Emigrating
Emigrating: what comes at you in practice
Every emigration journey is different, and yet each one goes through the same five phases. This page explains what they are and where the two kinds of journey really differ. Then: roughly what it costs, and why the order matters more than the pace.
Laatst bijgewerkt: 20 October 2026
Do you already know where you want to go?
64 destinations, each worked out separately: the journey, the costs and the pitfalls of that country. Not sure yet? Then just read on. The rest of this page applies to every destination.
Europe25
Caribbean7
North and Central America6
South America11
Asia and Middle East9
Oceania2
Five phases, wherever you're going
Whether you're moving to Australia or to Spain: the journey has the same shape. The difference is in phase two, and that difference decides almost everything else.
- 01
Orientation
Can it be done, is it allowed, and do we really want it?
Before you spend a euro, you want to know three things. Is there a route for you at all? Roughly what is the journey going to cost? And does everyone coming along really want this? This phase produces no paperwork, so it feels like nothing is happening. Yet this is where most journeys are saved or lost. If you look honestly now at whether it's feasible, you won't later spend thousands of euros on assessments (official reviews of your diplomas and work experience) for a route that was never going to work.
- 02
Permission
May you live there, and if so: how do you record that?
This is where the two kinds of journey part ways. If you're going to a country outside the EU, you need a visa. You then have to show you meet the requirements, often with a points system, an occupation list and a language test. Within the EU you may simply live there. If you stay longer than three months, you do have to register, and that comes with requirements too.
- 03
Paperwork
Everything that has to be proven
Birth certificates, diplomas, work experience, police certificates, medical examinations, translations. Each document on its own is a formality. Together they form a puzzle, because one document takes a long time to get and another is only valid for a limited time. This is the phase where most avoidable mistakes are made, and almost always because someone applied for something too early.
- 04
Departure
Closing the Netherlands and moving your life
Deregistering with the municipality, ending your health insurance, stopping benefits, the tax return for the year of emigration, cancelling subscriptions, arranging mail. At the same time there's the move itself: sell, ship or take along. That choice can make a difference of ten thousand euros to your budget. Both tracks run side by side and each has its own deadlines.
- 05
Landing
From arriving to living
Phone number, bank account, tax number, healthcare, housing, school, driving licence. The order matters more here than people expect, because the registrations hook into each other. Without an address you get no bank card. Without a tax number your wages are taxed at the maximum. Without registering with the municipality there's no school. If you know the right order, you're settled in two weeks. Others take two months.
Getting permission, or getting through bureaucracy
Emigrating outside the EU is a completely different problem from emigrating within the EU. One isn't harder than the other, just different. Which of the two applies to you decides what your journey looks like, how long it takes and what it costs.
Visa route
Australia, Canada, China, the US, the UK, Dubai, Japan, New Zealand
You need permission before you go.
- Often a points system: age, education, work experience and English decide whether you qualify
- Your occupation usually has to be on an official list. If it isn't, there's no route
- A recognised language test, and in many countries an assessment of your diplomas and work experience by a designated body
- Part of the waiting time is beyond your control: you lodge your application and wait for an invitation or decision
- Doorlooptijd
- 12 to 24 months
- Aanvraagkosten
- Several thousand euros in application fees
De valkuil
Meeting the official minimum doesn't mean you'll be invited. On the Australian 189 route (the permanent visa for skilled workers without a sponsor) the legal floor is 65 points. The score at which you actually get invited differs per occupation and is usually higher: in the June 2026 round 80 points or more for most occupations, with outliers up to 100. That gap between 'may take part' and 'gets chosen' is where most people lose time and money.
Administrative route
Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Italy, Sweden
You may live there. You just still have to arrange it.
- As an EU citizen you need no visa and no permission in advance
- Stay longer than three months and most countries require you to register. Where that duty is missing (France), you start the clock yourself with healthcare and the tax office
- The hard part is the order: you need each document to get the next one. And many counters work by appointment only
- Your own pace decides everything. There's no authority making you wait
- Doorlooptijd
- 3 to 9 months
- Aanvraagkosten
- Tens to a few hundred euros in fees
De valkuil
Because no visa is needed, people underestimate this journey time and again. But 'may stay' is not the same as 'settled'. Without a registration certificate you get stuck later at the bank, the tax office and the vehicle authority. And the tax side is often more complicated with an EU move than with a visa journey: where are you liable for tax, and what happens to your Dutch pension?
