Living (and working) in the Netherlands for EU citizens

Living (and working) in the Netherlands for

EU citizens

What is the aim of this publication? Do you want to live (and work) in the Netherlands? In most cases,

EU citizens do not need a residence document or work permit.

You can read about the following in this publication:

• whether you will need a residence document or work permit;

• if so, how you can apply for a residence document;

• where you can get more information.

Citizen of an EU/EER country or Switzerland

You are a citizen of the European Union if you are a national of one of the Member States of the

European Union. Nationals of the member states of the European Economic Area (EEA) as well as

nationals of Switzerland have the same rights as citizens of the European Union. You don’t need a

residence document to live in the Netherlands. Your passport (or ID card) of the country, of which you

hold the nationality, is evidence enough that you are permitted to stay in the Netherlands and to work

here. You are not required to report to the IND (Immigration and Naturalisation Service) and also you do

not apply to the IND for a proof of lawful residence. Your employer does not need to apply for a work

permit for you if you want to work in the Netherlands.

EU-/EER landen (en Zwitserland)

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,

Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Norway, Poland,

Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Czech Republic.

Citizen Service Number

Are you planning to stay for longer than four months in the Netherlands? Then you will need to register

with your local municipal personal records database. You can do this by going to the town hall in the

municipality where you live. You will then be issued with a Citizen Service Number.

Your employer will be able to organise various different matters with this number, for example your

registration with the Tax and Customs Administration. Your General Practitioner, hospitals and

pharmacist may also ask you for your Citizen Service Number. For further information look at the

website of the municipality where you live or via www.burgerservicenummer.nl.

Are you planning to stay for less than four months in the Netherlands? Then you are not required to

Number, then you can register with one of the municipalities which has a desk for non-residents. For

further information, go to www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/privacy-en-persoonsgegevens. You can

also call the government information service on telephone number 1400.

Family members

Are you a family member or relative of a person who has the nationality of one of the EU or EEA

countries or Switzerland, but you yourself have a different nationality? Then you will need to apply to the

IND for a residence document. To do so, you can use the application form ‘Application for verification

against EU Law family member of the EU citizen’. In certain cases you can also use the application form

‘Application for verification against EU Law family member of the EU citizen’ if you are a family member

or relative of a Dutch citizen who has lived together with you in an EU/EEA country or Switzerland. Read

further under: Applying for a residence document.

Long term residence: five years or longer in the Netherlands

If you stay in the Netherlands rightfully for five years or longer continuously, then you can apply for the

residence document ‘Permanent residence for nationals of the Union’. This also applies if you are a

family member of a person who has the nationality of one of the EU/EEA countries or Switzerland, but

you yourself have a different nationality. In order to apply for this residence document you can use the

application form ‘Application for a Permanent Residence Document for Nationals of the Union and their

Family Members’. The other conditions applying to this residence document are also included with the

application form.

Read further under: Applying for a residence document.

Applying for a residence document

You can download the application forms ‘Application for verification against EU Law family member of the

EU citizen’ and ‘Application for a Permanent Residence Document for Nationals of the Union and their

Family Members’ via

www.ind.nl.

You should submit these applications in writing. The address for sending in your application is given in

the application form.

There is no information given in this publication about the costs. If you would like to know in advance

what the costs will be, then you can look on the website www.ind.nl or call by telephone.

More information

Do you have further questions after reading this brochure?

Internet

You will find more information on the procedure and requirements for applying for a residence permit or

Dutch nationality at www.ind.nl/en.

Contact with IND

Would you like to contact the IND or schedule an appointment to visit an IND desk? Or do you have

another request? Please visit www.ind.nl/en/contact for the various contact options.

Questions about legalisation?

For information about the legalisation of documents (birth certificate, marriage certificate), please visit

www.government.nl. Or call at number 1400 (Central government Information).

Processing of personal data

The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) processes personal data when it processes your

application, notification, or request. This means that if needed the IND will request data from you

yourself and other organisations or persons. The IND also uses and stores data and shares them with

other organisations. When doing so, the IND strictly adheres to the stipulations of privacy legislation.

For instance, the IND must treat data safely and with due care. The law also gives rights. At your

request, you are allowed to see which data on you the IND processes. You can also get information on

why the IND does so and to whom your data have been passed on. On www.ind.nl you can read how the

IND processes your data and which rights you have. You can also read how to use your rights.

No rights can be derived from the content of the publication. The text of this publication may be used if

the source is mentioned.