Registration with the Gemeente

The first thing one is supposed to do after he/she arrives in a new country is to get registered with the municipality/government of the new country. It is very important here to comply with all the laws and get the documentation work correctly.

This is an article about how I got registered with the Gemeente in Netherlands (Holland) and the usual steps to follow:-

So, beginning with the first one ie Registration with the Gemeente(as the local municipality is called in Dutch). But before that, to make our work easier, we were provided with an Immigration lawyer that true to the name, made our immigration procedure smooth and easy. (In case you guys want his contact details, let me know..I don't want to post it all here and end up as a brand ambassador :D)

This lawyer had taken an appointment on our behalf with the IND (the Immigration and Naturalisation office). We went to the IND on the same day. It has a huge office in Rijswijk, just near the train station. The best thing with government offices in Holland is that they are well organised, with the people at the desk ready to help you at the drop of a hat. We had to get a sticker on our passport (work permit that is) and got done in 15mins flat..phew!!

Now that is some sense of time, I tell you.

Next day, it was time for the Gemeente, situated in Rotterdam central. This is a huge imposing building built in the 18th century. Once we entered this palatial place, we could see rows of counters at both the sides, with numbers on each. We took our waiting number from the reception and once our number was called, we walked up confidently to the counter. There was an old lady sitting across it, she gave me a warm smile and asked some general questions. I answered them all, like a school viva examination and smiled triumphantly on passing the test :D

After a few more data entries, photocopies and signatures, we were registered with them and hence became a part of the life at Holland. We were told that we will get our BSN(Burger Service Nummer) which is the Holland social security number in 3-4 weeks. Smiling we walked out of the building.

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