Roughly what emigrating costs
There's no amount that's right for everyone. It depends on where you're going, with how many people, and what you take. But the costs always fall into the same three blocks, and it pays to look at them separately.
Application and paperwork
€ 50 – € 15,000
This is where the two kinds of journey diverge the most. With an EU move this block stays limited to government fees of tens of euros. For Spain that's € 12 per person for your registration certificate, which also gives you your NIE, the Spanish number for foreigners. With a visa route this is the biggest fixed item, and there's no negotiating it down: the assessment of your diplomas and work experience, a language test per person, translations, police certificates, medical examinations and the visa fees themselves. Those fees alone are well over three thousand euros for Australia for one applicant, and every family member adds to them.
The move
€ 500 – € 15,000
This is where the costs vary most, and it's entirely up to you. Selling everything and starting again there costs almost nothing. Your own sea container to Australia costs many thousands of euros. Within Europe it's a lot cheaper, because everything goes by road instead of by sea. Taking pets and a car counts heavily here. They also have their own deadlines, months ahead.
The first months
€ 5,000 – € 20,000
This is the item people forget most often. Think of a deposit and rent in advance, a temporary furnished place while your household contents are on the way, a car, and simply living while no income is coming in yet. Keep a buffer for the time between arrival and the first salary. That time is almost always longer than expected.
As soon as you work it out, two things stand out. The visa fees are higher than almost anyone expects: for a family to Australia it's many thousands of euros, in government fees alone. And the first months after arrival, which almost nobody thinks of in advance, are often still the biggest item of the three.
Work it out for your situation
The amounts above are the outer limits. Your journey sits somewhere in between. The calculator first asks where you want to go, and then four things: with how many people you're going, whether your household contents come along, whether a pet has to come and whether the car comes. You see a range right away, with the fixed rates and the estimates shown separately.
Already know your destination? Then you can go straight there:
Why timing matters more than pace
Most people approach it as a list: tick off as much as possible as fast as possible. With emigrating that backfires. A document takes time to get, and after that it's only valid for so long. Apply for everything as early as possible, and the first one has expired by the time the last one comes in.
The clearest example is the police certificate. Australia asks for one from every country where you've lived twelve months or longer in the past ten years, counted from your sixteenth birthday. Getting a foreign certificate takes four to twelve weeks, so you want to start early. But it's valid for twelve months. And it has to be valid at the moment your application is assessed, not at the moment you lodge it. So applying too early is just as expensive as too late.
At the same time there are steps you should start as early as possible, because they take the longest. And there are steps that can only begin once something else is finished. If you don't know what waits on what, you end up waiting for the wrong thing at the wrong moment.
An emigration agency does that puzzle for you, and it's also why Vertrekklaar exists. We don't give you advice, we give you the order.
The mistakes made most often
Almost no journey strands on something unavoidable. It goes wrong on things that could be seen in advance.
- Assuming the official minimum
- With points systems the legal floor isn't the score you're invited at. Whoever aims for the minimum lodges and then hears nothing for years.
- Applying for documents too early
- In Australia, for example, police certificates and medical examinations are valid for twelve months. Whoever arranges them at the start of the journey gets to do them again at the end, and pay again.
- Wanting to start everything at once
- Some steps can only begin once another is finished. Where you can work in parallel, that's smart. Where you can't, it only produces waiting time and expired papers.
- Forgetting the partner moving along
- The paperwork is often in one name, life isn't. Can the partner who isn't the main applicant find work there? That decides whether the move succeeds at least as much as the application itself.
- Buying before you've lived there
- This is one of the most expensive mistakes Dutch emigrants make: buying a house in a country you only know from holidays, in a neighbourhood and a market you can't judge yet. Rent a year first.
