How to get a DigiD in NL

DigiD is the personal login you use for Dutch government bodies, the Tax Administration (Belastingdienst), Dienst Toeslagen, health insurers, pension funds and educational institutions. You cannot get one without a citizen service number (BSN), and how you obtain it depends on how you are registered. You apply for your own DigiD: you may not apply for one meant for another adult. Parents and guardians may help a child aged 13 or under apply, but from the age of 14 a child must apply personally.

You need a BSN before you can apply. If you are registered with a Dutch municipality (gemeente) in the Personal Records Database (Basisregistratie Personen, BRP), you apply online and receive an activation code by post at your registered address; DigiD lists a BSN, that registered address and a mobile phone as what you need. If you have a BSN through the Registration of Non-residents (Registratie Niet-Ingezetenen, RNI) or you live abroad, you use a different application form, you also need a valid passport or identity card and an email address, and you collect the activation code in person or in a video call. Check which of these describes you before you start, because the two routes are not interchangeable.

The application form, the way you receive the activation code and the identity check all depend on how you are registered.

• Registered with a Dutch municipality (BRP)

  You apply online on digid.nl using your BSN, the address at which you are registered with your municipality and a mobile phone. DigiD posts a letter with an activation code to your registered address. Government.nl states three working days; DigiD's own application page states a maximum of 5 working days, so allow up to 5 working days. The activation code expires 21 days after it is issued, not 21 days after the letter reaches you, so activate as soon as it arrives.

• Registered in the RNI, or living abroad or in the Caribbean Netherlands

  You use the separate application form for people abroad. You need a BSN, registration in the Non-Residents Records Database (RNI), a valid passport or identity card, a phone that can receive SMS from the Netherlands and an email address. You do not need an RNI extract for the application. Instead of a letter you receive a service desk code by SMS and email, valid for 30 days, which you exchange for an activation code at a DigiD service desk or in a video call.

• No permanent address in the Netherlands

  If you are not registered in the BRP because you have no permanent home address, DigiD directs you to register with your municipality at a postal address (briefadres) first. That address must be an existing address of a person or institution and cannot be a PO box or an empty address. Once that registration exists, you follow the ordinary BRP route and the activation letter goes to that postal address.

• Receiving or about to receive AOW from the SVB

  If you live abroad and receive or will receive a Dutch state pension (AOW), the Social Insurance Bank (Sociale Verzekeringsbank, SVB) route applies. In that case the activation code is sent by post to your address abroad rather than collected at a service desk. Government.nl and DigiD both point AOW recipients to the SVB for this.

1. 1

   Confirm you have a BSN and check how you are registered

   A BSN is required for every DigiD route, so if you do not have one yet, that comes first. Then establish whether your BSN sits in the Personal Records Database (BRP), which happens when you register with a municipality as a resident, or in the Registration of Non-residents (RNI), which is what short stay workers and people living abroad usually have. DigiD lists a registration address with a Dutch municipality among the things you need for the ordinary application, and a separate form for people with a BSN who live abroad or in the Caribbean Netherlands.

   Do this: Check whether your BSN comes from a municipal (BRP) registration or from the RNI, because that decides which application form you use.

   Documents needed

   • Your BSN
   • Proof of your municipal registration, if you have it

   Common mistake: People who registered in the RNI at a municipal counter often assume they are registered as residents. They are not, and the ordinary online application will not produce a letter they can receive.

   Official source

   DigiD · Apply for a DigiD
2. 2

   Apply online if you are registered with a municipality

   On the BRP route you apply through the form on digid.nl. You enter your BSN and personal details, choose a username and password and give a phone number. Government.nl states that you must be registered with your municipality in the BRP to apply this way. If you have no permanent home address, DigiD directs you to arrange a postal address (briefadres) with your municipality first, which must be an existing address of a person or institution and cannot be a PO box.

   Do this: Complete the DigiD application form on digid.nl and choose a username and password you will remember.

