Moving to the Netherlands - an overview of the first steps

• Your municipality (gemeente) registers your address in the Personal Records Database (Basisregistratie Personen, BRP) and issues your BSN. In Amsterdam this is the City of Amsterdam, through its City Offices.
• The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) decides on residence permits for people from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland, and runs desks where you give biometrics or collect your residence document.
• IN Amsterdam is a one-stop shop run by eight municipalities in the Amsterdam Area together with the IND and the Tax Administration. It combines immigration formalities and municipal registration for eligible groups, such as highly skilled migrants whose employer is an IND-recognised sponsor.
• The Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst) handles income tax and the expat tax scheme. Its benefits department (Dienst Toeslagen) pays healthcare benefit and rent benefit. You do not report a change of address to the tax office: your municipality passes it on.
• Health insurers sell the compulsory basic health insurance; the CAK follows up with people who are required to be insured but are not.
• The country has 12 provinces, but as a newcomer you will rarely deal with them directly.

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens do not need a residence permit and do not need to register with the IND. Your valid passport or national ID card is proof of lawful residence, and you may work without a work permit. For stays longer than three months the IND expects you to be working or self-employed, studying with health insurance and enough money, or able to support yourself, for example with a pension or savings.

Everyone else who wants to stay longer than 90 days needs a residence permit for a specific purpose, such as work, study or living with a partner. Most permits work through a sponsor: your employer, your educational institution or your partner applies or vouches for you. Depending on your nationality you may also need an entry visa (machtiging tot voorlopig verblijf, MVV), which is usually applied for together with the residence permit. See residence permits in the Netherlands on the IND website and the guides residence permits in the Netherlands, highly skilled migrant permit, family reunification in the Netherlands and studying in the Netherlands.

1. Before you travel: sort out your permit and, if needed, your MVV. Bring your original birth certificate and, if you are married, your marriage certificate. The IND says the municipality needs a legalised and translated birth certificate, and arranging an apostille or legalisation from abroad can take weeks.
2. Within five days of arrival: if you will live in the Netherlands for more than four months, register in person with your municipality. You receive your BSN when you register. If you stay four months or less, you can instead register in the Non-residents Records Database (RNI) to get a BSN.
3. Within four months: take out Dutch basic health insurance if you are required to have it. Insurers ask for your BSN.
4. Once you have a BSN: open a bank account, give your BSN and account number to your employer, and apply for a DigiD so you can use government and healthcare websites.
5. Ongoing: find a long-term home, register with a family doctor (huisarts), and report every later move to your municipality.

Children aged 5 to 16 must attend school, so families should contact schools early.

The steps after arrival are similar for everyone, but the preparation depends on why you move:

• Work for an employer: most skilled employees from outside the EU use the highly skilled migrant permit, which requires an IND-recognised sponsor and, in 2026, a gross monthly salary of at least €5,942 (30 or older) or €4,357 (under 30), without holiday allowance. The EU Blue Card is an alternative. See highly skilled migrant permit.
• Study: your Dutch institution applies for the student permit; you show €1,130.77 per month for higher education in 2026. Graduates can then use the orientation year to look for work. See studying in the Netherlands.
• Join a partner or parent: the sponsor must meet an income requirement (€2,337 gross per month without holiday allowance from July to December 2026 for couples), and many partners first pass a civic integration exam abroad. See family reunification in the Netherlands.
• EU, EEA or Swiss citizen: no permit, but the same registration and insurance duties. See EU citizens in the Netherlands.

Whatever the route, start collecting and legalising documents early; see documents to bring to the Netherlands.

A few 2026 figures help with planning:

• IND fees: €423 for a highly skilled migrant permit or EU Blue Card, €254 for study or family permits, €85 for a child under 18.
• Health insurance: each insurer sets its own premium; the compulsory deductible is €385 a year for adults. Low earners can get healthcare benefit of up to €129 a month (single person).
• Minimum wage: €14.99 per hour for employees aged 21 and over from 1 July 2026.
• Housing: by far the largest cost in Amsterdam. A deposit may not exceed two months' basic rent.

See cost of living in Amsterdam for a fuller budget.

Learning Dutch helps with daily life and is required for some later steps. Family migrants are often required to complete civic integration (inburgering); people who come for work or study usually are not, but everyone who wants permanent residence or Dutch citizenship must pass integration exams. Naturalisation usually requires five years of lawful residence on a qualifying status. See civic integration in the Netherlands and Dutch citizenship.

Employees recruited from abroad may be able to use the Expat Scheme, often called the 30% ruling. Your employer can then pay part of your salary as an untaxed allowance for the extra costs of living abroad. According to the Tax Administration, the main conditions in 2026 are:

• you are employed and were recruited from outside the Netherlands;
• you lived more than 150 km from the Dutch border for more than 16 of the 24 months before your first working day;
• your taxable annual salary is above €48,013 (2026), or above €36,497 (2026) if you are under 30 and hold a Dutch master's degree or an equivalent foreign title. Researchers at designated institutions and doctors in specialist training have no salary requirement.

You apply together with your employer; the Tax Administration decides within eight weeks. A decision lasts up to five years, reduced by earlier periods of work or residence in the Netherlands.