Your first two weeks in the Netherlands
The four things with a real deadline attached, in the order they have to happen, and what your host family can and cannot do for you.
Last checked Aug 21, 2026
Your first two weeks in the Netherlands
Four separate deadlines start running the moment you land, they are set by four different organisations, and nobody hands you the list. This article is that list, in the order the steps actually have to happen.
What has a deadline and what does not
Register with your gemeente within 5 days after arrival (checked 2026-08-18). Everything else waits on this one, because the registration produces your BSN and almost nothing works without it. See registering-at-the-gemeente-and-your-bsn for what to bring and what to do if the appointment falls later than the deadline.
Collect your residence permit card at the IND desk you were assigned. Your agency arranges the appointment and tells you which desk. See collecting-your-residence-permit-card for why this date, not your flight date, is the one that starts your permitted tasks.
Take out Dutch health insurance within 4 months after you become insurance-liable (checked 2026-08-18).
Take the tuberculosis test within 3 months after your residence permit is issued (checked 2026-08-18), if your nationality is not exempt. See the-tb-test-at-the-ggd for both nationality branches and why the clock runs from the permit date, not your arrival date.
If you hold an EU or EEA passport, the residence permit card and the TB test do not apply to you at all: you never enter the IND process. The gemeente registration and the health insurance question still do.
Why the gemeente appointment goes first
Without a BRP registration there is no BSN, and without a BSN you cannot arrange health insurance, open a bank account or apply for DigiD. Book the appointment as soon as your arrival date is known. Waits of several weeks are common in the larger cities, and a booking confirmation is your evidence that you tried on time.
You go in person and you bring your own documents. Your host family can book the appointment and come with you, but they cannot register you in your place.
What your host family arranges and what you do yourself
Which gemeente, which insurer, whether the family pays the premium, which GP practice they use: all of that is specific to your household and only they can answer it. Ask them directly, and write the answers down somewhere you will find them again. Opairly's practical agreements and emergency information are where a family usually records this. See registering-with-a-huisarts for registering with a GP in your first weeks.
A Dutch SIM card is not a household fact, but it is another practical step most au pairs also handle in week one. See getting-a-dutch-sim-card for how to get one before you have a BSN or a Dutch bank account.
What to do when a deadline is going to slip
Deadlines slip because appointments are scarce, not because you did something wrong. Keep the booking confirmation, tell your host family and your agency in writing on the day you find out, and ask your agency to record it. Your agency has a legal duty of care here, and putting it in writing is what makes that duty visible later.