Municipality of Meerssen: registering with the municipality

The conditions for a first registration in the Netherlands are:

• you have
  • Dutch nationality, or
  • a passport from an EU/EEA country, or
  • a residence permit for a definite or indefinite period
• you will stay in the Netherlands for longer than 4 months

• A valid identity document for everyone who is to be registered (this cannot be a driving licence).
• A rental or purchase contract for your home or the consent of the main resident with whom you will be living.
• Proof of de-registration if you are moving from another part of the Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (Kingdom of the Netherlands): Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Saba or Sint Eustatius.

If you were born, married or divorced abroad, please also bring the following original documents:

• Your birth certificate.
• The birth certificates of your partner and/or children.
• Your marriage certificate or proof of civil partnership.
• Divorce papers.
• Adoption papers and/or a death certificate for your partner or child(ren).

In some cases, your certificate or document will need to be legalised and/or translated. You can check whether this is the case for your country on the government website.

First make an appointment with the municipality by telephone. Call 14 043 for this.

This is how you register for the first time in the Netherlands:

• Come to the municipality in person.
• take with you
  • your valid ID (which shows your nationality)
  • proof that you have living space, such as a rental contract or proof of ownership
  • if you were not born in the Netherlands: your birth certificate
  • if you do not have European nationality: proof that the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) has approved your stay
  • if you come from Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius or Saba: a relocation notice
  • if you have these:
    • proof of your marital status
    • a marriage certificate
    • a divorce certificate
    • a death certificate of your partner (as proof that the marriage has been dissolved by death)
    • the birth certificates of your children
  • Do you have proof of deregistration from the previous country? So take that with you.
• All persons who move with you will also come personally.

Have the requested documents not been drawn up in Dutch, English, German or French? Or do you not have a multilingual model form? Then you have to have them translated. Is the translator sworn in in the Netherlands? Then you do not need to have the translation legalised. Is the translator sworn abroad? Then you must have the legalized original document legalized again in the Netherlands. https://www.nederlandwereldwijd.nl/wonen-werken/buitenlandse-documenten-legaliseren

Registration is free of charge. You must pay the costs of translating or legalising official documents that you may need to take with you.

The municipality will register you in the Basisregistratie Personen – BRP (Personal Records Database) during the actual appointment. You will receive a confirmation letter. The municipality will send your citizen service number (BSN) by post within 3 weeks.