How to register with a GP (huisarts) in NL

In the Netherlands the huisarts (general practitioner) is the first point of contact for almost every health complaint, and normally the only route to a hospital specialist. Registering with a practice is not a legal obligation, but the central government (Rijksoverheid) advises doing it. GP care is paid from the basic health insurance package (basisverzekering), and the consultation itself does not count towards the compulsory deductible. You are free to choose your own practice, but a practice may turn you down if you live too far away or if it is full, so which practice takes you depends on where you live.

Government.nl states that everyone who lives or works in the Netherlands is legally obliged to take out standard Dutch health insurance (basisverzekering), and a practice will normally ask for your policy details. If you are insured in another EU or EEA country, posted here by a foreign employer, or studying here without working, check your position with your own insurer first, because the obligation does not fall on everyone in the same way. If you are coming to live here for longer than four months you register with the municipality (gemeente) no later than five days after arrival; if you are here for less than four months you cannot register with the municipality, but you can be registered as a non-resident in the Personal Records Database (Basisregistratie Personen, BRP). Either route gives you a BSN (burgerservicenummer), and healthcare providers are legally required to record the BSN of every patient and to check identity documents. Practices work within a local area, so your address and postcode decide which practices you can reasonably approach.

The route into Dutch healthcare depends on when you need it and how urgent it is, and the cost consequences differ.

• Your own practice, during opening hours

  The huisarts is the first point of contact for physical and mental health complaints. You may see the GP, a practice nurse (praktijkondersteuner) or a practice assistant, with the GP remaining responsible. The consultation is paid from the basic package and does not count towards the compulsory deductible of €385 (2026). Further investigation the GP orders, such as blood sampling, and medicines the GP prescribes do count towards it.

• The out-of-hours GP post (huisartsenpost)

  When your own practice is closed, the GP refers you on to the huisartsenpost. Always contact the huisartsenpost before going to a hospital emergency department (spoedeisende hulppost), unless the situation is life-threatening. The Rijksoverheid lists GP care, including the huisartsenpost, among the care excluded from the compulsory deductible, so an out-of-hours GP contact is treated the same way as a visit to your own practice.

• Urgent or life-threatening situations

  In a life-threatening situation, call the national emergency number, 112. For urgent specialist care you do not need a referral, which is the exception to the rule that a referral from a doctor is always required. For anything urgent but not life-threatening, your own practice during opening hours and the huisartsenpost outside them are the route in.

1. 1

   Confirm your insurance and BSN position first

   Everyone who lives or works in the Netherlands is legally obliged to take out Dutch basic health insurance (basisverzekering), and that is what pays for GP care. If you are coming to live here for longer than four months you register with the municipality (gemeente), which is how you get a BSN (burgerservicenummer); if you are here for less than four months you cannot register with the municipality, but you can be registered as a non-resident in the Personal Records Database (BRP) instead. Registering with a huisarts is not itself compulsory, but the central government advises doing it. A practice will normally ask for both your BSN and your insurance details.

   Do this: Arrange Dutch basic health insurance and note your BSN and policy number before you approach a practice.

   Documents needed

   • Health insurance policy details
   • BSN

   Cost

   Registering with a GP is not billed to you. Your health insurance premium is set by your insurer and varies.

   Processing time

   Municipal registration and taking out insurance are separate processes. If you are staying longer than four months you register with the municipality no later than five days after arrival; taking out basic health insurance is a separate step with its own timing.

   Common mistake: Common mistake: waiting until every document is in place before contacting any practice. Practices decide locally whether they can take you, so start looking in parallel and explain your situation on the telephone.

   Official source

   Rijksoverheid · What to arrange when you come to live in the Netherlands
2. 2

   Draw up a shortlist of practices near your address

   GP practices work locally. Zorginstituut Nederland states that the guideline for a home visit is that the GP should be with you within 15 minutes, and advises taking that into account when choosing a practice by preferring the nearest one. Start from your own postcode and work outwards, listing practices in order of distance.

   Do this: List the GP practices closest to your home address, nearest first.

