The step-by-step plan
Emigrating: what to arrange when
Every journey goes through the same five phases, whether you're going to Spain or to Australia. Below they are in order — because almost every expensive mistake comes from applying for something too early.
Laatst bijgewerkt: August 2026
The five phases in brief
Orientation — Can it be done, is it allowed, and do we really want it?
Permission — May you live there, and if so: how do you record that?
Paperwork — Everything that has to be proven
Departure — Closing the Netherlands and moving your life
Landing — From arriving to living
Below, every phase is written out, with what goes wrong and why.
The departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Choose your destination and we'll send you the departure guide: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that only a short update when something in your country really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
The structure
Five phases, wherever you're going
Whether you're moving to Australia or to Spain: the journey has the same shape. What differs is the content of phase two — and that difference then decides almost everything.
- 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: whether there's a route for you at all, roughly what the journey is going to cost, and whether everyone coming along really stands behind it. This phase produces no paperwork and therefore feels like nothing is happening — while this is where most journeys are saved or lost. Whoever is honest here about feasibility saves themselves thousands of euros in assessments later 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 the phase where the two kinds of journey diverge. Going to a country outside the EU, you need a visa and have to show you meet the requirements — often with a points system, an occupation list and a language test. Going within the EU, you may simply live there, but you have to register as soon as you stay longer than three months, and there are requirements attached to that too.
- 03
Paperwork
Everything that has to be proven
Birth certificates, diplomas, work experience, police certificates, medical examinations, translations. On its own each document is a formality; together they form a puzzle in which lead times and validity periods work against each other. This is the phase where most avoidable mistakes are made — almost always by applying 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 the move itself: sell, ship or take along — a choice that can make your budget differ by ten thousand euros. Both tracks run in parallel 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 is more important here than people expect, because the registrations hook into each other: no bank card without an address, without a tax number your wages are taxed at the maximum, no school without municipal registration. Whoever knows the right order is settled in two weeks where others take two months.
Per destination
And then the step-by-step plan for your country
The five phases above apply everywhere; what's in them differs per destination. On every country page the journey is worked out with the deadlines, the counters and the documents of that country — free to read, just like this page.
What you get
This is in it — all of it, for that one price
No modules, no upgrades, no subscription. Pay once for your destination, and this is ready for you:
A step-by-step plan for your situation
Who's coming, what's coming, where you want to go — the plan contains only the steps that apply to you, in the order that's right.
A document vault that watches dates
Your documents safe in one place, with the expiry dates next to them — and a warning before something expires while you wait for something else.
All running deadlines in one place
The clock bar shows every running deadline: what's ticking, how long is left, and what then has to happen.
An alert when it's needed
No newsletter, no noise — an email at the moment something is really asked of you. Otherwise it stays quiet.
The cost tool on your choices
The same calculation model as on this site, but on your real situation: children, household contents, pet, car.
Your partner watches and ticks along
A login of their own for your partner, on the same journey. You emigrate together — so you tick off together.
Sources and counters under every step
Every step carries the official sources it rests on and the links to the counter where you need to be. Checking is clicking, and so is filing.
Ready to begin?
Thirty-six journeys are fully ready — Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Canada, Panama, United States, Suriname, China, Dubai, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, with the timing watched. Pay once, and it's yours.