Applying for social assistance

If you have too little money to get by, you may be entitled to social assistance (bijstand). You can apply for social assistance at your municipality or the werk.nl website, an online work platform operated by the Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen – UWV (Employee Insurance Agency).

You are entitled to social assistance if you:

are a Dutch citizen or lawfully resident in the Netherlands, and;
are aged 18 or over;
do not have enough income or funds to get by. Your (joint) income must be below the social assistance standard (in Dutch);
cannot claim any other provision or benefit;
are not in prison or in a detention house.

There are also a number of obligations when you receive social assistance (in Dutch).

This is how it works for you

Your (future) place of residence falls under:

Municipality of Montferland

Here is some information from your municipality.

Registering for Welfare Benefits

Is your income too low to live on and are you without other provisions? Then you may be eligible for welfare benefits.

You can apply to the municipality of Montferland if you meet the following conditions:

You live in the municipality of Montferland.
You have not yet reached state pension (AOW) age.
Are you living with your partner or in a joint household with someone else? Then that person's income and savings must be included in the calculations.
You must participate in the activities that the municipality of Montferland offers you to help you find work.
You must understand, speak, read and write adequate Dutch. You are entitled to welfare, even if your Dutch is not good enough, but the municipality may lower your welfare benefits if you are not doing your best to learn Dutch.
Are you between 18 and 27 years of age? In that case you can still apply for welfare benefits providing that you first spend 4 weeks actively looking for work or training.

Citizen service number (BSN) for yourself and possibly your partner and/or children.
Recent bank statements for yourself and possibly your partner and/or children.
Mortgage details if you own your house.
Your email address.
Your DigiD.
You will need Valid proof of identity to apply in person at the municipal desk. This cannot be a driving licence.

Sign up at the Werk website;
Click on 'Bijstandsuitkering Aanvragen' (apply for welfare benefits) under the heading 'uitkeringen' (benefits);
Then click on the blue 'Bijstandsuitkering/IOAW-uitkering aanvragen' (Apply for welfare benefits/IOAW benefits) button;
Log in with your DigiD;
You can read more about submitting your application here. This will sign you up automatically with the UWV (Employee Insurance Agency) as a job seeker. You will find proof of your registration in your Werkmap (Work File) at www.werk.nl;
Once you have received proof of your registration, you can click on the green 'Notify Now' button at the top of this page.

You can find the amount of your welfare benefits on the website of the Dutch government.

You will hear whether you will receive welfare benefits within 8 weeks. Your welfare benefits will be back-dated to the date of your application.

More information