- Putting off the tax side
- Where you become liable for tax, what happens to your Dutch pension, whether you keep your home: you make those decisions before departure, not after. Repairing afterwards is expensive or impossible.
Every step on one list, free
Not ready to start yet? Choose your destination and you get the departure checklist: every step in order, to print and tick off. With five mails about the pitfalls and the real costs. After that, an occasional email, including one offer. You can switch it off at any time.
You only spend the winter away, you have already left, or you are coming back
- Leaving with AOW and a pension: put countries side by side →
- What the Netherlands still asks of you, on your dates →
- Wintering abroad without emigrating by accident →
- Coming back is not a formality →
- Leaving the Netherlands as an expat →
Or the usual route after all, but with a situation of your own
Getting concrete
Already know where you want to go? Then here you'll find, per country, the details a general explanation can't give.
Australia
The three visa routes, the points system, the skills assessment and the 60-day clock. Five phases, fully worked out.
Spain
NIE, empadronamiento (registering with the town hall) and the green registration certificate, in an order where you never have to start over at a counter.
Portugal
The NIF you already arrange from the Netherlands, the CRUE at the municipality, and the exemption from ISV (vehicle tax) that saves thousands of euros. That last one only if you're in time.
France
There's no registration duty and no counter. That's exactly why you have to know the order yourself: the slow healthcare enrolment, the proof of address, the carte grise (the vehicle registration).
Curaçao
Same passport, a different country: the declaration by operation of law, Kranshi and the sédula, and household contents that cross the ocean by sea container.
England
A sponsor you first have to find, the Immigration Health Surcharge you pay up front, and the TOR1 you need done before shipping.
41 more countries and topics
Germany
The Anmeldung, registering your address, is the proof almost every other German step wants to see first. Then there's the choice between GKV and PKV (public or private health insurance), which you make only once.
United States
There's no general route. Dutch entrepreneurs do have a door of their own: the E-2 visa from the 1957 treaty, without an employer and without a draw.
Switzerland
Fourteen days for the registration, three months for the health insurance that takes effect retroactively. And permanent residence after five years, thanks to a treaty from 1935.
Canada
You're ranked instead of assessed, and the draws for French speakers close well over a hundred points lower than the regular ones. Health insurance starts differently per province.
New Zealand
There's no ranking, just a threshold: six points, and you hear right away whether you meet it. Almost every route does start with an accredited employer, one the government has approved for this.
Estonia
You don't have to apply for anything: one free registration gives five years of residence rights. After that you do almost everything by logging in, because Estonia put its whole government online.
Denmark
Registering costs zero kroner. The money goes where there's no counter: up to six months' rent up front (deposit plus prepaid rent), and a car tax of up to 150% with no exemption for people moving.
Sweden
Registration with the migration agency was abolished in 2014. The pitfall is the housing market, with years-long queues and a sublet market with its own rules.
Norway
Free movement via the EEA, but the border is real. Your household contents pass free with a declaration, the car and alcohol never. In your first year you can choose PAYE: a flat tax rate of 25%.
Dubai
No points and no lottery: the application takes days, not months. You pay no income tax, and you build up nothing either. We set out that trade honestly for you.
Japan
There's no points threshold. Your employer applies for the Certificate of Eligibility (the statement that you qualify), and after that the visa is a week's work. The real selection is the job, and the language.
China
A threshold, not a contest: a bachelor plus two years' experience, or sixty points. The whole chain takes weeks. On the other side: this is the country where the Netherlands arranges the least for you.
Aruba
Same passport, but a stricter door than Curaçao: for five years you need a permit. In return your accrued AOW comes along in full, and there's Dutch-language education for the children.
Austria
Three deadlines and you're in: three days for the Meldezettel (registering your address), one month for the car, four months for the residence document. On top of that, fourteen monthly salaries and a pension treaty from 1970 without withholding tax.
Bonaire
A special municipality of the Netherlands, and still a real emigration: IND declaration, five-day clock, sédula (the ID card). The system is mild, but the safety net is hard: there's no unemployment benefit.
