Citizen service number (BSN) and Registry Non-Resident (RNI)

How and when do you receive your BSN?

If you come to the Netherlands to, for example, work or study for a few months, you will need a Citizen service number (BSN). To receive a BSN, you will have to register yourself as a non-resident in the Registry Non-Residents (RNI). You can do so in 19 municipalities in the Netherlands:

Alkmaar
Almelo
Amsterdam
Breda
Doetinchem
Eindhoven
Groningen
Goes
the Hague
Heerlen

Leeuwarden
Leiden
Nijmegen
Rotterdam
Terneuzen
Utrecht
Venlo
Westland
Zwolle

You will be registered in the RNI if you:

Wish to live in the Netherlands for less than 4 months (for an uninterrupted period of 6 months).
Live right across the border, but work in the Netherlands.
Have lived in the Netherlands, but now live abroad, like when you are retired.

To register yourself as a non-resident, you will have to personally visit with a valid proof of identity. You will also have to submit your address in your country of residence. When registering at the counter, you will immediately receive your new Citizen service number (BSN) and a copy of the recorded personal data. Registry is free.

Longer than 4 months

Are you planning to live in the Netherlands for more than 4 months? Then you will have to register yourself as a resident at the municipality where you live. You are required to do so within 5 days after your arrival in the Netherlands. If your partner and/or children also wish to stay in the Netherlands for more than 4 months, then they will also need to personally register themselves at the municipality.