Congratulations on your Fulbright grant!
Please read all sections carefully after receiving your grant documents, also the general sections and the information for during your stay and at the end of your stay. This way, you will have a complete overview of which organizations are involved, what will take place when, which dates to block in your calendar and where to find information on which topic. You may also find it useful to use this abbreviated checklist.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the Fulbright Program Manager Linda Pietersen via email at l.pietersen@fulbright.nl.
Organizations
The Institute of International Education administers the Fulbright program in the US. They contacted you with the result of the selection procedure. The general website for scholars is https://fulbrightscholars.org/.
All the information and documents you need as a selected grantee can be found via this link.
Contact person: Mary-Rolfe Zeller, FulbrightScholarAdvisingEur@iie.org.
The Fulbright Commission the Netherlands (in short Fulbright, Fulbright Commission or Commission) is the organization that administers the Fulbright program in the Netherlands. You can find more information in English on the Fulbright Commission the Netherlands through this link.
Points of contact: Linda Pietersen, Program Manager US students and Scholars, Dutch Fulbright Programs, l.pietersen@fulbright.nl, +31 (0)6-2701 3344.
If Ms. Pietersen is absent and your matter is urgent, you can contact Dr. Gradenwitz, Executive Director, c.gradenwitz@fulbright.nl, +31 (0)6-1134 1150
Before Arrival
The IIE website for selected US Scholars has a detailed overview of what actions you need to take to accept the grant. You can find the information on this link and this one. The Netherlands is a Commission country. Please follow the instructions on these links to first make an account on the IIE participant portal, and then to upload the necessary documents. The Fulbright Commission has (limited) access to the participant portal, but does not receive notifications when participants upload documents, so for certain document submissions we ask that you notify the program manager.
Document 1: Grant Authorization
The Grant Authorization is the document that explains the various benefits of the grant. It will indicate the grant amounts and the grant length. This document is sent to you by the Fulbright Commission. If you accept the award, please sign it, upload a signed copy into the IIE participant portal, and notify the Fulbright Commission via l.pietersen@fulbright.nl that you have uploaded the document. If there are any errors on the document, or if you need to change the dates of your grant, please also contact the program manager Linda Pietersen. Please upload the signed Grant Authorization within two weeks of receiving it from the Commission.
Document 2: Program Terms and Conditions
The program terms and conditions apply to the Fulbright grant. You need to sign the last page and initial every page at the bottom, and once on the first page in the middle. Please upload the complete set of the Terms and Conditions on the Fulbright participant portal and also notify the Fulbright Commission by emailing l.pietersen@fulbright.nl. The terms need to be uploaded into the participant portal within two weeks of receiving the introductory email from IIE.
These documents, the grant authorization and the terms, spell out the most important terms and conditions under which the grant is given. Not all possible situations are (nor can be) covered by these documents, as they are generic in nature and apply to all countries where the Fulbright program is carried out. In the Netherlands, the Board of the Fulbright Commission takes decisions on all matters concerning the Fulbright program, within the framework of the program policies formulated by the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FFSB). The FFSB is the official governing body of the Fulbright program, based in the United States. You can find the program policies of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board via this link.
Other required grant documents:
For the Medical form, the proof of US citizenship, and other documents that may be required by IIE, please follow the instructions on the IIE resources website under “required documents.” You do not have to send us a notification after uploading these documents. You will find all documents on the resources page, apart from the Grant Authorization, which you will receive directly from the Fulbright Commission.
If you do not yet have a passport, please apply for one as soon as possible. You can find more information on the procedure, documentation needed and costs via this link. If you already have a passport, please make sure it is valid for at least 3 months after the end of your grant, see this link (there is also interesting information under all the tabs).
To stay in the Netherlands for more than 90 days, your host will need to apply for a residence permit (called VVR in Dutch, or Verblijfsvergunning Regulier) on your behalf before your arrival. You do not need an entry visa (sometimes also called MVV, which is the abbreviation of Machtiging Voorlopig Verblijf) or other visa to enter the Netherlands as an American citizen.
The Immigration and Naturalisation Service of the Ministry of Security and Justice (IND for short) issues these residence permits. The host university will need to apply for your residence permit on your behalf well before your arrival. You cannot do this yourself. If you have any accompanying dependents (partner, children), the host will also be able to apply for a residence permit on their behalf; please ask them to do so concurrently with your residence permit application. The application process for the residence permit needs to be started well in advance of your arrival. To start the application, the host will need several documents from you, and will most likely ask you to fill out one or more forms. The procedure and requirements of the documents you will need to provide may differ between hosts, so please follow their instructions. If you have not yet received any requests for documents or information 3 months before your intended arrival, please ask your host about the process and whom to contact to start the application process.
