Moving to Amsterdam: the complete guide

Amsterdam is a straightforward city to live in and a fiddly one to arrive in. The paperwork is mostly in English, mostly online and mostly logical. What catches people out is the order, and one question that decides nearly everything else: whether you hold an EU, EEA or Swiss passport.

If you do, you can arrive, register and start work. No visa, no permit, no employer needed. If you don't, the route runs through a company, because it's the employer that has to be approved to hire you.

This is the map of the whole move, in the order things actually block each other. Each stage here is the short version, enough to plan around and know what you're walking into. Where a figure moves, we say so.

Who this guide is for, and the line that decides everything

This is for people who aren't Dutch and are thinking seriously about the move. Maybe that's for a job, maybe with a partner, maybe because you've decided the city is where you want to be. Almost all of the paperwork below is national, so it holds for the rest of the Netherlands too. Where Amsterdam does something of its own, we say so.

Here's the line that decides your version of this move. If you hold an EU, EEA or Swiss passport you need no visa and no residence permit. The IND, the Dutch immigration service, puts it plainly: your passport or national identity card is your proof of lawful residence, and you don't even have to register with them. You're free to work, and your employer needs no work permit for you.

Hold any other passport and the route runs through a company. For most professionals that's the highly skilled migrant permit, and only an employer the IND has approved as a recognised sponsor can apply for it. You can't file it yourself.

That single difference changes how fast you can start, what you can sign and when the rest of the admin opens up. Read the section that matches your passport, then carry on. From the gemeente onwards, the two paths meet again.

If you hold an EU, EEA or Swiss passport

You can get on a plane. For the first three months you need nothing beyond a valid travel document, and you can work from your first day.

Past three months you're expected to fit one of a few categories. The usual one is being economically active. The IND treats that as genuine and effective work, meaning you earn at least half the social assistance amount that applies to you, or you work at least 40% of a normal full week. If you came to look for work, register as a jobseeker with the employment agency, UWV, for the first six months. After that you have to show a real chance of finding something. If you're not working at all, you need enough income to live on, roughly the Dutch minimum wage with holiday pay, and it doesn't matter where that income comes from.

Two deadlines apply to you as much as to anyone. If you're staying longer than four months, register at the gemeente within five days of arriving. And take out Dutch health insurance within four months. Neither is optional.

After five continuous years of meeting those conditions you have permanent residency, and you can apply for a document that proves it.

If you do not: the sponsored route through your employer

The highly skilled migrant permit, kennismigrant in Dutch, is how most non-EU professionals get here. Your employer applies, not you, and that employer has to be on the IND's public register of recognised sponsors. If they aren't, and don't plan to become one, the job isn't a route in. Ask in the first interview, not the fifth.

The second hurdle is salary. The IND publishes a gross monthly minimum, before holiday allowance, in three tiers. There's a higher one from age 30 and a lower one under 30. A reduced criterion applies to people coming off a Dutch orientation year or a recent qualifying degree. Holiday allowance, overtime, tips and anything paid in kind don't count towards it. The amounts are revised every year on 1 January, so check the current table before you negotiate rather than trusting a number you read somewhere.

On timing, the legal decision period is ninety days, though the IND says it aims to decide complete applications from a recognised sponsor in about two weeks. If your nationality isn't on the exemption list you'll also need an MVV, the entry visa sticker, which is valid for ninety days once issued. Once your employer has the positive decision, book the appointment to collect your permit within two weeks. There's a collection desk in Amsterdam. Most people also have to sit a tuberculosis test at the local health service within three months of getting the permit, though a long list of nationalities is exempt.

Two alternatives are worth knowing. The European Blue Card has a higher reduced salary criterion, but the employer doesn't have to be a recognised sponsor and it can shorten the road to long-term residence. The orientation year gives recent graduates of Dutch or top-ranked foreign universities one year here, working freely, with no permit needed by any employer. It can't be extended, so treat it as a runway. Your spouse or partner and any children under 18 can come with you on permits that hang off yours, and your employer can file for them at the same time.

Registering with the gemeente, and the BSN that opens everything

This is the step everything else waits on. If you're staying longer than four months you have to register as a resident with the gemeente, in person, within five days of arriving. Amsterdam doesn't ask for an appointment at most of its city offices, which is a rare kindness. Students arriving from abroad have to pre-register online first, and the Weesp office does want an appointment.

Bring more than you think you need. An EU, EEA or Swiss passport or identity card is enough on its own; every other nationality brings a passport and their residence permit. You also need proof of your address, which means a copy of the rental contract or a signed consent form from the longest-registered resident there, with a copy of their identity document. Bring your original birth certificate, plus any marriage, divorce or adoption certificates. They have to be in Dutch, English, French or German, or translated by a sworn translator, and some need legalising in the country that issued them. Start collecting these before you fly, because getting a birth certificate apostilled from abroad is slow.

Registration is free, and it's what produces your burgerservicenummer, the BSN. It's the number the whole country identifies you by. You need it to work, to open a bank account, to take out health insurance and to claim any allowance.

