Citizen Service Number

To work in the Netherlands, your employee needs a Citizen Service Number (Burger Service Nummer or BSN for short). The BSN is listed in Dutch passports and Dutch identity documents.

For employees from abroad who don't have a BSN yet, the following applies:

• Employees staying in the Netherlands for less than 4 months need to register at one of the 19 municipalities with a Non-Resident Registration (Registratie Niet-ingezetenen, RNI) desk.
• Employees staying in the Netherlands for 4 months or longer need to register with the municipality in the Personal Records Database (Basisregistratie Personen, BRP).

After registration, your employee will receive a copy of the registered information, including their BSN. For more information about RNI and BRP, you can visit rvig.nl (only available in Dutch).

When applying for a BSN, employees must:

• provide a valid and original identification document for identification purposes
• have a valid residence endorsement in their passport indicating permission to work in the Netherlands, if they come from a non-EU/EEA country
  Although Switzerland is a non-EU/EEA country, employees from Switzerland do not need a residence endorsement in their passport.