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BSN and registering in Amsterdam: the 5-day rule, the apostille and DigiD

Updated 2026-11-06 · 6 min read

Drawing for BSN and registering in Amsterdam: the word BSN, a passport, a rubber stamp and a house key.
Registering in Amsterdam: a passport, a stamp and the key to your new place.

Register with the city within 5 days of arriving, bring an apostilled birth certificate, and you'll walk away with the number that runs your Dutch life.

The short version

  • Register within 5 days of arriving if you're moving to Amsterdam from abroad, at a city office called a Stadsloket [1].
  • You get your BSN (burgerservicenummer, citizen service number) automatically when you register. It's the Dutch cousin of a Social Security number [2].
  • Bring originals: your passport, proof you may live here (your residence permit), your lease, and your foreign certificates such as your birth certificate [1].
  • US certificates need an apostille, but documents in English don't need a translation [3].
  • Once you're registered, apply for DigiD, your login for Dutch government websites. The activation letter comes by mail [4].

Why registration matters

Back in the States, you can live somewhere for years without telling any government office your address. Not here. Anyone who plans to stay in the Netherlands for more than four months has to register with the municipality they live in, in the Basisregistratie Personen (BRP), the national population register [2]. Registering is also how you get a BSN, and you'll need that number for almost everything:

You need a BSN for Why
Your first paycheck Your employer needs it to run Dutch payroll and withhold the right tax.
Dutch health insurance Insurers need it to set up the basic policy you're required to have.
A Dutch bank account Banks ask for it when you open an account.
DigiD No BSN, no DigiD, and no online access to the tax office or your benefits [4].
Your GP, schools, the 30% ruling All of them use your BSN to identify you.

Moving here for less than four months? That's a different registration, the RNI. If you don't have an EU passport, you can only register for the RNI at the desks in Breda or Venlo [1].

The documents to bring

The City of Amsterdam's checklist for people coming to the Netherlands for the first time asks Americans and other non-EU nationals for [1]:

  1. A valid passport. If you have more than one nationality, bring every passport.
  2. Proof you're allowed to live here, meaning your Dutch residence permit. If your card isn't ready yet, ask your employer or the IND what to bring.
  3. A copy of a full rental contract or proof of ownership. The lease must already have started.
  4. If you're living with someone else, a signed consent form from the resident who has been registered there longest, plus a copy of their ID.
  5. All the foreign civil-status certificates you have, such as birth, marriage and divorce certificates. These must be originals.

You can only register yourself, so every family member moving with you has to come along to the Stadsloket [1].

The apostille on your birth certificate

This is the step that catches most Americans out, because you can't fix it once you've landed. Dutch municipalities record your birth details from the original certificate, and it has to be legalized [1][3]:

  1. Order a certified copy of your birth certificate from the vital records office of the state where you were born. The National Center for Health Statistics lists where to write for each state [3].
  2. Get an apostille from the US authority for that document, usually the Secretary of State of the state that issued it. The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) lists the competent offices [3].
  3. Do the same for your marriage certificate and your kids' birth certificates.
  4. Skip the translation. Documents in English don't need to be translated for use in the Netherlands [3]. The city accepts certificates in Dutch, English, French or German [1].

The good news: a legalized birth or marriage certificate stays valid no matter how long ago it was issued [3]. Do this before you move. Ordering from Ohio or Texas while you're sleeping on a friend's couch in Amsterdam is a hassle nobody needs.

How to register

  1. Get your address sorted first. You can't register without one. Some short-term rentals don't allow registration, so ask before you sign. A furnished apartment you can't register at will stall your BSN, your paycheck and your health insurance.
  2. Go to a Stadsloket in person within 5 days of arriving in the Netherlands [1].
  3. Walk in. Amsterdam's Stadsloketten handle first registrations from abroad without an appointment, except in Weesp, where you do need one [1]. That's a pleasant surprise if you've heard horror stories from Berlin.
  4. Go during registration hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. [1].
  5. Bring the whole family and all the originals listed above.
  6. Leave with your registration done. Your BSN comes with it [2].

If something on your certificates is unclear, the city may need a second look. Foreign certificates you add later, like a marriage certificate from a wedding back home, are handled by appointment at a Stadsloket [5].

Late or wrong registrations

Registration is a legal duty, not a suggestion. Giving the city wrong information, or failing to update it, can bring a fine. Tell the city every time you move within Amsterdam, and deregister if you leave the Netherlands for more than eight months [2].

DigiD: your government login

DigiD is the Dutch government's digital ID. Think of it as a single login for the tax office (Belastingdienst), the health allowance office, the pension office and your municipality.

  1. Apply on digid.nl in a browser, not in the app. You need your BSN, your registered address and a cell phone for verification codes [4].
  2. Watch your mailbox. DigiD mails an activation letter to the address in the BRP. The code starts with an "A" [4].
  3. Activate within the deadline with the username and password you chose. Write them down, because you'll need them to activate [4].
  4. Install the DigiD app after activation for easier logins.

Put your name on your mailbox before you apply. Dutch mail carriers are strict, and a letter that can't be delivered means starting over.

The US side

Registering in Amsterdam changes nothing about your US obligations. Uncle Sam still expects a federal return each year, your Dutch accounts count toward the FBAR, and you'll want to keep a US mailing address for banks and absentee ballots. Enroll in the State Department's STEP program so the US Embassy in The Hague and the Consulate General in Amsterdam can reach you. And if you have a baby here, the city registers the birth, but you'll also want a Consular Report of Birth Abroad from the consulate.

Stuck on a document or an address that won't let you register? Ask Americans who've been through it in our community group for Americans in the Netherlands.

Sources

  1. Verhuizen naar Amsterdam vanuit het buitenland (moving to Amsterdam from abroad), City of Amsterdam
  2. Residence permit and BSN number, Business.gov.nl (RVO)
  3. Legalising documents from the United States, Netherlands Worldwide
  4. Apply for DigiD, DigiD
  5. Buitenlandse akten inleveren (registering foreign certificates), City of Amsterdam

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