First registration in the Netherlands

When you move to the Netherlands for the first time, you must register with the municipality in which you are going to live. This is called a ‘first registration’. 
Lived in the Netherlands before, but moved abroad before October 1994? In that case, you need to do a ‘first registration’ as well.

Asylum seekers

Are you an asylum seeker in a reception centre? In that case, you do not need to be registered in the Key Register of Persons during the first 6 months of your stay in the Netherlands.  

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Re-registering in the Netherlands

For a first registration, you always need an appointment that you must make by telephone (when calling from abroad: +31 591 689 000). When talking to you on the telephone, we will ask you various questions in preparation for the interview. We will also explain which documents to bring to your appointment at the town hall.

This is how to register in the Netherlands for the first time:

• Visit the town hall in person.
• Take the following documentation with you:
• your valid ID (showing your nationality);
• documentary evidence of accommodation, such as a rental contract or title deed;
• if you were born outside the Netherlands: your birth certificate;
• if you do not have a European nationality: documentary evidence of approval of your stay by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND);
• if you are from Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius or Saba: a change of address;
• possibly the following documents:

1. a marriage or divorce certificate;
2. a death certificate of your partner (as documentary evidence that the marriage was dissolved by death);
3. the birth certificates of your children;

• Do you have proof of de-registration from your previous country of residence? Please take that with you as well.
• All persons moving with you must come along personally. 

The requirements for a first registration in the Netherlands are:

• You have or are:
• of Dutch nationality, or
• a passport from a European country, or
• a residence permit for a definite or indefinite period of time.
• You will be living in the Netherlands for more than 4 months.

If the requested documents are not drawn up in Dutch, English, German or French, or if you do not have a multilingual model form, you must have them translated. Has the translator been sworn in in the Netherlands? In that case, you do not need to have the translation authenticated. If the translator was sworn in abroad, you need to have the authenticated original document authenticated again in the Netherlands. You can read more about this at Nederlandwereldwijd.nl of the Dutch government.

Everyone is obliged to complete a change of address truthfully. If you deliberately fail to provide the correct information, you will receive an administrative fine of up to € 325.

After your arrival in the Netherlands, you must register within 5 working days.