   Documents needed

   • Your BSN
   • Your registered address
   • A mobile phone number

   Processing time

   DigiD does not publish how long the form takes. The wait that matters is the activation letter, which follows by post.

   Common mistake: Applying in the days around a move sends the letter to whichever address the BRP holds at that moment. Wait until your new address is actually registered.

   Official source

   Government.nl · Applying for a DigiD
3. 3

   Apply on the abroad form if your BSN comes from the RNI

   If you are registered in the RNI, or you live abroad or in the Caribbean Netherlands, you use the separate application form linked from DigiD's page for people abroad. You need a valid passport or identity card, your BSN, a phone that can receive SMS messages from the Netherlands and an email address. You do not need an RNI extract. Instead of posting a letter, DigiD sends you a service desk code by SMS and email. Netherlands Worldwide states this code is nine digits, starts with a B and is valid for 30 days.

   Do this: Submit the DigiD application form for people abroad and save the service desk code that arrives by SMS and email.

   Documents needed

   • Valid passport or identity card
   • Your BSN
   • A phone that receives SMS from the Netherlands
   • An email address

   Processing time

   The service desk code is valid for 30 days from the application.

   Common mistake: The service desk code is not the activation code. It only lets you obtain the activation code, and it expires after 30 days. DigiD warns that at busy desks the wait for an appointment can be longer than that 30 day validity, so book before you apply.

   Official source

   DigiD · I live in the Caribbean Netherlands or abroad
4. 4

   Collect your activation code, by post or in person

   On the BRP route the activation code arrives by post at the address where you are registered with your municipality. On the RNI and abroad route you exchange your service desk code for an activation code, either at a DigiD service desk or in a video call with a member of Netherlands Worldwide staff. Service desks are at Dutch embassies and consulates general abroad, at the Representation of the Netherlands and the Caribbean Netherlands Tax Office in the Caribbean Netherlands, and at participating municipalities and Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. Netherlands Worldwide states most desks require an appointment. The video call option is not available if you are in the European Netherlands at the time of your appointment.

   Do this: Wait for the letter at your registered address, or book a service desk appointment or a Netherlands Worldwide video call and bring your service desk code and identity document.

   Documents needed

   • Your service desk code, if you are collecting in person or by video call
   • Valid passport or identity card
   • Your DigiD username and password

   Cost

   No fee is stated on the DigiD or Netherlands Worldwide pages. Any appointment charge varies and is set by the organisation you visit.

   Processing time

   Government.nl states three working days for the letter; DigiD's own application page states a maximum of 5 working days and its activation page states five working days, so plan for 5 working days. Netherlands Worldwide opens video call slots for the following week every Friday at 9.00 and 14.00 Dutch local time.

   Common mistake: If the letter does not arrive you can request a new activation code only once, and the replacement takes another 5 working days by post. After that you have to apply for a DigiD from scratch.

   Official source

   Netherlands Worldwide · Activating your DigiD via a video call if you live outside the Netherlands
5. 5

   Activate your DigiD within 21 days

   You activate either in the DigiD app or on the website. In both cases you log in with the username and password you chose, complete the SMS check if you have one, and then enter the activation code from your letter or from the service desk. DigiD states that the activation code expires after 21 days and that you must then apply for a DigiD again. No official page ties that window to the day the letter reaches you, so treat it as running from issue. Netherlands Worldwide states that activation codes are nine digits and start with an A.

   Do this: Enter your activation code in the DigiD app or at digid.nl and finish the activation before the 21 days run out.

   Documents needed

   • Your activation code
   • Your DigiD username and password

   Processing time

   The activation code expires 21 days after it is issued.

   Common mistake: Waiting until you actually need DigiD, for example on the day a Toeslagen or tax deadline falls, is how most people lose the code. Activate the day it arrives.