Staying less than four months? You register instead as a non-resident, which also gets you a BSN. One trap: non-European passport holders can no longer use the Amsterdam desks for that and have to go to Breda or Venlo.

DigiD, the login the country runs on

DigiD is the national login. Tax returns, allowances, your health insurer, your pension, the gemeente, your GP's portal: nearly all of it sits behind it. Getting one is quick, but it isn't instant, and you can't do it before you're registered.

You need three things to apply: your BSN, the address you're registered at with the gemeente, and a mobile phone. You apply on the DigiD website, choose a username and password, and then wait for an activation code that comes by post to your registered address within five working days.

Two things are worth knowing. A DigiD is personal, so you can't apply on behalf of a partner, though there is a separate authorisation system for managing someone else's affairs. And because the code arrives on paper, at your address, this is another reason the housing and the gemeente steps have to come first. If you're between homes you may be able to register on a postal address instead of a home address, but the gemeente decides that case by case.

Finding somewhere to live, the hardest part of the move

We'd rather be honest than encouraging here. The paperwork in this guide is solvable in weeks. Finding somewhere to live in Amsterdam is the part that defeats people, and it's worth planning around from the day you accept the job.

The rental market splits into three bands, set by a national points system that scores a home on its floor area, its energy label and its official property value. Homes at the bottom of the scale are social housing, the middle band is regulated mid-market rent, and above that is the free sector where the landlord sets the price. The gap between the bands is large, and so is the competition. The federation of Amsterdam housing corporations reported an average wait for a social rental of just under ten years, with the number of active searchers still rising. Social housing is not a plan for a newcomer.

That leaves mid-market and free sector, and in practice most people arriving land in the free sector, pay more than they expected and take a place they haven't seen properly. Two things help. Give yourself temporary accommodation for the first month or two rather than signing the first thing you're shown. And get someone local to read the contract with you, because a Dutch lease has terms around notice, service charges and the deposit that are easy to miss. You can compare English-speaking estate agents in Amsterdam if you'd rather not do the search alone.

What all of it costs is a subject of its own, and rent is the line that decides your budget. Our guide to what it really costs to live in Amsterdam takes the monthly numbers apart.

Renting: the rules that are on your side

Newcomers get overcharged because they don't know what's allowed. A few rules are worth memorising before you sign anything.

The deposit is capped at two months of basic rent, and the landlord has to return it within fourteen days of the tenancy ending. If an agent is working for the landlord, you don't pay their commission. It's only when you hire an agent yourself, to find something outside their own listings, that a fee to you is legitimate. Every gemeente also has to run a reporting point for bad landlord behaviour, which is a real avenue if something goes wrong.

Amsterdam adds a step of its own. To rent a home in the social or regulated mid-market bands you need a housing permit, the huisvestingsvergunning, and it comes with household income limits that differ for the two bands. You apply to the gemeente, it costs a modest fee, and the decision is due within eight weeks though it's often faster. Once you have it, your whole household has to register at the address within four weeks. If you're renting from a housing corporation they arrange the permit for you.

One more thing worth checking early: if your rent is modest and your income and savings are low enough, you may qualify for huurtoeslag, the rent allowance. It's run by the benefits arm of the tax office. One of its conditions is that everyone living there is registered at the address with the gemeente, which is another reason not to let that step slide.

Health insurance is compulsory, and there is a clock on it

This is the one that catches people, because in most countries it isn't a personal obligation. Anyone who lives or works in the Netherlands has to take out Dutch basic health insurance, the basisverzekering, in their own name. Your employer doesn't do it for you, and nationality has nothing to do with it. An EU health card from home doesn't cover you here, because it isn't valid in the country you live in.

You have four months from arriving to arrange it. Miss that and you're simply uninsured in the meantime, which means you pay your own medical bills. The government is clear that you don't owe backdated premiums for the gap, so the risk isn't a bill from the state, it's a bill from a hospital.

There's an enforcement chain behind it. Once you're registered with a gemeente but not with an insurer, the CAK writes to you. You then get three months to insure yourself or show you're exempt. Ignore that and you're fined, and after two fines the CAK signs you up to an insurer itself and withholds a higher premium from your income for a year.

Insurers have to accept you for the basic package whatever your age or health. On top of the monthly premium there's a compulsory annual excess you pay yourself before most care is covered. Your huisarts, the family doctor, sits outside that excess, and registering with one is how the system actually works, because you generally need a referral before you can see a specialist at all.

Tax, and the 30% ruling

Your employer withholds income tax from your payslip, so most people don't get a nasty surprise. Employment income sits in what the Dutch call box 1, which has three bands below state pension age, and the top one takes just under half of the income above it. You may still need to file an annual return, and it's due before the date printed on the letter the tax office sends you, often 1 May.

The thing worth understanding before you sign a contract is the expatregeling, still known to everyone as the 30% ruling. If you were recruited from abroad, your employer can pay part of your salary as a tax-free allowance meant to cover the extra costs of living here. It runs for a maximum of five years.

