How to apply for unemployment benefit (WW) in NL

Unemployment benefit in the Netherlands is the WW-uitkering, paid by UWV (the employee insurance agency) under the Unemployment Insurance Act (Werkloosheidswet). It replaces part of your former wage while you look for new work. It is an employee insurance, tied to having been insured as an employee, not a means-tested payment. Two things decide almost everything: whether you meet the conditions on the day you become unemployed, and whether you apply inside a very short window.

You need a DigiD to apply, because the application runs through Mijn UWV. Check first that you are actually insured for unemployment in the Netherlands: UWV states this is usually so if you are or were employed by an employer, and Rijksoverheid adds that this normally means you work as an employee and have not yet reached the AOW pension age. Nationality is not itself a condition, but the practical position differs: EU, EEA and Swiss nationals have no permit to worry about, while a non-EU residence permit tied to an employer has its own IND rules that run separately from your UWV claim. If part of your recent work was in another EU or EEA country or Switzerland, gather that record too, because UWV says foreign employment history can affect your Dutch WW.

Your right to WW comes from being insured as an employee, but what happens around that claim depends on your status.

• EU, EEA or Swiss national

  You claim WW on the same conditions as any other insured employee, including the general requirement to stay in the Netherlands and be available for work while you receive the benefit. If you live in another country and worked here, UWV states that a fully unemployed cross-border worker applies in the country of residence, while a partly unemployed one applies in the Netherlands.

• Highly skilled migrant (kennismigrant)

  Claiming WW is a right that follows from being insured as an employee, and UWV decides it on the insurance conditions. Your permit is a separate matter decided by the IND. For a highly skilled migrant permit the IND states you have up to 3 months to find a new job, and that if you lost your job on or after 22 May 2026 and have held the permit for two years or more you get a maximum of 6 months. The search period cannot run longer than your permit is valid, and the IND may revoke the permit if no new employer has registered you by the end of it. These periods are the highly skilled migrant rules. If you hold a different work-related permit, check the search period on the IND page for that permit rather than assuming these figures apply.

• Part of your work history is in another EU or EEA country or Switzerland

  UWV states that employment history built up in other EU or EEA countries, Switzerland and some treaty countries may also affect your Dutch WW. The record is transferred with a PD U1 form issued by the institution of the country where you worked. Request the equivalent document from that country early, because UWV's own PD U1 service takes 6 to 8 weeks to issue one. Requesting it does not postpone your Dutch application window.

1. 1

   Check that you meet the WW conditions

   UWV sets the conditions. You must be insured for unemployment, which UWV states is usually so if you are or were employed by an employer. You must have worked on average at least 10 hours per week and lose 5 or more hours per week with no right to pay for those hours, or, if you worked on average fewer than 10 hours per week, lose at least half of those hours and the pay for them. You must also have worked at least 26 weeks in the 36 weeks before you became unemployed, be immediately available for paid work, and not have become unemployed through your own fault.

   Do this: Read UWV's conditions page and confirm the weeks condition and the lost-hours condition against your own contract and payslips before you apply.

   Documents needed

   • Employment contract or contracts
   • Recent payslips

   Processing time

   15 minutes

   Common mistake: People often assume the 26 weeks must be with one employer. UWV counts the weeks in which you worked in the 36 weeks before unemployment, so check the page before writing yourself off.

   Official source

   UWV · When you are entitled to WW
2. 2

   Apply through Mijn UWV inside the one-week window

   The application is online. You log in to Mijn UWV with DigiD and complete the WW application there. UWV accepts the application from one week before your first day of unemployment and no later than one week after that day. It states that if you are already unemployed for more than a week when you apply, you will probably receive a temporarily lower benefit or none at all.

   Do this: Log in to Mijn UWV with DigiD and submit the WW application, ideally in the week before your last working day.

