Leaving the Netherlands: Deregistration Guide 2026

Deregistering, or uitschrijven from the BRP (Basisregistratie Personen), is a single administrative act, but it affects health insurance, tax, benefits, pension and more. This guide goes through the main steps and the official sources for each. The checklist from NederlandWereldwijd is the government’s own overview: it stresses that many things are harder to arrange from abroad, so do them before you leave.

For a broader picture of leaving the country, our leaving Netherlands expat checklist covers employer, visa and schooling matters. This article goes deeper on the administrative steps.

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What the BRP is and why deregistration matters

The BRP is the Dutch population register. If you stay abroad for more than 8 months within a year, you must tell your municipality, even if you keep your home in the Netherlands. Your registration then changes from resident (ingezetene) to non-resident (niet-ingezetene). The 8 months do not need to be consecutive, and not deregistering when you should can lead to a fine (NederlandWereldwijd).

Your deregistration is passed on to organisations such as the Belastingdienst, your health insurer and pension funds, so they can contact you. It can have consequences for allowances, benefits and your AOW build-up. Your BSN stays valid, and your details move to the Registration of Non-Residents (RNI), which is part of the BRP (NederlandWereldwijd).

Step 1: Deregister at your municipality

When to go

Deregister in the last 5 days before you leave, and not earlier (NederlandWereldwijd, Rijksoverheid). You give the country you are moving to and, preferably, the address where you can be reached there. If you do not yet have an address, you can give it later.

How to do it

How you deregister differs per municipality, so check your municipality’s website. You must go in person if not all family members (such as your partner and children) move to the same address. Ask for an international proof of deregistration, because you may need it to register abroad. The rules differ per country, and you only get the proof if your deregistration date is also the date you emigrate.

After you leave

Give your new address abroad to the RNI when you have it, and select the RvIG in your MijnOverheid Berichtenbox if you want a yearly reminder to check your details.

Step 2: Sort your DigiD first

Do this before you deregister. The government advises:

• Apply for DigiD before you deregister if you do not have it. It is easier to apply from the Netherlands than from abroad, and if you have already moved you can only apply at a desk
• Add your mobile number to your DigiD account and activate SMS check
• Download and activate the DigiD app, and add the ID check, so you can log in to organisations that use DigiD
• If your phone number will change when you move, update it in DigiD before you cancel your old number

Download the documents you will need later, such as tax returns, pension statements and benefit letters, while you still have easy access.

Step 3: Health insurance

Your deregistration is passed on to your health insurer, but contact your insurer yourself. NederlandWereldwijd advises giving your insurer your move date, preferably 2 months before you leave, to avoid double costs. What you must do with your Dutch insurance depends on your situation, including where you are going and whether you will receive a Dutch pension or benefit. Use the check on nederlandwereldwijd.nl, and see the CAK pages for the arrangement for people with a Dutch pension or benefit.

Take care with supplementary insurance too: ask your insurer whether it ends automatically or needs a separate notice.

For a guide to the Dutch system, see our Dutch health insurance guide for expats. If you move to another country, check how you will be insured there from your first day.

Step 4: Tax return for the year of emigration

If you lived in the Netherlands for only part of the year because you emigrated, you file a tax return for the year of emigration, the M return (aangifte M). You can file online or use the paper form M. The Belastingdienst usually informs you within 3 months after filing, and has 3 years to process it (Belastingdienst).

You may also receive a conserverende aanslag, a preserving tax assessment, for pension and similar assets built up in the Netherlands. The Belastingdienst’s emigration checklist also covers adjusting any provisional assessment (voorlopige aanslag) and the tax position of a home you keep in the Netherlands.

Our expat tax return guide covers more detail on the tax return process.

Step 5: Benefits (toeslagen)

You do not have to give the Belastingdienst your new address, because your municipality passes it on. For the benefits themselves (Belastingdienst):

• Huurtoeslag: if you live abroad you are no longer entitled to it, so stop it in Mijn toeslagen
• Zorgtoeslag: you can sometimes keep it, for example if you keep your Dutch health insurance. If you are no longer entitled, stop it in Mijn toeslagen
• Kinderopvangtoeslag: you can sometimes still get it abroad, under conditions. If you are no longer entitled, stop it in Mijn toeslagen
• Kindgebonden budget: only if you receive child benefit (kinderbijslag) from the SVB. Otherwise call the BelastingTelefoon to stop it, because you cannot do this in Mijn toeslagen

Stop benefits you are no longer entitled to on time, so you do not have to repay them later. For eligibility rules see our zorgtoeslag and huurtoeslag guide for expats.

Step 6: Bank accounts

Refunds can arrive after you leave, for example from your insurer or the Belastingdienst, and a Dutch IBAN avoids cross-border fees. Ask your bank, before you leave, whether you can keep your account as a non-resident and what it costs. Banks differ, and policies change.

