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 Veendam

Here is some information from your municipality.

Assistance benefit

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

You are 18 years of age or older.
You live in the municipality of Veendam.
You are allowed by law to live in the Netherlands. This means that you are Dutch or that you come from an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, or you have a residence permit. If you are still litigating about the renewal of your residence permit, you may also be entitled to assistance.
Your income and own assets, such as your house, car and savings, are below the assistance limit or asset limit. Do you have a partner? Then his or her income and assets will count. The assets of children living at home are also taken into account. Please note, we check the assets. This is called the means test
You are not entitled to another benefit. Neither is your partner.
You know the Dutch language well. Or you can show that you are learning it.
You are not in prison.
You do your best to find work and use the help of the municipality.

Note: If you are between the ages of 18 and 27, there are different rules. You also apply for the benefit with us. But you must first look for work or see if you can do any training for 4 weeks. This is called the search period.

Apply for assistance through the UWV's website www.werk.nl. The UWV will forward your application to the municipality. Do you have a partner or spouse with whom you live? Then apply for the social assistance benefit together.

Submit the application online using your DigiD code. Are you unable to submit the application yourself? You may authorize someone.

You will find out within 8 weeks whether you will receive social assistance. You will receive social assistance from the date of the application.

Do you disagree with the decision? You can file an objection with the municipality. Do this within 6 weeks after you receive the decision. If you then disagree with the decision on your objection, you can appeal. You can do this with the court.