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 Venray

Here is some information from your municipality.

Municipality of Venray: Applying for social assistance

You must be registered as a jobseeker with the UWV. You can also apply for your benefit here. See the link of the webpage at the heading 'Applying' at the bottom of this page.
After you have registered, you will be assigned a contact person who will help you find work.
Within eight weeks after you have sent the application form with supporting documents, you will receive a letter from the municipality with the decision. Sometimes it takes longer. For example, if more research is needed or if your application is not yet complete.
The municipality determines the amount of your possible benefit. Your income and assets (house and savings) must be below the social assistance limit. The income of your partner (and possibly other persons) also counts.

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

You and your possible partner have insufficient money for living expenses.
You are 18 years or older and live in the municipality of Venray.
You are not entitled to any other benefit.
You do not belong to an excluded group of persons, such as prisoners or foreign nationals without a residence permit.
Your Dutch is good enough or you are doing your best to improve your Dutch.
You accept job offers.
You travel a maximum of three hours a day if this is necessary to get work.
You cooperate with the support that the municipality imposes on you to find and keep a job.
Are you moving to another municipality? Then you must first look for work there.
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.