For transfers after leaving

Compare Wise for transfers after leaving →

A multi-currency account may be useful for receiving later euro refunds or deposits, but eligibility, account details and fees can change after moving country. Compare the live conversion cost and confirm that each payer accepts the account before closing a Dutch account.

Step 7: Pension, AOW and occupational pension

State pension (AOW)

For every year you are insured for the AOW you build up 2%. If you live outside the Netherlands you usually do not build up AOW, and each year you are not insured means a lower AOW later (SVB, NederlandWereldwijd). What you have built up is kept.

Voluntary insurance

You can take out voluntary AOW insurance with the SVB. You can apply from 2 months before you leave until 1 year after you start living or working abroad, and insure yourself for a maximum of 10 years (with exceptions). See our pension guide for leaving the Netherlands for the premium and examples.

Employer pension

Your employer pension stays with the pension provider. Give each provider your new address and check what you must arrange; the Rijksoverheid advises asking your pension fund. Mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl shows your pension rights in one place.

Our Dutch pension system guide for expats covers both AOW and employer pension.

Step 8: Phone and internet contracts

Check your contract’s end date and notice period in your agreement or your provider’s portal, and ask the provider what applies if you move abroad. Providers such as Ziggo publish their own terms. Return any rented equipment as the contract requires.

Keep your Dutch SIM active until your DigiD is secured on the app, because DigiD can use your phone number for text-message checks.

Step 9: Rental contract

For a rental home, you cancel with a registered letter (aangetekende brief) and keep the receipt. You can also cancel by email or ordinary letter, and the cancellation is valid if the landlord confirms receipt. The notice period is usually 1 month before you leave, and the period in your contract applies. You do not have to give a reason. With a fixed-term contract of 2 years or shorter you may cancel before the end date; with a contract longer than 2 years you may not (Rijksoverheid).

Your landlord must repay your deposit (waarborgsom) within 14 days after the end of the tenancy, without interest. The landlord may only offset certain costs, such as unpaid rent or damage you caused, and not normal wear and tear (Rijksoverheid). If you disagree, see our Dutch rental contract rights guide for expats.

Step 10: Mail and addresses

Set up mail forwarding with your postal provider and update your address directly with the organisations that matter: your bank(s), pension fund(s), the SVB, insurers and any subscriptions. Your municipality passes your new address to the Belastingdienst, so you do not need to give it separately for benefits.

Step 11: Car

If you take your car abroad, it must first be deregistered from the Dutch vehicle register, which is called exporting. You report the export at an RDW inspection station or a recognised export company, and then stop your car insurance, because it is no longer valid once the car is out of the register. Insure the car temporarily for the journey, then register it in your new country. You may be able to get part of the bpm refunded, but only if you move to an EU country (NederlandWereldwijd).

If you leave the car in the Netherlands, you can suspend it for 1, 2 or 3 years, or put it in someone else’s name before you deregister. If you do neither, the RDW ends the registration in your name after a period, and the car may no longer be used on public roads (NederlandWereldwijd). See our car registration guide.

Step 12: Pets

If you travel with a pet, check the requirements of your destination country with the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) well before departure. Requirements for non-EU countries vary a lot by destination.

Step 13: Residence permit and documents

If you have a residence document and leave the Netherlands, you must hand it in to the IND, because it belongs to the Dutch state (NederlandWereldwijd). Check that your passport and driving licence are valid in your destination country and renew them before you leave if they expire soon. If you need Dutch documents such as a birth certificate abroad, they often need to be legalised.

Staying connected to Dutch services from abroad

After leaving, you may still need Dutch government services, for example the M return or checking pension statements. Keep access to DigiD and your bank app. If you log in on networks you do not control, such as hotel or cafe Wi-Fi, a VPN encrypts that connection.

Encrypt your connection on public Wi-Fi with NordVPN →

Departure timeline

3 months before

• Confirm your departure date and notify your employer
• Check what your destination country requires (visa, documents)
• Contact your pension providers; decide about voluntary AOW insurance (applications open 2 months before you leave)
• Review your rental notice period
• Check phone and internet contract end dates
• Check passport, ID and driving licence validity
• Start organising Dutch documents you need

2 months before

• Tell your health insurer your move date
• Apply for DigiD if you have none; add your mobile number and activate SMS check
• Download and activate the DigiD app and add the ID check

1 month before

• Check your municipality’s procedure for deregistering
• Ask your bank about keeping your account as a non-resident
• Arrange mail forwarding
• Arrange the export or sale of your car
• Download documents from MijnOverheid, the Belastingdienst and Mijnpensioenoverzicht

Last 5 days

• Deregister at your municipality and ask for an international proof of deregistration
• Stop benefits you are no longer entitled to in Mijn toeslagen
• Hand in your residence document to the IND if you have one

After leaving

• Give your new address to the RNI and your pension providers
• File the M return for the year of emigration
• Check your deposit repayment (within 14 days after the tenancy ends)

Final thought

Start early, work through the list in order and keep copies of everything. Use the cost-of-living calculator to compare your Dutch costs to your destination while planning your move.