Three details decide whether it applies to you. You have to have lived more than 150 km from the Dutch border for more than sixteen of the twenty-four months before your first working day. That rules out most people moving from Belgium, Luxembourg and the German border regions. Your taxable salary has to clear a published minimum, with a lower bar for people under 30 who hold a master's degree. And your employer applies jointly with you on a single form, with a decision usually inside eight weeks.

The deadline matters more than anything. Apply within four months of your first working day and the ruling can run from day one. Apply later and you lose the months in between. You don't need your BSN in hand to file, so there's no reason to wait. The headline percentage and the salary threshold are both being changed, with transitional treatment depending on when your ruling was granted. That makes it worth an hour with an English-speaking tax adviser in Amsterdam rather than a guess. Our guide to the 30% ruling goes through it properly.

Banking and the everyday admin

Open a bank account early, because your salary, your rent and your health insurance all want a Dutch account. The government's position is that if you pay tax here you need a BSN to open one, since banks report account holders to the tax office. That puts the account behind the gemeente, which is behind having an address.

Say a bank turns you down. If you have a genuine connection to the country through living, working or studying here, you have a right to a basic payment account, and there's a complaints route if you're refused. Worth knowing, because newcomers are refused more often than you'd expect.

Day to day, the Netherlands runs on debit cards rather than credit cards, and online payments run mostly through iDEAL, which pays straight from your Dutch account. A foreign credit card will let you down at a supermarket checkout or a market stall more often than it should. Sort the account, then the phone number, then everything else.

Your first weeks: a checklist

In the order that actually works:

1. Before you fly. Get your birth certificate, and any marriage or divorce certificate, in the original and legalised if your country needs it. Translated by a sworn translator unless it's already in Dutch, English, French or German.
2. Before you fly, if you're not an EU citizen. Confirm your employer is a recognised sponsor, and check whether your nationality needs an entry visa sticker.
3. Week one. Register at a city office. You have five days from arriving, you go in person, and you come out with a BSN.
4. Week one. Apply for DigiD. The activation code arrives by post within five working days, so start the clock early.
5. Weeks one to two. Open a bank account and get a Dutch mobile number. Most other sign-ups want both.
6. Weeks one to four. Take out basic health insurance. The hard deadline is four months, but there's no reason to wait, and being uninsured is your risk, not anyone else's.
7. Weeks one to four. Ask your employer to file the 30% ruling with you. Four months from your first working day, and the clock does not pause.
8. Weeks two to eight. Find somewhere permanent to live. Expect it to take longer than everything else on this list combined.
9. Once you have a permit. Book the tuberculosis test at the local health service if your nationality isn't exempt. You have three months.
10. Then. Register with a huisarts, and check whether you qualify for the health or rent allowance.

If you'd rather not do the shipping, the flat hunt and the paperwork all at once, there are English-speaking relocation companies in Amsterdam who handle the first month for you.

How Locallista helps

The rules here are published, mostly in English, and mostly accurate. The hard part is that you're making a dozen decisions at once, in a system you've never used, in a language you probably don't read yet. A lease, a tax letter and an insurer's small print all land in the same month.

Locallista is a directory of English-speaking local service providers in Amsterdam. Every business is screened before it's listed and reviews are phone-verified, so the ranking reflects real expat experience rather than who paid the most. It's free to browse and free to get in touch. Start with the Amsterdam directory if you're not sure who you need yet.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a visa to move to Amsterdam?

It depends entirely on your passport. If you hold an EU, EEA or Swiss passport you need no visa and no residence permit, and your travel document is your proof of lawful residence. Everyone else needs a residence permit, and for most professionals that means an employer approved by the immigration service as a recognised sponsor, because only a recognised sponsor can file the application.

Can I move to the Netherlands first and look for a job once I'm there?

If you are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, yes. You can stay three months on your passport alone, and past that you are expected to register as a jobseeker with the employment agency for the first six months. If you are not, then generally no. The main exception is the orientation year, which lets recent graduates of Dutch and some top-ranked foreign universities live here for a year and work without their employer needing a permit.

How long does a highly skilled migrant application take?

The legal decision period is ninety days. The immigration service's own guidance says it aims to decide a complete application from a recognised sponsor in about two weeks, so most people wait weeks rather than months. If you also need an entry visa sticker, add the time to book an appointment at a Dutch mission and travel.

How quickly do I need to register with the gemeente?

Within five days of arriving, if you are staying longer than four months. You go to a city office in person and you cannot send someone in your place. Amsterdam does not ask for an appointment at most of its offices, though students coming from abroad have to pre-register online first.

Can I open a Dutch bank account before I have a BSN?

It is difficult. The government says that if you pay tax in the Netherlands you need a BSN to open an account, because banks report account holders to the tax office. If a bank turns you down, and you have a genuine connection to the country through living, working or studying here, you have a right to a basic payment account. There is a complaints route if you are refused.

Is Dutch health insurance really compulsory if I already have cover at home?

Yes, in almost all cases. The obligation follows where you live and work, not your nationality, so an EU health card from your home country does not cover you once the Netherlands is where you live. There is a carve-out if your employer is based abroad, and a few international organisations run their own schemes. For an ordinary local contract, you take out Dutch basic cover in your own name.