The Amsterdam Relocation Guide

Join us in Amsterdam. We’ll help you make the move.

This guide is an attempt to encapsulate all the love and information we give those who move to Amsterdam to be with Reaktor.

We put it together to eliminate as much of the inevitable relocation hassle as possible, and are now publishing it in the hopes that it will help you ease into the big decision to move over.

Most of us here in the land of tulips have gone through the process of uprooting our lives back home and moving them to Amsterdam (21 nationalities and counting!). Believe us, we know moving abroad can be daunting. However, there are two things we can say with total confidence:

One, it's really not that hard.

And two, help will always come to those who ask for it. Don't worry.

Let's start with a summary of what we offer to relocators.

✅ The Relocation Checklist

The decision to take the leap has been made, and you're officially moving to Amsterdam – best. Decision. Ever! It is now time to start ticking things off The Relocation Checklist.

It's extensive, we know. But! If it's not on the list, you won't need it.

Elina – our HR and primary caretaker – is a big fan of organizing things into lists (onboarding, house hunting, groceries, you get the idea). Her Relocation Checklist consists of two main parts: first, practicalities to take care of before you leave your country of residence; and second, tasks to complete once you're safe and sound in Amsterdam.

If you leave or refresh this page, we'll remember the boxes you've already checked.

🛫 Prior to relocation

This half is very hands on. We suggest you divide your to-do list into four sections: official documents, moving preparations, getting educated, and last things to check before the big move.

📝 Official documents

  • Sign your local employment agreement.
  • Get a birth certificate in English, and start your visa application with Elina.
  • Make sure you have all required documents for the 30% ruling. We'll tell you what they are, and even make the application for you.
  • Make sure your passport is valid for at least six months following your arrival to the Netherlands.
  • Contact Elina to book a time for registration to the Netherlands. By registering to the country, you'll receive your very own BSN-number, the Dutch social security number. You need it for basically everything except buying lunch.

🎒 Moving preparations

  • Book flights to Amsterdam.
  • Book dental, vision, and gyn checkups. Why: moving to foreign country is stressful enough without having to deal with sudden toothache on your first week.
  • Book an appointment with your doctor to update all needed prescriptions for the first few months. Why: same reason as above.
  • Cancel all utilities (gas, electricity, water, internet).
  • Cancel possible insurances.
  • Let go of your rental apartment, or rent out your own apartment.
  • Arrange moving for your personal belongings and possible furniture. Use this opportunity to go full Marie Kondo on all your stuff.

🕵️ Get investigative

  • Review this uncomplicated infographic about moving to the Netherlands.
  • Get an approximation of how much tax you'll pay on thetax.nl.
  • Estimate your future costs of living in Amsterdam.
  • Start looking for apartments in Amsterdam. Funda and Pararius are both good for this. Don't panic if you can't find anything immediately – most of us only got an apartment once we were already in the country, ready to bounce to viewings at inconvenient times.

🕵🎢 Last few weeks before the big move

  • Contact Elina to arrange a local phone plan for you in the Netherlands.
  • Visit parents, grandparents, friends. Throw a farewell party.
  • Pack your suitcases.
  • Make sure you've got the address down for your first apartment.

🛬 After arrival

Landed in the land of bikes and the stroopwafel? Grab an Uber to your apartment from Schiphol airport. One of us will meet you there with your keys.

The second half of the Relocation Checklist is divided into three sections, all to be completed within your first couple of months in the Netherlands.

🤗 First week at Reaktor

  • On your first day of work, meet Elina at 10AM at the office on Looiersgracht.
  • Meet with Pietu to get all your brand new laptop and phone up and running.
  • Have lunch with your buddy. (We'll tell you who they are.)
  • Install Slack and join at least #ams-operations, #amsterdam-paard, and #team-gossip.
  • Write an introduction post on Discourse and share it on #announce-global.
  • Ask Rita to apply for your NS business travel card.
  • Ask Elina when the next Onboarding week in Finland is, and start travel preparations.
  • Attend your first Thursday Dinner.
  • Ask one of your colleagues to tell you the story of how Reaktor was founded.
  • Make your first culari (find out what it is first 🕵🏼‍♂️).
  • Ask someone about coulis, the company training trip, and make sure the date for the next one is in your calendar.

🌷 First few weeks in the country

  • Get serious about looking for an apartment. Ask tips on Slack!
  • Go to the scheduled registration appointment to get your BSN.
  • Apply for a bank account with bunq, KNAB, ABN AMRO, ING, take a pick. Ask tips on Slack if you want to be a little troll. (Everyone will complain the life out of everything but bunq.)
  • When you have your new local phone number, update it to your friends, family, bank, Slack, 2FA of everything.
  • End your phone plan in your country of origin, or put your number to rest.
  • Apply for a personal NS travel card, the OV-Chipkaart. The business one is for work trips only.
  • Get your personal insurances (freetime liability, pet, travel, home, et cetera).
  • When you have your BSN, sit down with Elina to register for Health Insurance. The insurance premium is paid for by the company.
  • When you have your Health Insurance:
    • Order the European Health Insurance Card EHIC.nl
    • Register to your nearest huisarts (GP). Don't wait until you're sick, do it now!
    • Register to your nearest pharmacy.

🏡 After getting your own apartment

  • Get an internet connection. (We will reimburse up to 50 euros per month for your home internet.)
  • Submit a notification of change of address to your country of origin.
  • Update your new address to your friends, family, bank, and Uber Eats account.
  • Register for a DigiD. It's basically your digital ID card for all governmental facilities.
  • Get an electricity and gas contract. Greenchoice.nl is a great option (yay green energy!).
  • Create an account to waternet.nl to get the water running.
  • Change your address with Gemeente Amsterdam. Also, when Gemeente starts mailing you sports questionnaires and whatnot, #help-dutch on Slack comes in handy.
  • Throw a housewarming party.

Developer, didn't apply to work with us yet? Now's a golden opportunity to do that.

👉 Check open positions 👈