Saba
The smallest piece of the Netherlands: 2,270 people, English as the everyday language, and everything via Sint Maarten: the container, the dog and the specialist. The same chain as Bonaire: IND declaration, five-day clock, ID card. And a bank counter that is no certainty.
Singapore
No points for you, but points for your employer. The pass hangs on a salary that rises with your age. The tax treaty assigns your pension and AOW to Singapore, if you receive them there, and Singapore taxes none of it. But a single person gets the married rate of the AOW, almost a third less gross.
Sint Eustatius
The Caribbean Netherlands at its smallest: 3,300 inhabitants, English at every counter, and no direct flight. You, the container and the hospital go via Sint Maarten. The same chain as Bonaire: IND declaration, five days, sédula.
Argentina
A residencia temporaria at Migraciones, applied for in Argentina itself after entering as a tourist, on a pension of five minimum wages, about 1,150 euros a month. Permanent after three years. Your AOW comes along in full, even if you go alone. The tax treaty gives your occupational pension to Argentina, but only once you're a resident there after twelve months. No CAK.
Belize
Into the country without a visa, thirty days at a time, and staying with a route: the QRP of the Belize Tourism Board from 40 on 2,000 dollars a month from outside Belize, permanent residence after a year of living there, or a work permit. There's no tax treaty: the Netherlands keeps taxing your AOW and pension. But because of a treaty on benefits your AOW goes along in full, even if you go alone. No CAK.
Bolivia
Into the country without a visa, and staying with a permanencia from the migration service for work or family. The law has no pension route. If you bring a container, first get a visa from the embassy in The Hague: customs asks for it to let your household goods in duty-free. There's no tax treaty: the Netherlands keeps taxing your AOW and pension. Whoever goes alone gets the AOW for married people. No CAK, but from sixty free public healthcare.
Brazil
A permit on 2,000 dollars of pension a month, in advance at the consulate or on the spot at the Polícia Federal. The treaty covers only half: tax yes, but if you go alone you get the married rate of the AOW, and there is no CAK: your healthcare doesn't run via the Netherlands. The car stays here: used cars aren't allowed into Brazil.
Romania
No visa, but a counter. The IGI, the immigration office, issues the registration certificate the same day, with the personal number the bank and health fund ask for. The surprise is in the treaty: the Netherlands keeps taxing your pension, so don't apply for an exemption.
Dominican Republic
A residence visa in The Hague on a pension of 1,500 dollars or 2,000 dollars from capital a month, and within thirty days to the migration service. That income is exempt from tax there. But there is no tax treaty: the Netherlands keeps taxing your AOW and pension. No CAK, and whoever goes alone gets the AOW for married people.
Chile
A residencia temporal online at the migration service, as a retiree from the Netherlands, without a fixed pension amount. Within thirty days of arrival to the Registro Civil for your cédula. The tax treaty lets the Netherlands tax your AOW and pension, and for the first three years Chile only taxes income from Chile. The AOW goes along in full, and with a Dutch pension you may join the Chilean healthcare system.
Colombia
A visa online, from the Netherlands or from Colombia itself, on a pension of three Colombian minimum wages, about 1,465 euros a month. Within fifteen days of arrival to Migración Colombia for your cédula. The 2022 tax treaty isn't in force yet: the Netherlands keeps taxing your AOW and pension, and Colombia taxes your worldwide income. No CAK, and whoever goes alone gets the AOW for married people.
Ecuador
A visa online, from the Netherlands or from Ecuador itself, on a pension of three basic wages, 1,446 dollars a month. Your AOW goes along in full, even if you go alone. There is no tax treaty: the Netherlands keeps taxing your AOW and pension, and Ecuador taxes your worldwide income, unless you get the residencia fiscal temporal within 120 days of entry. No CAK, and a used car may not enter the country.
Philippines
Into the country without a visa for thirty days, and staying with a route: the SRRV of the Philippine Retirement Authority from 40, with a deposit from 15,000 dollars, the 13(a) visa if you married a Filipino or Filipina, or work. Your AOW goes along in full, even if you go alone. The tax treaty gives your occupational pension to the Philippines, which doesn't tax it. No CAK, and a used car is in principle not allowed into the country.
