BSN

(please note this post is a late translation of the BSN Italian post from 21st October)

It's here...finally!

My BSN has finally arrived!

This means that I finally EXIST. BSN ergo sum.

I can open a bank account, subscribe to a mobile service plan, get a Health Insurance, go to the doctor...

I know this kind of "bureaucratic" posts is not very popular, but I am posting it for someone who, in the future, might need to go through this process.

If you move to the Netherlands from another country, you have to register within 5 days after your arrival. You need to register if you are staying in the Netherlands for at least four months within a period of six months.

You have to register personally. Your partner and children also have to attend, if they are moving with you.
 
Documents needed for a BSN application:

• valid identification (ID or passport)
• a lease or deed of your house. If you do not have one of these documents, you must have written and signed permission from the owner of the property, together with a copy of his or her ID.
• a recent birth certificate (when born abroad)
• a wedding certificate (if and when married abroad)

If you do not have EU/EER nationality, you need to apply for a residence permit at the Naturalisation and Immigration office (IND).

If your stay is shorter than four months, you can apply for a ‘Sofi-nummer' (Tax and Social Security number).

To find out where you should go to apply for the BSN, google the website of the municipality where you are going to live, or check this link.

It's a good idea to call and schedule an appointment in advance, so that you won't have to wait. On the agreed date, just show up with all the documents and in 15 minutes you will be out again!

From the day you apply for the BSN, a countdown is started: for example you have 4 months to get a health insurance or apply for the 30% ruling.

The BSN is issued within a few weeks, but waiting times change a lot between cities: while Amsterdam is super fast (many acquaintances reported they got it on the very same day of the application!), in Utrecht I had to wait for 15 days. Keep that in mind when planning your relocation, as without the BSN you won't be able to get paid, and many companies have tight deadlines for your data to be inserted in their payroll.

The BSN is nothing more than a number. Weirdly enough, it will be sent via standard mail, not e-mail. It's sad that they are waisting such a useless amount of paper in a civilized country like the Netherlands...but in this respect the country is not as advanced as I would have thought...for example they do not separate their rubbish! And, they always ask you if you want a receipt in shops, but they'll print it anyway, and throw it away if you say "no"...what is this???

Lol, enough for today, see you soon!

11 days to go

Here I am with some updates!

I guess the last two posts were a bit boring for those of you who are not looking for a job in the Netherlands and are only here for a sneak peek into my little adventure...today, to make up for that, I'm telling you what's been going on over the past days.

I am leaving on Sunday September 29th, from Milan, flying Easyjet. It's a journey of hope, with 2 luggages, 1 train, 1 bus, 1 flight, and 1 more train.

I can hear you say now...."what on earth are you doing this for?!"...ehrm...you're right :(

Sometimes I am so stingy (especially when it comes to flights) that, just to save a few bucks, I can embark on journeys that would make Frodo shiver. On top of that, 3 days after the booking I was quite disappointed to find in my inbox the KLM newsletter announcing seasonal offers on flights to Amsterdam. Ouch.

But let bygones be bygones, I've stocked up on books and I have enough readings for all that traveling. However, there're still many entries on my to-do list!

First: find a house. Initially I wanted to start looking for an apartment once in Utrecht, so that I could see the neighbourhoods and be aware of distances, etc. Therefore I booked a flat for 2 weeks on Airbnb. Sadly, it is a bit costly...I tried to look for something cheaper, and I was even willing to share a flat with a woman, her two children and another tenant, but things didn't work out and I "fell back" on a more expensive solution. This miniature studio, with burners in the middle of the entrance/living room/kitchen and no extractor fan, clearly has a high opinion of itself and adjusted the price on its ego, not size.

Second: get my documents in order. I started to get information on the bureaucratic steps I need to take to lawfully live in the netherlands, and I found out about the existence of this mystic number: the BSN (Burger Service Nummer). Despite the name, it is not Mc Donald's take-away line, but the expat's holy grail in the Netherlands. Without the BSN in the Netherlands YOU DO NOT EXIST. You cannot rent a place, open a bank account, work, get paid, or go to the doctor.

Our good-natured fiscal code is no match.

As you might have grasped, getting a BSN it's a necessary step for any other task, and the sooner you get it, the better. I then started to chase this magic number, and I found to my surprise that one of the requirements is being in a rental contract. Ah-ah. Loving this catch-22 situations.

I asked my temporary Airbnb host to sign me a document where he declares that I live at his place, and of course he turned me down: off-the books sublet is not just an Italian plague.

All right. After this I started looking for a different accommodation where they would let me register my contract. Waiting until I found a final accommodation was not really an option, as this might take some time and in the meantime I would be unable to open a bank account and receive my salary. Also, as I am quite restless, I already had scheduled an appointment with the Utrecht Municipality on the day after my arrival, to register my BSN. I didn't really want to reschedule that. So there I was, quite in a hurry to find someone willing to declare that no, Linda does not live under a bridge.

Luckily enough, one of my future colleagues is a super duper nice Italian guy who is really helping me a lot with my relocation. He asked his landlord if I can register my address at his place, and the landlord said YES! See how nice people are in the Netherlands???

Now I feel relieved!

The adventure got a happy ending, but I still learnt a lesson: do not wait till the last minute, start early instead!

So I had a second thought on my house-hunt project and I started looking for a long term accommodation from Italy. I was happy to find that rental prices are not as high as I had feared: I mean, they do ARE high, but not as high as I had figured.

Let's say that if you are willing to share a students' house with 3 other people, you might get a room starting at 300 € (of course it's not the Hilton and it's not Amsterdam). The closer you get to the city-center, the higher the number of housemates, and the cuter the room, the higher is the price you'll have to pay. Still the budget I gave myself (which, to be honest, was scaring the shit out of me) is now looking more than adequate and this is heartening.

A few notes on house-hunting in the Netherlands:

• You do not get many replies (so far I only got 3 replies out of the 20-something applications I sent). Is it because Italians are not regarded as good housemates? Why, when we know how to make pasta and other such stereotypes. Meh.
• Visiting a house before renting it is a girlie thing. There is even a "viewing" field in every ad, and very often the answer is "NO". Ain't pics enough? Get lost. I must admit I am not so annoyed by this habit, as it comes in pretty handy when you look for a house from abroad.

On Saturday I had a sort of Skype interview with the owner of a flat where I might rent a room. I thought it would be something of a chat, just to avoid exchanging emails, but it ended up feeling as a test. When we hung up I was quite tense. They were lovely, but had I knew that the call was so important to get the room, I would at last straightened my hair...

Soooo....here I am, fingers crossed, hoping I get the room... Pleasepleaseplease say yes!

The location is great, the house is super cute, my hopefully future housemate is a stunning blonde and a sweetie, the rent is fair, everything is perfect... There is only one tiny downside to this is place, and that's that it is only available in November, which means I should start looking for another temporary accommodation for October, but they were kind enough to say that I could stay at their place for a few days before I take the room...

Guys, please, cheer on me!!!

Sorry for the extra-long post. I'll try to write less but more often ;)

Until next time!

Linda