Keeping a bank account and DigiD: the two lines you never cut

Deregistering with the municipality feels like pulling the door shut behind you, but two lines with the Netherlands you emphatically want to keep intact: a payment account and your DigiD. The M return for your emigration year, a refund from the Belastingdienst, your pension funds, cancelling that one forgotten subscription — it all runs over those two.

The bank account: a right in the EU, a favour outside it

If you move to Spain, Portugal or France, there's little to worry about: within the EU a bank may not refuse or drop you merely because you live in another member state. Do count on a foreign surcharge — the big banks charge a few euros a month extra for customers outside the Netherlands — and on package benefits that lapse.

Towards Australia it's different: outside the EU that right doesn't exist, and Dutch banks have cancelled accounts of non-EU customers in recent years (there's even a bill to restrict that — it hasn't been adopted yet). Rabobank explicitly names Australia as a country with "special rules". Report your move properly, ask in writing beforehand what the policy is, and make sure pension and Belastingdienst don't depend on one cancellable account.

Why you want to keep it: the Belastingdienst only pays refunds to a payment account in your name, and passing on a non-European account can only be done by letter with copies and weeks of processing. One Dutch (or other SEPA) account makes your tax life simpler for years.

DigiD: arrange it before you leave

The Belastingdienst says it itself in the emigration checklist: make sure your DigiD works before you leave. Your DigiD simply remains valid after deregistration — your BSN doesn't disappear, after all — and only lapses after three years of non-use. Two things to arrange now:

• Put the DigiD app on your phone and link your current number; the SMS check later accepts a foreign number too.
• Log in now and then over the coming year — the M return is a reason for that by itself.

Lost it or never had it, and already emigrated? Then it's still possible, but it's a little project: you apply for DigiD with your BSN, get a counter code (valid for 30 days) and collect your activation code via video calling with NederlandWereldwijd or at a counter — Sydney, Madrid and Paris have one; Portugal doesn't, there video calling is the route. Make the appointment first and only then apply, otherwise your code expires in the queue.

The rule of thumb for both: if your situation changes, change the line along with it — new phone number in the app, new address at the bank and your funds. A line you maintain costs a few euros a month; a line you lose costs letters, copies and months.