Guyana
No visa: you enter as a visitor and get at most three months, with two extensions. There's no route for retirees; you stay with work through an employer, business, study or a Guyanese partner. There's no tax treaty and no social security treaty: the Netherlands keeps taxing your AOW and pension, and whoever goes alone gets the AOW for married people. No CAK, and a car with the steering wheel on the left won't be registered.
Israel
Who you are decides your route: as an Israeli back without a visa, under the Law of Return aliyah through the Jewish Agency, as the partner of an Israeli through the Population and Immigration Authority, or with a work visa. A route on a pension alone doesn't exist. The AOW goes along in full, and AOW and occupational pension are taxed in Israel; your pension from government service stays in the Netherlands. No CAK, and a Dutch person who makes aliyah can lose Dutch nationality.
Nigeria
Who you are decides your route: as a Nigerian back without a visa, as the spouse of a Nigerian with a permanent residence visa and a free residence card, with a work visa through your employer, from 65 with a visa for retirees, or as an investor from 250,000 dollars. The travel advice is red for large parts of the north and the south-east, and orange for the rest. Your AOW and a government pension stay taxed in the Netherlands, your occupational pension is taxed by Nigeria. No CAK, and whoever goes alone gets the AOW for married people.
Paraguay
No visa in advance: you enter as a visitor and apply for the residencia temporal in Paraguay itself, in person at the migration service. After two years you switch to the permanente, without a fixed income amount. There's no tax treaty, so the Netherlands keeps taxing your AOW and pension, but Paraguay only taxes income from Paraguay. Through a 2005 treaty even whoever goes alone keeps the full AOW. No CAK.
Peru
A calidad migratoria online at Migraciones, applied for from outside Peru, as a rentista on at least 1,000 dollars net a month. Then the visa at the consulate and in Peru the carné de extranjería. There's no tax treaty: the Netherlands keeps taxing your AOW and pension, and Peru taxes your worldwide income from the year after 183 days, although the law calls a pension from work untaxed. No CAK, and whoever goes alone gets the AOW for married people.
Uruguay
No visa in advance: you enter as a visitor and apply for the residencia in Uruguay itself, without a fixed income amount. There's no tax treaty, so the Netherlands keeps taxing your AOW and pension, but Uruguay doesn't tax that pension. And there is a social security treaty: even whoever goes alone keeps the full AOW. No CAK, and a used car may not enter the country.
Zanzibar
Part of Tanzania: your residence permit comes from the Tanzanian immigration service, your home and your work permit are arranged by Zanzibar itself. From 55 there's a permit for retirees, and whoever buys a home in a project approved by ZIPA can get one too. Or you live there half of every year and stay registered in the Netherlands. There's no tax treaty: your AOW and pension stay taxed in the Netherlands. No CAK, and whoever goes alone gets the AOW for married people.
Belgium
Close by, and still a real emigration: annex 19 (your application at the town hall), the community police officer and the EU card. Thanks to the BPM refund, the car sometimes even makes you money. Whoever keeps working in the Netherlands takes half their safety net along.
Finland
Three registrations in a row: Migri (immigration), DVV (population register) and Kela (social security). Online, each office wants proof from the other first, and the right order gets you out of that loop. Above all, do the car sums up front: the relocation exemption on the car tax hasn't existed since 2015.
Italy
Codice fiscale, home, residenza, health card: in that order, because every step is the proof for the next. For tax, Italy is one of the friendliest countries on the site. AOW and occupational pension are taxed only in Italy (an ABP pension from government service is not), and in the South there's the 7% regime.
Greece
AFM (tax number), home, certificate, AMKA (social security number). The certificate comes from the police, not the municipality. For pensioners there's a sum to do: 7% on all your foreign income for fifteen years, if your pension isn't from the ABP.
Thailand
Your stay is granted anew every year here, and four clocks run at once. Two things Dutch people underestimate: there's no healthcare treaty, so you arrange and pay for your health insurance yourself, and since 2024 Thailand taxes the foreign income you bring into the country.
The knowledge base
All articles per country and per phase, with the date they were last checked.
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