perform various official formalities to ensure a smooth relocation. We are here, again with another list to help you remember these formalities.
Register with the local municipality
The first step as soon as you land here is to register with the local municipality or Geemente in Dutch. As soon as you register with them, you will receive your uniques social security number and is referred to as BSN which is short for Burger Sevice Number.
A BSN is a primary requirement when you want to open a Dutch bank account, receive your salary, getting health insurance and applying for your healthcare or housing allowances. Without a BSN you are ineligible for any of these services. For this step, you need a rental contract. We have talked about this at length in our previous blog named "10 housing terms explained". In that post, we explain to you the alternatives if you don't have a fixed contract yet.
To register with the local municipality you will need the following documents:
A valid passport
Your residence permit or the MVV sticker on your passport
Your rental contract
If you are a married couple then your marriage certificate
Collect your residence permit
As mentioned in our previous blog named "12 steps to procure student visa", MVV and residence permit are two different things. You are issued an MVV when you visit the Netherlands embassy in your country. In the English language, MVV translates to a provisional residence permit. Meaning, when you receive the MVV, you are allowed to stay in the Netherlands for 90 days. You receive your residence permit after you land here. You will be notified via an email from your university that you can collect your residence permit from the IND. This email will arrive in the first month of arriving here.
Apply for a DigID
DigID is short for Digital ID. It is like your virtual identification which is linked with your BSN. All the international people living and studying in the Netherlands need to have a DigID. This ID is there to make your life easier. It will give you online access to all the important services of the Dutch Government. So all your tasks like managing taxes, applying for housing and healthcare allowances will be online when you have a DigID. Use this link in the description box using which you can very easily apply for your digital ID. But a primary requirement for this is a BSN. So if you do not have a BSN then you cannot apply for this. That's why the first point, i.e., registration with the municipality is so important!
Apply for a travel card
When you are new in the Netherlands, you will very soon understand the ease with which you can use public transport. It will be an essential part of your daily commute unless you purchase a bike. But please understand that you will not have a bicycle as soon as you land here. Also, you do not want to hire a cab every time you want to go around the city because the cabs are so expensive. Thus, you need to have a travel card with you using which you can use buses, trams and trains. In this video, we are talking about it very briefly but we will come out with a dedicated video very soon. There are three types of travel cards:
Single-use travel card - Say you are a person like Harshil who often forgets necessary stuff like her wallet! Now you cannot enter a bus or a train station without your travel card. What you can do is, you can purchase a single-use card, which is like a small piece of paper for approximately 5 euros to travel.
Anonymous card - This is the card you will need as a newcomer in the country. This card will cost you about 7.5 euros and can be purchased from a service desk at a train station. It is called an anonymous card because it won't have any details associated with you. It won't have a picture of you or anything.
Personal Card - This card is the best one because it will let you use all the travel discounts. Rest assured that we will make a detailed post soon on all the different travel discount. Use this link to apply for this card. It will cost you around 7.5 euros and will take at least 5 business days to be delivered to your address. Thus, you need an anonymous card while you are waiting for your personal card to be delivered. To apply for a personal card you need a registered address and a Dutch bank account. This leads us back to the very first step i.e., municipality registration!
Purchase health insurance
As we mentioned in our previous post named "Dutch Health Insurance", insurance is one of the expenses which will incur when you are moving to the Netherlands. It is mandatory to have health insurance. If you do not want to purchase Dutch health insurance then please make sure that your current insurance is valid in the Netherlands and provide you with mandatory cover. In the description box, you will find the link to our blog where you can get detailed answers for questions like: What is Dutch insurance and private insurance? What steps are necessary to get basic Dutch healthcare insurance? What medical costs does the basic health insurance cover? Can I get healthcare allowances? and much more.
Appear for a TB test
We have mentioned this step multiple times in our previous posts. When you arrive in the Netherlands, it is mandatory to undergo a TB test but there are a few exceptions. You don't need to take this test if:
You have the nationality of one of the exempted countries. You can use this link to check the list of countries.
You already have the Dutch residence permit and you are applying for a different type of residence permit.
You have already undergone a TB test in the Netherlands less than 6 months ago.
You are born in the Netherlands and always lived here.
You have an EU residence permit for long-term resident issued by another EU country.
Make sure you do this within 3 months of arriving here. If you wait for more than 3 months to undergo this test, the government may withdraw your residence permit.
Register with a general practitioner
It is very important to register at the GP one you land here. We cannot emphasise enough on this guys. Gp or general practitioner is the first point of contact if you need any kind of medical assistance. If you need to see a specialist for your medical condition then you will be redirected to them from your GP. If you haven't registered with a GP and if you get sick then it would take days before you get a doctor's appointment. If you are registered with a GP then depending on it's working hours, you can just walk in get yourself the required medical help. Thus, make sure you register at GP as soon as you get your insurance.
It is quite easy to get registered. Use this link to find a GP near you. Just input your postal code and it will show you the results. You can then select any GP and register with them. Another option is to visit your town hall. There you can request a booklet issued by the municipality which contains information about all the local GPs, sports groups, daycare, etc.
Armed with all this information, we feel that the initial days of your arrival in the Netherlands will be fuss-free and you will smoothly transition into the Dutch lifestyle. To make everything easier, you the PDF linked below to keep a track of these tasks.
