GlobeQuest
Legal & ID🇳🇱 Eindhoven, Netherlands

Residence permit, BRP registration and the BSN that unlocks everything

Two routes converge on one number. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens simply register their Eindhoven address and receive a BSN. Everyone else needs a residence permit first, and for professionals here that is almost always the employer-filed kennismigrant permit, which only an IND-recognised sponsor can lodge. Eindhoven has no IND desk of its own — the nearest is 's-Hertogenbosch — but the Holland Expat Center South puts the municipality and the IND in one building, so registration, biometrics and permit collection can happen in a single appointment. Until the BSN exists you cannot legally be paid, insured or fully banked.

Total cost
Registration and DigiD are free. The highly skilled migrant permit fee is normally carried by the employer; the orientation-year permit and the DAFT self-employment route are paid by the applicant. Legalisation and sworn translation of a birth certificate is the cost people forget, and it is charged in the issuing country.
Time needed
EU citizens: as fast as an appointment can be booked. Non-EU: roughly two to six weeks for the permit through a recognised sponsor, then the appointment, then about three working days for the DigiD code — and up to a week more for the BSN if you live outside Eindhoven itself.
Validity
The highly skilled migrant permit runs for the contract term up to five years and is renewable while the indexed salary threshold is met; a change of employer requires the new recognised sponsor to file again. The orientation year is a single non-renewable twelve months. DAFT runs two years and extends to five. The BSN is permanent and DigiD does not expire.
Verified
August 2026
High confidence·People moving to Eindhoven from abroad. Immigration is national and run by the IND; registration is municipal and run by gemeente Eindhoven, which routes knowledge workers through the Holland Expat Center South. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens need no permit and go straight to registration.

Before you start

  • For non-EU professionals: a contract with an IND-recognised sponsor (erkend referent), or an orientation-year, DAFT or self-employment basis
  • An address in Eindhoven or a participating Brainport municipality, with a signed rental or purchase contract showing the occupancy start date
  • A valid passport, or a national ID card for EU, EEA and Swiss citizens
  • An original birth certificate, legalised or apostilled and translated where the issuing country requires it

Step-by-step

  1. 1

    Confirm your employer is an IND-recognised sponsor before signing

    The highly skilled migrant route is legally open only to employers on the IND's recognised sponsor register. ASML, NXP, Signify, Thermo Fisher, VDL and TU/e are all long-standing sponsors with practised HR; a small Brainport supplier or a startup on the campus may not be. If the company is not on the register, this route does not exist for you regardless of your qualifications. The IND's legal decision period is 90 days and recognised-sponsor filings are usually decided well inside it.

    Via employerWho: Your employer, with you90-day legal maximum; usually much faster via a recognised sponsorPermit fee normally paid by the employer
  2. 2

    Book the Holland Expat Center South appointment from abroad

    The centre in Eindhoven combines the municipal registration counter and an IND service point. Book as soon as your address is fixed rather than after you land — this appointment is the critical path for salary, insurance and banking. Note that the centre serves the wider Brainport region, so you can use it whether you end up in Eindhoven, Veldhoven, Best, Waalre or Nuenen.

    OnlineWho: YouBook ahead; legally register within 5 days of arrivalFree
  3. 3

    Attend, register in the BRP and collect your BSN

    Bring your identity document, residence permit card or MVV where applicable, your signed tenancy contract and your original birth certificate. If you live in Eindhoven itself the BSN is issued at the appointment. If you live in one of the other participating municipalities it is issued by post, normally within about five working days — which is a real difference in your first fortnight and worth planning around.

    In personWho: You, at the Holland Expat Center SouthBSN at the appointment for Eindhoven residents; ≈5 working days by post otherwiseFree
  4. 4

    Apply for DigiD and wait for the postal code

    With a BSN and a registered address, apply at digid.nl. An activation letter arrives by post in about three working days, so your name has to be on the letterbox — a missing nameplate on a shared front door is a common and entirely avoidable delay. Add the DigiD app once activated; it is now the default for most services.

