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).

If you have any questions about your situation, contact your municipality. You can also contact the Sociaal Raadslieden (social counsellors) in your municipality. They provide free information and advice on legal problems. If there are none in your municipality find Sociaal Raadslieden closest to you (in Dutch) on the Sociaal Werk Nederland website.

You can also get free legal advice in English from Het Juridisch Loket (Legal Services Counter) (link in Dutch). Het Juridisch Loket provides clients with advice and information on all areas of law. All consultations are confidential and free of charge.

This is how it works for you

Your (future) place of residence falls under:

Municipality of Westervoort

Here is some information from your municipality.

Municipality of Westervoort: Applying for social assistance

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

You do not apply for social assisance at the municipality of Duiven, but at the RSD De Liemers. The RSD De Liemers is responsible for the implementation of a number of laws and regulations in the field of work and income for the municpality of Duiven.

For more information, and to apply for social assistance, you can go to www.rsddeliemers.nl.