Living in the Netherlands Practical guides · DevNJ

Living in the Netherlands /Articles

Living in the Netherlands

Practical articles for international residents

The guides are written from official Dutch government and municipal sources.

Filtered by Residence & Paperwork 12 articles Clear ✕

2026.11.01 Residence & Paperwork Moving From Japan to the Netherlands: Japan-Side Paperwork Checklist Japan-side paperwork before and after moving to the Netherlands: move-out notice, My Number card, pension, tax, banks, with a checklist for any home country.
2026.11.01 Residence & Paperwork Register at the municipality in the Netherlands: BRP, BSN, 5-day rule How to register in the BRP and get your BSN, checked 1 Nov 2026: the 5-day rule, booking, apostilles, how four cities differ, and what to do before the BSN arrives.
2026.10.30 Residence & Paperwork Separating in the Netherlands: What Happens to Your Partner Residence Permit (2026) If your Dutch residence permit depends on your partner, a divorce or breakup changes everything. This guide covers the 4-week IND reporting duty, withdrawal and objections, the 5-year independent permit (€254), domestic violence routes, children, EU partners, and the divorce process itself.
2026.10.29 Residence & Paperwork Dutch Naturalisation and Dual Nationality in 2026: Renunciation, the Option Route and the 7 December Bill How naturalisation in the Netherlands works in 2026, checked against the IND and the Dutch Nationality Act: the five-year rule, A2, fees of €1,139, the duty to renounce and its exceptions, the cheaper option route, how naturalisation compares with permanent residence, children's nationality, and where the dual nationality bill stands before the 7 December debate.
2026.10.29 Residence & Paperwork Free help in the Netherlands: which helpdesk to call for legal, rent, tax, scam and crisis problems (2026) ACCESS has answered internationals' questions for free for 40 years. Here is a practical map of the free and low-cost help available in the Netherlands — ACCESS, the official international centres, the Juridisch Loket (with its income limits), the Huurcommissie, the Belastingdienst, UWV, ConsuWijzer, the Fraudehelpdesk, 113 and your local library — with phone numbers, opening hours and what each one will and will not do.
2026.10.27 Residence & Paperwork Opening a Dutch bank account in 2026: BSN grace periods, IBAN discrimination, debit cards and Wero A practical guide to opening your first Dutch current account (betaalrekening) after you arrive: which banks let you start without a BSN (90 or 120 days), what documents to bring, your right to use a non-Dutch IBAN, the €100,000 deposit guarantee, account fees, the switch to debit cards and from iDEAL to Wero, the right to a basic account, and why KYC checks can freeze an account. Checked October 2026.
2026.10.27 Residence & Paperwork The Dutch Orientation Year (Zoekjaar) in 2026: €254 Fee, 3-Year Window, Top-200 Rule and the €3,122 Salary Switch A deep dive into the Dutch orientation year (zoekjaar) checked against IND and Belastingdienst sources: who qualifies, how the top-200 ranking rule really works, the 3-year deadline, fees and decision times, free work without a TWV, the reduced €3,122 highly skilled migrant threshold, the 30% ruling, MVV, partners and insurance.
2026.10.26 Residence & Paperwork Dutch Residence Permits in 2026: Highly Skilled Migrant at €5,942, Blue Card, DAFT, Family and the Road to Permanent Residence A practical map of Dutch residence permits checked against the IND's 2026 figures: salary thresholds, fees and decision periods for highly skilled migrants, the EU Blue Card, self-employment and DAFT, family, study, the orientation year and working holiday, plus how extensions, changes of purpose and permanent residence really work.
2026.10.24 Residence & Paperwork Phone plans in the Netherlands 2026: from a travel eSIM on day one to SIM-only, contract rules and scams How to get connected from arrival day to settled life in the Netherlands: travel eSIMs, prepaid, SIM-only and handset deals, the KPN, Odido and VodafoneZiggo networks, why you need a BSN and IBAN, the one-month cancellation rule, number porting, EU roaming fair use and WhatsApp scams, checked against ACM and EU sources.
2026.10.24 Residence & Paperwork When the IND Is Late: What You Can Still Do After the Senate Scrapped Penalty Payments in October 2026 On 13 October 2026 the Dutch Senate voted to abolish court-ordered penalty payments (dwangsom) for late IND decisions. Here is what that means for statutory deadlines, notices of default, court appeals, staying and working while you wait, and planning for highly skilled migrant, family and extension applications.
2026.10.21 Residence & Paperwork Learning Dutch in the Netherlands: A2 for permanent residence, B1 for integration, and €50 per exam Everyone speaks English, so how much Dutch do you really need? Starting from XPat.nl's learning tips, this guide checks the A2 rule for permanent residence, the B1 standard under the 2021 integration act, the debate on B1 for naturalisation, exam fees, free courses and realistic study hours against DUO and IND sources.
2026.10.18 Residence & Paperwork Over 150 fake ETIAS websites: what visiting family and friends need to know about ETIAS and EES (October 2026) ETIAS, the EU's travel authorisation, has not started yet — but more than 150 websites claim to sell it, some charging €50 to €178. Meanwhile EES, which records visitors' faces and fingerprints at the border, is fully running and causing waits of one to two hours at Schiphol. Here is what applies to residents, what applies to visiting family and friends, and how to spot a fake.