← ExpatPilot🏛️ GEMEENTE GUIDE · BRP · BSN · ADDRESS CHANGES

Your Gemeente Guide

Contact details for Dutch municipalities, plus step-by-step timelines for registering, getting your BSN, and changing your address.

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Rules, phone numbers and appointment systems vary by gemeente and change over time — this is general guidance, not a substitute for your municipality's own website. Always confirm process details and book appointments directly via your gemeente's official site before relying on anything here.

Which situation is yours?

Sort your residence permit first

If you're not an EU/EEA/Swiss national, you need a verblijfsvergunning from the IND before you can register. Don't have the physical card yet? A sticker or letter from IND showing you've applied is usually accepted as proof.

Get proof of your address

A signed rental contract or purchase deed. Moving in with someone? You need their signed "verklaring van inwoning" (declaration of co-residence) plus a copy of their ID.

Book your appointment (afspraak) ASAP

Most gemeenten require an appointment for first registration — slots can be booked weeks out and fill fast in big cities. Book the moment you have an address, even before you've fully moved in.

⏱ Book as early as possible

Go in person within 5 working days of arrival

Bring: valid passport, your residence permit (or IND proof), proof of address, and your appointment confirmation. Original civil documents like a foreign birth certificate sometimes need legalisation and/or a certified translation — check per country on rijksoverheid.nl before your appointment.

⏱ Within 5 working days

Receive your BSN on the spot

At a first-time, in-person registration, your Burgerservicenummer (BSN) is issued immediately at the appointment — you walk out with it.

Activate DigiD

Once you have a BSN, apply for DigiD (digid.nl) — you'll need it for nearly everything else: toeslagen, tax returns, healthcare, address changes.

Gemeente contact directory

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