(re)Settle from abroad

When should you register?

  • If you live abroad and want to move (back) to the Netherlands, you need to register at the municipality. If you want to live in the Netherlands for more than 4 months in the next half year, you need to make an appointment for your registration with the municipality within 5 days after your arrival. If you have a partner and/or children who also need to be registered in Moerdijk, they need to come with you to the appointment.
  • If you have never lived in the Netherlands before, your registration is a ‘first registration’ at the municipality.
  • If you have lived in the Netherlands before, you re-register at the municipality. Please note that if you moved abroad before 1 October 1994, you still need to register as if you register for the first time.
  • You need to register, if you reside in the Netherlands for at least 4 months within a period of half a year.

Registering at the municipality

Make an appointment for your registration within 5 days after the arrival and choose ‘verhuizen vanuit het buitenland'. Indicate for how many people you make the appointment.

When you go to your appointment, bring the following documents:

  • A valid document of identity (passport or ID-card) of every person to be registered.
  • A proof of deregistration when you come from Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Saba or Sint Eustatius.
  • A rental contract or contract of sale of your home, or your proprietor’s permission, for which you need to complete the form 'verklaring bewoning adres' (pdf in Dutch). Please note: you can not be registered earlier than the start date of your rental or purchase contract.
  • Original documents from abroad of yourself and of your children, such as certificates of birth, a marriage certificate or a deed of divorce.

Only English, German and French deeds will be accepted without translation by a sworn translator. Foreign documents have to meet rules for legalising foreign documents. These rules depend on the country where the documents were issued.

Up to 4 weeks later, your registration will be listed in the Basic Registration of Persons (BRP). Do you also apply for a residence permit? Your registration will become definitive if the municipality is informed with your documents from the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst, IND) that you are allowed to live in the Netherlands. You must bring your permit to stay with you to the appointment at the municipality.