Do I need to deregister with the municipality before I leave the Netherlands?

For EU/EEA or Switzerland and non-EU citizen

When you first arrived in the Netherlands, you were obliged to register with the Basisregistratie Personen (BRP) ( municipality’s personal records database) of your city or town of residence. Similarly, when you leave the Netherlands, you must deregister. This is important as the gemeente (municipality) will need to remove your personal details at the same location. The municipality will also be obliged to inform other government authorities of your departure.

The first step is to report your intended departure to the stadhuis (town hall). You are advised to check with your municipality about the required notice period for notifying them that you intend to leave the country. The notice period may vary from one municipality to another. For the The Hague municipality, you are required to deregister yourself and/or other members of the family no more than five days in advance of your leaving date. One adult member can deregister the whole family. This can be done in person or in writing. The municipality will then update your details. However, if not all the family members that reside at one address are moving abroad, then everyone who is leaving the Netherlands (including children 16 years of age or older) must appear in person at the municipality’s Department of Public Service counter to report their move.

If you intend to visit your town hall in person, you will need to bring your passport or other valid proof of identity. You will probably be asked to give your current address as well as your future forwarding address. The deregistration process may vary slightly from one municipality to another. Some municipalities may ask you to complete a form notifying them of your imminent departure prior to visiting the town hall.

If all family members are leaving the country, you may have the option to inform the hall town in writing. For the Den Haag municipality, a letter can be sent which contains the following information:

• Your old and new addresses
• List of names of all your family members
• The date of departure
• Signature
• You must also supply a copy of your proof of identity with the letter

Once you have deregistered from the BRP as a resident, your personal data will move to the non-residents part of the BRP, the Non-residents Records Database (RNI). This is for people who do not live in the Netherlands anymore, or who live in the Netherlands for less than 4 months. You can ask for a proof that you deregistered. You can apply for this proof from one of the following RNI-municipalities with a Non-residents Records Database:

• Alkmaar
• Almelo
• Amsterdam
• Breda
• Doetinchem
• Eindhoven
• Goes
• Groningen
• The Hague
• Heerlen
• Leeuwarden
• Leiden
• Nijmegen
• Rotterdam
• Terneuzen
• Utrecht
• Venlo
• Westland
• Zwolle

The international extract is available in Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Turkish, French, German and English.

If you have a Dutch residence permit and are leaving the country on a permanent basis, then you must return your residence permit as follows:

• either at the airport ID checkpoint in the Netherlands
• or by post to the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst – IND)

Note that the residence permit is state property and thus it is your personal responsibility to ensure that it is returned as part of the deregistration process. Find the address of return and more information about this matter here.

It is advised that when returning your residence permit by post, you send it with a short accompanying letter and make a copy of both the front and back of the card for your future reference.

When you deregister with the municipality they will notify all the other governmental institutions like the UWV, SVB, kinderbijslag, etc.

For commercial services such as utilities, you will need to notify them. If you cancel your parking permit before the end of its validity period, you could be eligible to claim some money back, for this you need to cancel the parking yourself. Keep in mind it can take up to six weeks before you get your money back, so you may need to keep a bank account open for this period.

Diplomats, consular officials and employees of an international organisation

At the start of your assignment, you will have been registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken – BZ). Similarly, on departure you must deregister with the Protocol Department. When the posting of a privileged person comes to an end, the employer (embassy or international organisation) should send a ‘note verbale’ to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, informing them that the posting of the person and/or of members of his family has come to an end. The ‘note verbale’ also informs the Ministry of Foreign Affair whether or not the person(s) is(are) departing from the Netherlands. The BZ ID card(s) should also be returned with the ‘note verbale’.