How to register with your municipality (BRP)

Registering in the Personal Records Database (Basisregistratie Personen, or BRP) at your municipality is the first official thing you do as a new resident. It makes you a registered resident and triggers your citizen service number (BSN).

Deadline: if you're staying longer than 4 months, you generally must register within 5 days of arriving in the Netherlands. Book the appointment before you arrive if you can — slots go quickly in the big cities. No appointment within 5 days? See the 5-day rule explained.

Who needs to register

Anyone planning to live in the Netherlands for more than 4 months.
You register at the gemeente (municipality) of the town or city where you'll live.
Staying under 4 months? You register as a non-resident (RNI, not BRP) instead, which still gives you a BSN.

What to bring

A valid passport or ID card.
Proof of your Dutch address — usually your rental contract or a letter from your landlord. (Temporary or shared housing? See registering at a temporary address.)
Your birth certificate. This often has to be legalised (apostille) and translated — arrange it in your home country before you leave, as it's slow to sort afterwards.
If relevant: marriage or divorce certificates (also legalised/translated).
A booked appointment at your municipality.

How it works

Book an appointment with your municipality online.
Bring your documents to the appointment in person.
You're registered in the BRP, and the municipality arranges your BSN — often given at the appointment or by post shortly after.

Official source: government.nl — Personal Records Database (BRP). Confirm your own municipality's exact process on its website.

Do you need to register — and by when?

Answer a few questions and ResideNL tells you whether BRP applies to you, your personal deadline, and exactly what to bring.

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Next steps:

ResideNL is not a government service and does not provide legal advice. Rules, fees and deadlines change — always confirm on the official pages we link to.