Dear all,

My partner and I have bought a flat in Amsterdam, she is going to work there. I continue to work in Germany.

For the mortgage, we use only my salary. I do not have a BSN number which is apparently needed for the quotations. Strangly enough, only one out of three advisors we have asked, told us about that.

Our advisor told us I have to register in the Netherlands, but I do not have an address, since we need the mortgage to pay the house. There seems to be nothing like a preliminary registration to get a BSN. Is this true?

We called the tax office together, and they told us I need to register at a city hall with a Dutch address. In case I do not stay longer than 4 months, they could give me a sofi number, which is the same as the BSN, but they added I will have serious problems if I afterwards stay longer than 4 months.

So here my questions, I hope there are other people in our case:

- Is a sofi number sufficient for the mortgage?
- Does the tax office give the sofi number straigt away, or is there a waiting time? We do not have a long time to finish financing.
- Does the tax office give a sofi number to anyone asking for one, or are there conditions to fulfill? I will not work in the Netherlands, and I will not officially move there either.
- Does anything happen with that sofi number after the four months? Do they cancel it? Does the bank still need it after the approval of the mortgage?

So basically: can I just apply for a sofi number at a tax office somewhere or should I really look for someone willing to register me at the city hall?

Thanks in advance for helping us!

I've never heard this before. A Sofi number is just the old name for a Burgerservicenummer as far as I know: it's the unique 'tax' number someone has from birth to grave (NI number in English, etc). If they are now calling the Sofi a temporary tax number, it's the first time I've heard of it. Of course, you could ring again, and again, and get different answers each time

Dutch mortgage companies like you to tick the boxes, for obvious reasons. You are probably more risky because your circumstances don't fit the norm of Dutch born/Dutch living/Dutch working/Dutch taxpayer.

Is your partner dutch, or are her parents (or wherever she is living now) willing to say you live with them? afaik, the BSN is now done automatically when you register at the gemeente. Or maybe try to a mortgage agency who are used to dealing with expats?

Dear Osita,

Thanks for your quick answer. The mortgage agency gave us the advice to register at friends/family/... but since we do not have any in the Netherlands and both of us are foreigners (fortunately EU, otherwise it would be even more complicated) that is not possible.

Furthermore, we only have four weeks to finalize financing and I have heard that in most cases it takes several weeks to get the BSN number, even in case we had a Dutch address, that would be too late in our case. If some of the mortgage advisors we had contacted before signing the contract had told us, we would not have had the time pressure, but unfortunately nobody told us about it.

And yes, according to what they have told us, foreigners that are not able to ask for a BSN number, can ask for a sofi number if they stay less than four months. In this case, it is called sofi number and it is not registered as a BSN.

I think the reference to a BSN number as adversed to a Sofi number .. is odd too.

Either way - they are saying that if you use [the old] Sofi number ... it's only good for 4 months anyway and then you will have '...serious problems if I afterwards stay longer than 4 months'. But aren't you (or your wife) staying here more than 4 months if you are buying a house?

So I don't think getting a Sofi number (which again is simply the old name for the BSN number, I have been here 9 years so I witnessed this shift) is gonna solve your problem anyway.

Bottom line -

- you must get a real BSN number in order to get the mortgage.
- as an EU person, you can walk into the Belastingdeinst (Tax office) in your city/town,
and ask for one .. it takes very little time
- they WILL ask for your current address
- and that address must be an address that has been registered at the Gemeente (Town Hall)
- in order to have your address registered at the town hall .. it must be a legal addresss. This means the government has laws about how many people can live in a house/apartment. If you are renting a place where legally you cannot live, the minute you go to the Gemeente to register and they type in that address, they will tell you right then and there .. that you are not allowed to live in that house. Lot's of people rent illegally (it's cheaper) and use a family or friends addresses to get around things ... but you do not have this option.

