How to get a citizen service number (BSN) in the Netherlands: registration, documents, and common problems

Government organisations use your BSN to process and exchange your personal data. Healthcare providers, health insurers, schools, and the tax authorities also use it in their records. You need a BSN to apply for DigiD, the secure login for Dutch government services. For the next steps after registration — such as DigiD, health insurance, banking, and finding a huisarts (general practitioner) — use the first 90 days checklist.

If you will live in the Netherlands for more than 4 months, book a registration appointment with the municipality where you live. You must attend in person within 5 days of arrival. Because appointment waits can be long, contact the municipality well before you travel. Ask which documents you and any family members need.

Everyone who moved with you, including children, must attend, and each person needs valid ID. If you register late, the municipality may fine you. At the appointment, the municipality enters your data in the BRP. If you do not already have a BSN, you receive one automatically within a few weeks; the timing depends on the municipality. An existing BSN remains valid.

Requirements vary, so use your municipality's own checklist. The national moving checklist names these core documents:

• A valid identity document, such as a passport, identity card, driving licence, or alien's identity card.
• Proof of occupancy: a rental contract, purchase contract, or written permission from the property's main occupant.
• Your residence document, if this applies to you.
• Documents about your family situation if the municipality asks for them, such as birth, marriage, or divorce certificates.
• Proof of deregistration if you are coming from Aruba, Curaçao, St Maarten, Bonaire, St Eustatius or Saba.

If you will work or study in the Netherlands for less than 4 months, you can register as a non-resident at any of the 19 RNI municipalities. The Non-residents Records Database (RNI) gives you the same BSN. If you later stay for more than 4 months, register as a resident with your local municipality. Your BSN remains valid.

The official moving checklist recognises that long waits can make registration within 5 days impossible. Book the earliest available appointment and keep the confirmation. At the appointment, ask whether the municipality can register you retroactively from the date you booked. Contact the municipality directly if you are unsure what to do. Late registration may result in a fine, but you can still register.

If you have no home address, ask the municipality whether you can use a temporary correspondence address (briefadres). The municipality decides and checks that you have no other option. Apply at the population affairs department (Burgerzaken or Publiekszaken) in the municipality where the address is located. Bring a written explanation, your valid ID, the resident's signed consent, and their valid ID or a copy. A correspondence address is administrative only and cannot be a P.O. box or an address where nobody lives. It is temporary. If a landlord or host refuses registration at the home where you actually live, register at that address and ask the municipality for an address investigation; also see the guide to address-registration problems.

The official moving checklist says a new BSN can take a few weeks to arrive, depending on the municipality. You do not need to submit a second BSN application: the number is assigned automatically after registration. Ask the municipality how you will receive it, and contact the municipality if its expected delivery date has passed. Once you have the number, continue with the first 90 days checklist.