Deregistering with the municipality: when exactly, and what stops then

Deregistering with the municipality is a ten-minute act, and yet it's the step with the most consequences of your whole departure. Not because of the act itself, but because of everything attached to it: your health insurance, your allowances, your AOW accrual (the Dutch state pension). This article is about the when and the what — so that you arrange the consequences before those ten minutes instead of discovering them after.

This applies to every destination, by the way: the rules are exactly the same for Spain as for Australia.

When it's compulsory, and when it's possible

The obligation: if you stay outside the Netherlands for more than eight months within a period of a year, you have to deregister. Those eight months don't have to be consecutive — two periods of five months in one year count too. Whoever emigrates is above that by definition, so for you it's not a choice.

The timing: you deregister with your own municipality, from five days before your departure until the day of departure itself at the latest. Earlier isn't possible, and that's just as well — you don't want to sit for weeks without a registration in the Netherlands while you still live there.

What happens to your data

You don't disappear from the administration. Your data moves from the residents' part of the Personal Records Database (BRP) to the Non-Residents Records Database (RNI) — the same register, a different department. Your citizen service number (BSN) simply remains valid, and that's important: you still need your BSN for the tax return for your emigration year and for every later contact with the Dutch government.

When deregistering, give your new address if you already have it — then the government knows where to send post about assessments and pension.

When deregistering, ask right away for an international proof of deregistration. Foreign authorities may ask for it at your registration there, and it's the kind of document you easily get at the counter and can later only obtain laboriously from abroad.

What stops on the day of deregistration

This is the list you want arranged before those ten minutes:

• Your health insurance. The Dutch basic insurance is tied to living or working in the Netherlands; first arrange your cover on the other side, so that no gap falls.
• Allowances and child benefit. Stop them yourself as of the departure date — allowances that keep running are reclaimed, and you only notice that months later.
• Your AOW accrual. That stops as soon as you no longer live or work in the Netherlands. The SVB can show you what that means and what voluntary continuation costs.
• Voting, DigiD renewal, municipal services change route — it's all still possible from abroad, but through other counters.

And keep your DigiD active before you leave: you'll need it from abroad, to begin with for next year's tax return.

The order in your last week

First arrange the healthcare cover and the cancellations, only then deregister, and have the deregistration date match your actual departure. For whoever goes to Spain, this is also the moment by which the NIE should already be in — after all, you apply for that while you still live in the Netherlands.