So - you need to contact a legal housing agency like www.funda.nl and rent a legal apartment. Just get something tiny ... maybe even a room as you JUST NEED a legal address
- go to the Gemeente and register yourself at that address (in one day)
- go to the Belastingdeinst and ask for a BSN number (in same day)
- give this number to your mortgage guy (in same day)

This can all happen very fast - like in the same day EXCEPT for the part about finding an apartment. Naturally you have to have the money to rent something which might take a fews days or whatever. But to make it happen FAST - just rent anything .. JUST so you have a legal address

The above is alllll legal ... whereas this business of getting a Sofi number ... that's only good for 4 months ... makes absolutely no sense to me! BESIDES .. you need a BSN number for the mortgage anyway - right? So then you need to get a BSN number - forget about the Sofi number and be done with it.

Hi ouloveit1,

Thanks for the reply. The information I got was based on combined information from the tax office, the NHG office and the city hall. The problem we have is that nobody told us about this before (especially ING bank and Hypotheekshop, both gave quotations and told there should not be any problem, without mentioning the BSN number issue!). Now we are under time pressure, and the fact that we are not in the Netherlands, so every time we need to take the plane... And furthermore... we have to work! We had planned holidays for moving and decorating the house, not for finding a loan...



No, I am staying German resident. I won't be Dutch resident at all, at least not for the coming years.



My mortgage advisor told me it would work as well with a sofi number, but of course I can only listen to what people tell me... difficult if everybody tells something different!



The Belastingsdienst told on the phone that they do not give BSN numbers, they will refer you to the city hall where it is assigned automatically at registrtion. Again, I do not know who is right.

Umm I think I see the problem now.

When you live here as a Resident, you typically work here and you have to have a BSN number to work.

No one brought up the BSN number earlier because .. they assumed that you were a Resident here. I am very sure they thought this actually, so I am sure they felt there was no need to mentioned something they thought you already had. I mean, every adult has a BSN number if they work. Even adults that don't work have a BSN number.

You are saying 'I won't be Dutch resident at all, at least not for the coming years.' I think this is your problem - does your mortgage lender realize this - because I don't know if you can buy property here unless you are a Resident of The NL. You need to check this out because I can't imagine that anyone just buy property here willy nilly ... when they don't even live here. I may be wrong though.

If they are saying you can get a Sofi number instead of a BSN number okay, but you they are not going to just hand you a Sofi number either. I would expect that in order to get a Sofi number you would have to have an address here as well - so then what would be the advantage of getting a Sofi number over getting a BSN number?

If the Belastingdenist says you have to go to city hall to get a BSN number - okay, then this is what you must do - they must have changed the process. So now you have to have legal housing because you have to register in order to get a BSN number. Makes sense. This cuts down on people renting illegally.

Either way, from what I can see ... your problem is that you are not a Resident of The NL ... but you are trying to buy property so now you are gonna have to hurry and set up residence here if you want to buy that house.

There's nothing else for it .. that I can see.

No, I clearly explained the situation. They must not have enough experience with complicated cases like this one...



That seems to be no problem, if you live in the EU. Don't know how it works if you don't.
Of course I am not just going to buy a house, I will spend time there as well. But I will stay German resident, that's all.



Since we do not have a lot of time, I have decided just to go to the tax office tomorrow and ask them. I'll write about my experiences afterwards.

Yes, but this is not a complicated case.

I have purchased 2 houses here and providing a BSN number is standard. I still think you need to establish some sort of Residency ... here in The NL.

Well, good luck to you all the same.

For other people in our situation: I got a sofi number without any problem from the tax office in Heerlen, only passport was needed.

Go to your bank in Germany and tell them that you want a loan to buy a property in the Netherlands.
If ING or ABN AMRO have local offices, go to their office and them exactly what kind of loan you can take to buy a property in a different country.
If I have the money and I want to buy a vacation house in the Netherlands where I would go (duh) on vacation, I should not be forced to be a resident of the Netherlands. Of course you will have to pay taxes because you own the house, but that is a different thing.

Again, my suggestion would be to check with your local branch of dutch banks.

Good Luck !