How it works
How the Vertrekklaar step-by-step plan works
Every journey goes through the same five phases, whether you're going to Spain or to Australia. The plan puts the steps in order for your situation and keeps an eye on the deadlines. And a person reads along. Below you can see what that looks like.
01
Five phases, in order
The phases are orientation, permission, papers, departure and arrival. Almost every expensive mistake comes from applying for something too early or cancelling too late. The plan puts the steps in the order that is right for your country. Each step tells you which counter to go to, by when, and where it is officially written down.
- 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
02
Your choices decide which steps you see
After purchase, you answer a few questions on two short screens: who and what is coming along, what happens to your house and whether someone is staying behind. A step that doesn't apply to you won't appear. A step that only applies to you will. Change your mind, and the plan changes with you.
03
The dashboard: what you're doing now
One screen shows which phase you're in, what best to do next and how much is still open. Every step looks like the one below: the explanation, the facts and the sources, with a button to tick the step off and a button to ask a question. Your partner ticks along on their own account.
These are real screens from the site, made with the plan for Spain as the example.
04
The clocks: every deadline in one place
During an emigration, many deadlines run at the same time. A document expires, an invitation has a final date and your target date comes closer. The dashboard lists everything with an end date, with whatever expires first at the top. You get an email in good time. You keep your documents in the vault, with the date until which they are valid.
These are real screens from the site, made with the plan for Spain as the example.
05
A person who reads along
Stuck at a step, or is your situation slightly different? Every step has a button to ask me a question. I read along and answer within two working days. Would you rather talk? Then schedule fifteen minutes on the phone with me. What we discussed is in your plan, usually within a day. We also check every source twice a month. Whatever changes is in your plan the same week.
Does your departure date work?
Pick your country and your date. The check uses the real lead times of that plan.
Will your departure date work?
Choose your country and your date. You see how much time the plan needs and which steps take longest.
Look inside a step-by-step plan first
Phase 1 is fully open for every country, no account needed. Pick your country:
For our move to Australia, an emigration agency asked us over € 9,000. This plan costs € 499 there, once.
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.
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.
And then the step-by-step plan for your country
The five phases above apply everywhere. What's in them differs per destination. Every country page works out the journey for that country, with its deadlines, counters and documents. Those pages are free to read, just like this one.
This is in every step-by-step plan
You pay once for your destination. No subscription follows, and there's nothing to buy on top. This is then ready for you:
The plan
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.
Sources and counters under every step
Every step lists the official sources it rests on, and the links to the office where you need to be. One click and you're checking a source or at the office.
The cost calculator on your choices
The same calculation model as on this site, but on your real situation: children, household contents, pet, car.
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.
Sources and counters under every step
Every step lists the official sources it rests on, and the links to the office where you need to be. One click and you're checking a source or at the office.
The cost calculator on your choices
The same calculation model as on this site, but on your real situation: children, household contents, pet, car.
The watching
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.
A document vault that watches dates
Your documents are stored safely in one place, with the date until which each one is valid. If something is about to expire while you're waiting for something else, you get a warning in advance.
An alert when it's needed
You get an email when something is asked of you, when something in your plan changes, and at a few moments along the way. You don't get a newsletter.
And after arrival: the upkeep calendar
Your passport, your driving licence, the tax return before 1 May, your DigiD: what keeps coming back from the Netherlands afterwards, on your dates and in your own calendar. If a rule changes, you get an email if you tick the box.
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.
A document vault that watches dates
Your documents are stored safely in one place, with the date until which each one is valid. If something is about to expire while you're waiting for something else, you get a warning in advance.
An alert when it's needed
You get an email when something is asked of you, when something in your plan changes, and at a few moments along the way. You don't get a newsletter.
And after arrival: the upkeep calendar
Your passport, your driving licence, the tax return before 1 May, your DigiD: what keeps coming back from the Netherlands afterwards, on your dates and in your own calendar. If a rule changes, you get an email if you tick the box.
The person
A person reading along
Stuck at a step, or is your situation slightly different? Ask your question right there and you get a personal answer within two working days. Or schedule fifteen minutes on the phone with me: usually within a day, what we discussed is in your plan.
Your partner watches and ticks along
Your partner gets a login of their own on the same plan. That way you can both tick off steps.
All your cancellation letters in one go
Health insurance, rent, employer, school, bank, pension fund: enter your details once and every letter is ready, with the date by which it has to go out.
A person reading along
Stuck at a step, or is your situation slightly different? Ask your question right there and you get a personal answer within two working days. Or schedule fifteen minutes on the phone with me: usually within a day, what we discussed is in your plan.
Your partner watches and ticks along
Your partner gets a login of their own on the same plan. That way you can both tick off steps.
All your cancellation letters in one go
Health insurance, rent, employer, school, bank, pension fund: enter your details once and every letter is ready, with the date by which it has to go out.
Want to see what it looks like first? You can look inside the plan for every destination: every step by name, phase by phase, and one step opened in full with deadlines, counters and sources.
For our move to Australia, an emigration agency asked us over € 9,000. This plan costs € 499 there, once.
Ready to begin?
64 journeys are fully ready: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, and the plan keeps an eye on your deadlines. You pay once, and then it's yours.