   Documents needed

   • DigiD
   • Payslips
   • Employment contract
   • Bank account details (IBAN)
   • The date on which you become unemployed

   Processing time

   About 30 minutes online. The window runs from 1 week before your first unemployment day to 1 week after it. UWV states you receive a decision within 4 weeks of your first unemployment day if you applied on time, or within 4 weeks of the application if you applied later.

   Common mistake: The single most expensive mistake in this guide is applying late. The consequence UWV names is not a warning letter: it is a temporarily lower benefit, or no benefit. Do not hold the application back because a document is still missing.

   Official source

   UWV · Applying for a WW-uitkering
3. 3

   Request a U1 statement if you worked in the EU, EEA or Switzerland

   Insurance periods completed in another EU or EEA country or in Switzerland are transferred with a PD U1 form issued by that country's institution. UWV states that employment history from those countries, and from some treaty countries, may also affect your Dutch WW. This runs alongside your Dutch claim rather than before it: UWV issues its own PD U1 from four weeks before an employment contract ends and states it takes 6 to 8 weeks to arrive, which is far longer than the one-week application window.

   Do this: Request the U1 (PD U1) from the unemployment institution of the country where you last worked as early as you can, and submit your WW application within the one-week window regardless of whether the U1 has arrived.

   Documents needed

   • Citizen service number (BSN)
   • Address details of your last employer

   Processing time

   UWV states it takes 6 to 8 weeks to issue a PD U1, so allow comparable time for another country's institution.

   Common mistake: Do not hold back your WW application while you wait for the U1. Issuing takes weeks, the application window is one week, and UWV can add the foreign record to a claim that is already in.

   Official source

   UWV · PD U1 form
4. 4

   Work out how long your WW will run

   Duration is built in two stages. If you meet the weeks condition you receive 3 months of WW. You only receive more than 3 months if you also meet the employment history condition: UWV states you must have worked in at least 4 of the 5 calendar years before you became unemployed. If you do, your recorded employment history (arbeidsverleden) sets the length: 1 month of WW for each of the first 10 full calendar years, then 1 month per year for years up to and including 2015 and half a month per year for years from 2016 onwards. The year in which your benefit starts does not count.

   Do this: Check your employment history in Mijn UWV, confirm whether you worked in at least 4 of the last 5 calendar years, and only then calculate the extra months using UWV's year-by-year rule.

   Processing time

   3 months if you meet the weeks condition, longer only if you also meet the employment history condition. Rijksoverheid states the maximum duration is 24 months.

   Common mistake: Budgeting on one month per year of work without checking the employment history condition is the costliest planning error here. Miss the 4-of-5-years condition and your entitlement stops at 3 months, however long you have worked.

   Official source

   UWV · How long WW lasts
5. 5

   Work out what the benefit will pay

   UWV starts from your sv-loon (the wage used for social insurance) and divides it by the total number of working days in the months you were paid to get your dagloon (daily wage). It multiplies the dagloon by 21.75, the average number of working days in a month, to get your WW-maandloon. Your gross WW is 75% of that monthly wage for the first 2 months and 70% afterwards. A statutory maximum daily wage caps the result: UWV currently publishes a maximum dagloon of €309.91 gross per day (2026), so high earners do not receive 75% of their real salary. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment decides twice a year, on 1 January and 1 July, whether that amount changes, so check UWV's maximum dagloon page for the figure that applies on your first unemployment day.

   Do this: Find the sv-loon on your payslips, work out your dagloon from it, multiply by 21.75 to get your WW-maandloon, then apply 75% for the first two months and 70% after that, capped at the maximum dagloon.

   Documents needed

   • Recent payslips

   Common mistake: Calculating from your gross monthly salary instead of the sv-loon gives a figure that is too high. The drop from 75% to 70% then arrives after two months, at the point where most people have settled into a budget built on the higher number.

   Official source

   UWV · How the WW amount is calculated
6. 6

   Submit the Inkomstenopgave so UWV can pay

   Payment is not automatic once your claim is approved. UWV states it can only pay your WW once you have reported your income through the Inkomstenopgave (income statement). After you submit it, UWV usually pays within a few days and states that you never wait longer than 14 days. Any income you earn during the period goes into that statement.