   Official source

   DigiD · Activate your DigiD
6. 6

   Set up the DigiD app or SMS verification

   A username and password alone is being phased out: DigiD states that many organisations will soon no longer allow login with only a username and password, and that you will always need your phone. The DigiD app lets you log in with a PIN you choose, works on up to five devices and optionally uses fingerprint or face recognition. SMS verification is the alternative, sending a six digit code at each login to a mobile, landline or foreign number. The app runs on iOS 15 or later and Android 9 or later.

   Do this: Install the DigiD app and add your DigiD to it, or apply for SMS verification in My DigiD if you prefer or cannot use the app.

   Documents needed

   • A smartphone or tablet running iOS 15 or later or Android 9 or later, for the app
   • A phone number, for SMS verification

   Processing time

   If you set up SMS verification from My DigiD, DigiD sends a further activation letter by post, stated as within 3 working days.

   Common mistake: Activating the app on a new phone without first checking the phone number registered in My DigiD leaves you unable to receive the verification code. Update the number before you change devices.

   Official source

   DigiD · SMS verification

• Your citizen service number (BSN)
• The address at which you are registered with your municipality, if you are in the BRP
• A mobile phone that can receive SMS messages, including from the Netherlands if you are abroad
• An email address, if you apply from abroad or through the RNI
• A valid passport or identity card, if you apply from abroad or through the RNI
• Your service desk code, if you collect the activation code at a desk or in a video call
• A smartphone with an NFC reader and a Dutch passport, identity card or driving licence, if you want to use the ID check in the DigiD app

• DigiD publishes no fee for applying for or activating a DigiD. No charge is stated on its application or activation pages.
• Any charge for an appointment at an embassy, consulate or municipal service desk varies and is set by that organisation, so confirm with them before you book.

If you are registered in the BRP, the activation letter is posted to your registered address. Official pages give two figures: Government.nl states three working days, while DigiD's own application page states a maximum of 5 working days and notes that it depends on postal delivery in your region. DigiD's activation page states five working days. Plan for 5 working days. If the letter does not arrive you can request a new activation code, but only once, and the replacement arrives by post within 5 working days. If you apply from abroad or through the RNI, the timing depends on when you can get a service desk or video call appointment. Netherlands Worldwide opens video call appointments for the following week every Friday at 9.00 and 14.00 Dutch local time.

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

• MijnOverheid

  Official · Logius, part of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations · Free · Account needed

  Your personal Dutch government portal for viewing government-held information and digital post in the Berichtenbox. Not every organisation or every message uses the same digital or paper route, so check the Berichtenbox and the sender's current channel.

  You choose Berichtenbox preferences for connected organisations, while each organisation decides which messages it sends digitally. Notifications are reminders, so check the Berichtenbox itself regularly.

  mijn.overheid.nl

Services people use for this in practice. We say who runs each one. See all apps and tools.

• Applying before your municipal registration is processed, so the activation letter is posted to your old address and never reaches you.
• Letting the activation code sit unused past the 21 day limit, which voids it and forces a fresh application.
• Using the ordinary digid.nl form when you have a BSN through the RNI rather than the BRP, so no letter is ever posted to you.
• Booking a Netherlands Worldwide video call while you are physically in the European Netherlands, where that service cannot be used.
• Assuming another adult can apply for you. From the age of 14 a DigiD is strictly personal, and acting for another adult requires the separate Authorisation (machtiging) route instead.

• Install the DigiD app and add your DigiD to it, or set up SMS verification, so you can log in with two steps.
• Complete the ID check in the DigiD app if you need access to privacy sensitive data such as health records. It uses an NFC reader and a Dutch passport, identity card or driving licence, foreign documents are not accepted, and organisations increasingly require it to be renewed annually.
• Log in to Mijn Belastingdienst or Mijn Toeslagen once, to confirm the account works before a deadline depends on it.
• Check your registered address and phone number in My DigiD whenever you move or change number, so future codes reach you.