    OnlineWho: You≈3 working days for the postal codeFree
  5. 5

    Know where the nearest IND desk is for anything the centre cannot do

    The IND runs a small number of full desks — 's-Hertogenbosch, Amsterdam, The Hague and Zwolle. Expat centres cover biometrics, endorsement stickers and document collection for knowledge workers and their families; matters outside that category, and family members who are not covered by the sponsor's filing, may need the Den Bosch desk instead. Check which service you actually need on ind.nl before booking anything, because the two systems have separate appointment calendars.

    OnlineWho: YouBefore bookingFree to check

Documents you’ll need

  • Passport, or EU/EEA/Swiss national ID card
  • Residence permit card or MVV entry visa, for non-EU nationals
  • Signed rental or purchase contract showing the start date
  • Original birth certificate, legalised or apostilled and translated as required
  • Main occupant's consent letter and ID copy, if you are registering at a room in their home

Things most newcomers don’t know

Which municipality you live in changes when your BSN arrives, and in Brainport that is a real fork.

The expat centre issues the BSN on the spot for Eindhoven residents and by post within about five working days for residents of the other participating municipalities. Given that a very large share of people who move here for ASML end up in Veldhoven or Waalre because that is where the housing and the campus are, this is not an edge case. If your first salary run depends on the BSN, ask HR which side of the line your address falls.

Source: Holland Expat Center South

Eindhoven has no IND desk, and the expat centre is not a substitute for every purpose.

The IND runs full desks in only a handful of cities, of which 's-Hertogenbosch is the nearest to Eindhoven. Expat centres handle knowledge workers and their families — biometrics, stickers, document collection. Anything outside that category routes to a desk with its own calendar, half an hour up the A2. People discover this when a family member's application turns out not to be covered by the employer's filing.

Source: IND

A recognised sponsor is a property of the employer, not of the job, and Brainport is full of small suppliers.

The cluster's headline names are all recognised sponsors with experienced immigration teams. The machine-building and precision-parts suppliers around them — the firms that make the region work — are often twenty to two hundred people and may never have filed a permit. Being offered a genuinely excellent engineering job by a company that cannot sponsor you is a specifically Brainport disappointment. Ask before the second interview.

Source: IND

The expat scheme has its own wage norm, separate from the IND salary threshold, and a package can clear one and fail the other.

The IND assesses the highly skilled migrant requirement on your contractual gross salary. The Belastingdienst applies a different minimum taxable-salary norm for the expat ruling, and that norm is being raised for people who entered the scheme from 2024 onward. The two figures are set by different bodies, indexed on different schedules and published separately, so an offer engineered to hit one can miss the other. Have payroll confirm both current figures against your offer in writing before you sign.

Source: IND; Belastingdienst

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Waiting until arrival to book the expat centre appointment, then losing weeks with no BSN and therefore no salary payment.
  • Assuming the BSN is handed over on the day when you have actually registered in Veldhoven, Best or Waalre.
  • Signing for a room whose main occupant will not give written consent for you to register, which leaves you legally unregistered.
  • Bringing a birth certificate that has not been legalised or apostilled and translated, which the gemeente can and does refuse.
  • Assuming any Brainport employer can file a highly skilled migrant permit — only IND-recognised sponsors can.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.

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Sources

Last verified August 2026. Government processes change — always confirm critical details against the official source before acting.

More on settling into Eindhoven

Driving
Exchanging a licence inside 185 days, and why a car works better here than in the Randstad
Banking
Getting a Dutch IBAN, and living in a country that runs on debit
Health
Buying your own compulsory insurance, and finding a huisarts near a campus
Telecom
Mobile and home internet: no SIM registration, but the IBAN gates everything
Tax
Boxes 1, 2 and 3, the expat scheme, and the bills the city sends separately
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