General Stuff

When you finally arrive in the Netherlands, you will go through Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. If you have shitloads of luggages, you can take a taxi out there. (make sure you take official taxi) If not, you can also take train at the platform right below the airport, it'll take around 20 minutes to go Amsterdam Centraal from the airport. Ticket price is €4,50. After few days, you will be asking around for tips. Here are few things you should do when you arrive.

1. Open your dutch bank account!

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do." When you are in Holland, it's better for you to open a dutch bank account. There are many banks in Holland such as ING, Rabo Bank, ABN AMRO, and etc. You can choose one from these, most international students choose ING. What you gotta do is just go to the bank with your ID (passport) and enrolment letter. If they are free, they will open the account for you at the place, but when they are busy and fully scheduled, you should make an appointment there to open an account.

2. Register yourself to city hall

When you start to live here, you should register yourself to the city hall. You need to have BSN (burgerservicenummer, citizen service number) to live here more than 4 months. You have to visit your local city hall (gemeente) and make an appointment about it. The appointment might take up to 2-4 weeks depending on their busyness. It is totally ILLEGAL to live here more than 4 months without registering yourself to local city hall.

3. Residence Permit

If you are non-EU/EEA student, you need to visit IND to make your residence permit. First you need to bring passport and documents (birth certificate, etc if needed, check website for more updated info) go there and take a picture of yourself in the room. After few weeks, the IND might send you an email or not, if the time has passed, you can visit the IND office and collect your residence permit. Whenever you go out of EU and comeback, you need to show this residence permit to immigration at the airport to prove that you are legal to live in the Netherlands.

4. Register yourself to GP

When you arrive, you also need to register yourself to GP (general practitioner). This is like a house doctor who can take care of you when you are sick. You can find lots of them from Google and choose. When you choose a GP, you need to make an appointment and visit there to make sure your registration to GP is completed.

5. Get a phone contract

You can also use your phone with pre-paid sim card, but this is for those who wants to have contract for your sim card. After opening your dutch bank account, you can now get a contract for your phone or sim card. You can visit T-Mobile or Vodafone to get a contract. These are the most well-known phone companies in Holland.

6. Ready to party?

Normally in the Netherlands, lots of clubs offer benefits for students on Thursday (so-called Student Night). Lots of clubs offer them free-entry and also cheaper price on alcohols. If you are into party, Thursday is the day to party with your friends! You can find party infos on Party Flock.

[Image: cdn.partyearth.com]

These are some things that I wanted to share, let me know in comment below with questions and suggestions!