How do you register your address and get a BSN in the Netherlands in 2026?

Plan to live in the Netherlands for more than four months? Make an appointment with the gemeente, meaning the municipality where you will actually live. You must register in person within five days of arrival. Family members moving with you must also attend.

For a stay of four months or less, or if you work in the Netherlands while continuing to live abroad, book an RNI appointment at one of the designated municipalities. You register with your foreign address and receive a BSN. Do not use the non-resident route as a shortcut when you intend to settle for longer.

Check the municipality's own list before the appointment. Bring a valid passport or accepted identity card and evidence that you may live at the address. This may be a signed rental contract, purchase contract, or the municipality's consent form from the main occupant with a copy of that person's identity document.

The municipality may request original birth, marriage, divorce, adoption, or partnership certificates for your situation. Foreign civil documents may need legalisation and translation. Legalisation confirms that a foreign public document is genuine. Requirements vary by document and issuing country, so ask before travelling with incomplete papers.

If you have no usable home address, ask whether a briefadres, meaning an approved correspondence address for government mail, is possible. It is not permission to register at a friend's home without living there. The municipality decides whether you qualify and usually requires the address holder's written consent.

The municipality enters your personal details in the BRP and gives you a BSN if you do not already have one. A previous BSN remains yours when you return to the Netherlands, so do not seek a second number.

Check the spelling of your name, birth details, and address before using the record. Your BSN links dealings with the tax authority, employers, health insurers, healthcare providers, and government services. It is an identifier, not proof of immigration permission or a digital login.

When you move within the Netherlands, report the new address to the new municipality. That municipality updates the BRP. A municipality can investigate an address if its records appear wrong, so never register where you do not live.