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 Rijssen-Holten

Here is some information from your municipality.

Request assistance

Please note: you can only apply for bijstand (social assistance) if you live in the Netherlands and are registered with a municipality.

You can apply for social assistance from the municipality of Rijssen-Holten if you meet the following additional conditions:

You live in the municipality of Rijssen-Holten.
You do not yet receive an Algemene Ouderdomswet – AOW (State Pension).
Do you live with your partner or have a joint household with someone? If so, the income and savings of that person are also taken into account.
You are participating in activities offered to you by the municipality of Rijssen-Holten to find work.
You must understand, speak, read and write Dutch to a sufficient standard. You are entitled to social welfare assistance even if your Dutch is not good enough. However, the municipality may reduce your welfare benefit if you do not do your best to learn Dutch.
Are you between 18 and 27 years old? If so, you can also apply for social assistance on the condition that, first, you actively look for work or education for 4 weeks.

Your Burgerservicenummer – BSN (citizen service number) and, if applicable, that of your partner and/or children.
Your most recent bank statements and, if applicable, those of your partner and/or children.
Your mortgage details if you own a home.
Your email address.
Your DigiD.
If you apply at the service desk, you will need a valid form of identitification. This cannot be a driving licence.

You apply for social assistance benefit via Werk.nl. You must first register as a job seeker.
You will receive an e-mail from them within 2 working days confirming your application for benefits.
You will then receive a list of documents that we need from you.
Submit the requested documents as soon as possible. Then we can also assess your application as quickly as possible.

The application is completely digital. In this way we try to process the requests that come in as quickly as possible. Is it not possible to submit the application digitally? Then make an appointment.

You will hear from us within 4 to 8 weeks whether you will receive social assistance benefits. Can't make it within 4 weeks? Or do you rather need money to buy food or drink? Then we can also give you an advance if you ask us to.