This is how you get a personal number (BSN) to handle your affairs in the Netherlands

Last updated: 4/23/2024, 10:53 AM

Share this article

If you are in the Netherlands for more than 6 months, you will get a personal number: a citizen service number (BSN). You need this number to arrange your personal affairs in the Netherlands. Read here how to get such a number.

For this you can use your BSN

You need a

BSN

to arrange things in the Netherlands or with the Dutch government. For example, you need the number to:

Open a Dutch bank account
Apply for allowances
Work in the Netherlands

There are long waiting times for a BSN

Please note that there is currently a longer waiting period for registration in the BRP. This is due to a shortage of staff. People who have already received an asylum residence permit are given priority for registration in the BRP.

This is how to apply for a BSN

Are you in the Netherlands for more than 6 months? Then apply for a BSN yourself. Below you can read how to do this:

Register with the municipality

You can register for free with the municipality in which you live. This is called the

Dutch population register (BRP)

. You have to go to a special counter at the municipality to do this. This is called the 'BRP-straat'. You can find them at the 5 locations of the

Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND)

. You can find these locations in:

Hoofddorp
Ter Apel
Budel
Zevenaar
Den Bosch

You will automatically receive a letter with your BSN from the government

Usually you will receive a letter containing your BSN within 4 weeks of your registration in the BRP.

Sometimes you can get precedence

Sometimes it is possible to get priority registration through an emergency process. This urgent process is for:

People with an asylum residence permit who have already found work
People with a residence permit asylum who are offered housing
People who need a BSN for medical reasons
People with a
work permit (TWV)
whose identity is known to the IND

Via the information desk at a location of the

Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA)

, you can apply to be considered for emergency registration in the BRP.

Sometimes you cannot register in the BRP

You cannot register in the BRP if one of the following situations applies to you:

You fall under the
Dublin procedure
You come from a country that is considered a safe country by the Netherlands
You already have a residence permit in another country within the European Union (EU)
Your identity has not yet been established by the IND