   Common mistake: Common mistake: registering with a practice on the other side of the city because it had room. It may not be able to reach you for a home visit, and travelling there while ill is harder than it looks.

   Official source

   Zorginstituut Nederland · Huisarts (Zvw): choosing a practice and home visits
3. 3

   Ask each practice directly whether it can take you

   You are free to choose your own GP, but a practice may refuse to register you, for example because you live too far away or because the practice is full. Contact the practices on your shortlist and ask whether they are accepting new patients at your postcode. Some register you through an online form, others by telephone or at the desk. If no practice will take you, ask your health insurer: insurers can help you find a GP and can mediate on your behalf.

   Do this: Call or email each practice on your shortlist and ask whether it is currently accepting new patients at your postcode.

   Documents needed

   • Your address and postcode
   • BSN
   • Health insurance policy details

   Cost

   You are not billed for being on a practice's list. The registration tariff (inschrijftarief) is paid to the practice by your health insurer, per quarter, and varies by age group and area.

   Processing time

   Availability differs by area, so allow for several calls and, where practices are full, a longer search.

   Common mistake: Common mistake: treating a full practice as the end of the matter and never asking your health insurer. A practice may refuse you because it is full or because you live too far away, and your insurer can help you find one and mediate.

   Official source

   Rijksoverheid · Am I free to choose my own GP, and how do I change GP?
4. 4

   Register every person individually, including each child

   A registration covers one patient, not a household, so you complete one for yourself and one for each family member. Healthcare providers must establish that you are the person the BSN belongs to, which is why they ask for an identity document and record its type and number. In healthcare there is no age limit for this: the identification requirement applies from birth. The Rijksoverheid names a valid Dutch passport, identity card, driving licence or residence document (vreemdelingendocument); if you hold none of these yet, ask the practice what it will accept.

   Do this: Complete a separate registration for yourself and for each family member, giving each person's own BSN and identity document.

   Documents needed

   • A valid identity document for each person, including each child
   • A BSN for each person
   • Health insurance details for each person

   Processing time

   Each registration is a single form or call. Separately, if you ever need immediate medical help you do not have to identify yourself first, but you must do so with that provider within 14 days after the treatment.

   Common mistake: Common mistake: registering the adults and assuming the children are covered by them. A child who is not registered has no huisarts of their own, and the practice cannot record that child's care against someone else's BSN. If a person cannot show an identity document, the provider cannot claim the treatment from a health insurer and has to bill that person directly, and those costs can be high.

   Official source

   Rijksoverheid · Do I have to identify myself to receive medical care?
5. 5

   Understand how referrals work before you need one

   You cannot make an appointment with a medical specialist on your own initiative. A referral (verwijzing) from a doctor is always needed, and for most people that doctor is the huisarts, although another treating physician can also refer you. The exception is urgent specialist care, for which no referral is required. Specialist care counts towards the compulsory deductible, while the GP consultation that produces the referral does not.

   Do this: Book a first appointment with your new GP for anything ongoing, and ask for a referral when specialist care is needed.

   Documents needed

   • Identity document
   • Health insurance policy details

   Cost

   No fee for the referral itself. Medical specialist care you are referred to counts towards your annual compulsory deductible, and how much of it you use varies with the care you need. There is no separate personal contribution (eigen bijdrage) for medical specialist care.

   Common mistake: Common mistake: booking a hospital appointment first and asking for the referral afterwards. Outside urgent care a referral from a doctor is required, so the appointment can be refused.

   Official source

   Zorginstituut Nederland · Medisch-specialistische zorg (Zvw): referral and deductible
6. 6

   Set up your out-of-hours route and cover the gap

   When your own practice is closed, the GP refers you on to the out-of-hours GP post (huisartsenpost). Always contact the huisartsenpost before going to a hospital emergency department (spoedeisende hulppost), unless the situation is life-threatening, in which case call 112 directly. Ask your own practice which huisartsenpost covers your address and when it takes over. Until a practice has confirmed your registration, contact a practice in your area or the huisartsenpost and say that you are not yet registered, rather than leaving a problem untreated.