   Do this: Complete the Inkomstenopgave in Mijn UWV as soon as it appears for each payment period.

   Documents needed

   • Details of any income earned during the period

   Processing time

   UWV states you never wait longer than 14 days for your benefit after the income statement is in.

   Common mistake: People wait for a payment that will never arrive because the income statement is still sitting unopened in Mijn UWV. UWV cannot pay until it has that statement.

   Official source

   UWV · Payment of your WW-uitkering
7. 7

   Keep to the job-search and reporting obligations

   While the benefit runs, UWV requires you to apply actively for suitable work, to accept and keep suitable work, and to avoid becoming further unemployed. The concrete rule is at least 4 job-search activities per 4 weeks, reported to UWV. Applying for a vacancy, sending an open application, attending an interview, putting your CV on a vacancy site, registering with an employment agency, calling or visiting an employer, doing an assessment, holding a networking conversation and following a job-search workshop all count. You must also report changes such as a new job, more or fewer working hours, a holiday, and changes to your personal or bank details. If you are going to live outside the Netherlands, UWV requires at least two weeks' notice before you leave.

   Do this: Log your 4 job-search activities per 4 weeks in your Werkmap (the work folder in your UWV account) and report every change in your situation as soon as it happens.

   Processing time

   At least 4 job-search activities per 4 weeks, for as long as the benefit runs.

   Common mistake: Refusing work that UWV considers suitable has a direct price: UWV states you then temporarily receive less benefit or none, and that anything overpaid must be repaid.

   Official source

   UWV · The job application obligation for WW

• DigiD (with the DigiD app or SMS verification)
• Your citizen service number (BSN)
• Your employment contract or contracts
• Recent payslips
• The termination letter or settlement agreement (vaststellingsovereenkomst) showing how and when the job ended
• Your bank account details (IBAN)
• A PD U1 or equivalent statement from another EU or EEA country or Switzerland, if part of your work history is there

You can apply from one week before your first unemployment day and no later than one week after it. UWV states it decides within 4 weeks of your first unemployment day if you applied on time, or within 4 weeks of the application if you applied later. UWV can only pay once you have reported your income through the Inkomstenopgave (income statement), and it states that after that you usually receive the money within a few days and never wait longer than 14 days. Entitlement lasts 3 months if you meet the weeks condition, longer only if you also meet the employment history condition, and Rijksoverheid states the maximum duration is 24 months.

Requirements depend on your situation. Check the latest requirements with the relevant authority.

• Waiting for the final payslip or the settlement money before applying. The window closes one week after your first unemployment day, and UWV states that a later application probably means a temporarily lower benefit or none at all.
• Assuming a settlement agreement (vaststellingsovereenkomst) is automatically safe. WW is refused if you became unemployed through your own fault, so how the ending of the contract is recorded matters, and UWV also names resigning from permanent work for a temporary contract of less than 26 weeks as a problem.
• Budgeting on one month of WW for every year you have worked. That build-up applies only if you also meet the employment history condition, which UWV states as having worked in at least 4 of the 5 calendar years before you became unemployed. Without it you receive 3 months.
• Counting job applications only in your head. UWV requires at least 4 job-search activities per 4 weeks and requires you to report them, and it states that refusing work it considers suitable means temporarily less benefit or none.
• Reading a WW award as a decision about your residence permit. The IND runs its own search period and can revoke a permit that is tied to employment, whatever UWV has decided.

• Complete the Inkomstenopgave (income statement) for each payment period, because UWV cannot pay until it has your income.
• Set up your Werkmap (the work folder in your UWV account) and start logging at least 4 job-search activities per 4 weeks.
• If your residence permit depends on employment, check with the IND which search period applies to you and how long your permit is still valid.
• Keep your payslips, contracts and termination documents together in case UWV asks for them while your claim runs.