   Do this: Find out which huisartsenpost covers your address, and keep its number with your insurance details.

   Documents needed

   • Identity document
   • Health insurance policy details
   • BSN

   Cost

   GP care, including the huisartsenpost, is excluded from the compulsory deductible. Nobody under 18 pays a compulsory deductible on care from the basic package.

   Processing time

   The huisartsenpost takes over when your own practice is closed.

   Common mistake: Common mistake: going straight to a hospital emergency department for something the huisartsenpost handles. Contact the huisartsenpost first unless the situation is life-threatening, and note that GP care sits outside the compulsory deductible whereas hospital specialist care counts towards it.

   Official source

   Rijksoverheid · When should I go to the huisartsenpost or the emergency department?

• A valid identity document. The Rijksoverheid names a valid Dutch passport, identity card, driving licence or residence document (vreemdelingendocument); if you hold none of these yet, ask the practice what it will accept.
• Your BSN (burgerservicenummer)
• A separate identity document and BSN for each family member, including each child
• Your Dutch health insurance policy details
• Your home address and postcode
• Details of current medication and any ongoing treatment

• You are not billed for being on a practice's list. The Rijksoverheid states that the registration tariff (inschrijftarief) is paid to the GP by your health insurer, per quarter, for all registered patients, whether or not you attend.
• GP consultations are paid from the basic health insurance package and do not count towards the compulsory deductible.
• The compulsory deductible (verplicht eigen risico) is €385 (2026). It applies to medicines the GP prescribes, to further investigation the GP orders such as blood sampling, and to hospital specialist care you are referred to.
• No compulsory deductible applies to anyone under 18.
• Your monthly health insurance premium is set by your insurer and is separate from registering with a GP.
• If you cannot show an identity document, the provider cannot claim the treatment from a health insurer and has to send you the bill directly, and those costs can be high.

Registering is a short form, telephone call or desk visit once a practice has agreed to take you. How long it takes to find a practice with room differs by area: a practice may refuse you because it is full or because you live too far away, and if you cannot find one your health insurer can help you look and can mediate. Once the practice confirms your registration, it becomes your first point of contact for health complaints.

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

• Thuisarts.nl

  Public service · Nederlands Huisartsen Genootschap · Free · Has an app

  The health reference Dutch GPs point their own patients to. What a symptom usually means, when to call, and what to expect from an appointment.

  General information written for a Dutch-speaking reader. It is not medical advice and not a diagnosis.

  www.thuisarts.nl

• ZorgkaartNederland

  Nonprofit · Patiëntenfederatie Nederland · Free

  Find care providers near you by profession, organisation or condition, from GPs and dentists to physiotherapists, with ratings written by patients.

  It lists providers and patient ratings. It does not show which practices are currently accepting new patients, so you still have to ask them.

  www.zorgkaartnederland.nl

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

• Assuming that everything the GP does is free of the deductible. The consultation is excluded, but prescribed medicines, further investigation the GP orders such as blood sampling, and hospital care you are referred to all count towards the €385 (2026) deductible.
• Going straight to a hospital specialist. Other than for urgent care, a referral from a doctor is always needed, so without a huisarts you have no ordinary route into specialist care.
• Registering only the adult who made the telephone call. Each person is registered individually, with their own BSN and their own identity document, and in healthcare the identification requirement applies from birth with no age limit.
• Choosing a practice a long way from home because it had room. The guideline is that the GP reaches you within 15 minutes for a home visit, and a practice may refuse you outright for living too far away.
• Waiting until you are ill to start looking. A practice can turn you down because it is full, and if you cannot find one you need time to ask your health insurer to help and to mediate.

• Save the practice's telephone number and opening hours, and ask which huisartsenpost covers your address outside those hours.
• Ask the practice to confirm that your registration is complete and what, if anything, it still needs from you.
• Check that your Dutch basic health insurance is active and that the practice holds the correct policy details.
• If your income is low, check whether you qualify for healthcare allowance (zorgtoeslag) towards your premium.