Costs of the Residence Permit
The Fulbright Commission will reimburse you for the costs to obtain this residence permit. The costs for a residence permit at the moment of preparing this information is € 228 (in some cases it may be € 380 — information last updated 12 March 2024). This amount may be subject to small changes before your application process starts; if this is the case, you will be reimbursed for the changed fee. Your host will have to pay this to the IND before your arrival in the Netherlands, and the Commission will reimburse either your host or you after your arrival. We will give you more information on how this will be done at our first meeting with you. Please bear in mind that you must pay the costs of this permit for any dependents yourself.
Background/More information on residence permits can be found on these links:
- https://www.euraxess.nl/netherlands/information-researchers/entry-conditions-and-visas : you will most likely fall under “Researcher under Directive (EU) 2016/801”.
- https://ind.nl/en/work/working_in_the_Netherlands/Pages/Scientific-researcher.aspx where you would most likely be an unpaid researcher with a grant.
You may see the term “work permit” or “TWV” mentioned. If this is necessary, the host will also apply for this for you. In all cases, please follow the instructions of your host.
To live in the Netherlands, you will need to register in the municipality where you will live (see also “Arrival in the Netherlands”). One of the documents you will need for this registration is a birth certificate with APOSTILLE (stamp). This is different from a regular birth certificate. If you have an accompanying spouse, a marriage certificate with apostille will also be needed, as well as a birth certificate with apostille for your spouse. The same goes for any accompanying children. An apostille is a certification of the validity of your document and must be obtained specially from your state’s department of the Secretary of State. It is only given to official documents. A “regular” birth certificate or marriage certificate is not sufficient. You can find more information on apostilles on the website of the US Department of State. A list of US authorities that issue apostilles can be found here.
It is very difficult at the moment, especially in university cities, to find affordable housing in the Netherlands. There has been a problematic housing shortage in the Netherlands for some time, especially for short-term residents. This is now increased by the influx of refugees in the Netherlands from Ukraine.
Looking for accommodation can be a very time-consuming, expensive and difficult challenge, even for Dutch citizens. Therefore, please contact your host as early as possible to inquire if they have housing for international visitors available. If they do not, they may have tips for you on the local housing market and where to look. If your host does offer guaranteed housing as part of your stay, we strongly recommend that you accept their offer. Unfortunately, the Fulbright Commission cannot provide any assistance in finding accommodation; however, we can put you in touch with previous Fulbright scholars who have lived the Netherlands for advice on finding housing.
Your grant will contain an amount of € 1,000 allocated for international travel costs for Fulbright grantees.
You will receive the travel allocation as a lump sum after arrival in the Netherlands at the same time as your first grant payment, to avoid international bank transfer fees.
Boarding a flight to the Netherlands without a return ticket has sometimes caused issues in the past. As far as the Commission knows, it is not mandatory to have a return ticket if you have a residence permit. Should any issues occur, please make sure that you have your grant authorization, letter of invitation to the program, and letter of approval for your residence permit easily accessible, for example in your hand luggage.
If you already know which municipality you will be living in, it may be possible to make an appointment to register from the US before traveling to the Netherlands. In the past two years, there have been delays in getting appointments to register at Dutch municipalities, so it may be handy to check whether you can set up an appointment from abroad. This may not be possible in all municipalities, but it could give you a head start after arrival if you can arrange it beforehand. Below, you will find two links with information on the process as examples.
https://groningen.nl/en/practical-matters/municipal-services/register-your-move
https://www.amsterdam.nl/en/civil-affairs/first-registration/
If you are interested in learning Dutch during your stay in the Netherlands, we advise you to have a look at this link: it has links to all university language courses or the organizations the universities work with to give the courses. These are usually more geared towards students and tend to fill up before the semester starts, so if you would like to register, you would need to do so early. The page also has links to other useful sites and apps for learning Dutch. Student cities usually also have a number of independent language schools, commercial or not, which you can easily find through Google. After arriving, it may also be an idea to check whether there is a language café in your city, which is an informal (and often free) way to learn or practice Dutch.
Arrival in the Netherlands
To be able to pay out your grant soon after your arrival, the Fulbright Commission requires you to open an online bank account immediately after your arrival. There are a few possibilities for this:
- N26: You can open an account in minutes with just your passport, and it is completely free. You do not need to provide a BSN.
- Bunq: You can open an account in minutes with just your passport. You have 90 days to provide your BSN. The cheapest option is € 2,99 per month.
- Revolut and Wise: We do not yet have experience with these online banks, but if you want to, feel free to try them out!
N26 and Bunq are suitable for immediately opening a bank account while you may not have a valid residence permit or Burgerservicenummer yet (see “Register at the Municipality, Get your Burgerservicenummer (BSN)” below). However, Bunq has been known to take a long time to verify the identity of Americans (up to 3 weeks or more). As such, we would suggest that you try N26 first. For any of these online bank options, please do not open them before arriving to the Netherlands. Otherwise, you will be opening a US bank account rather than a Dutch one, and we will not be able to transfer your grant.
Once you have opened a bank account, please send the IBAN number to your program manager as soon as possible, so that your first month grant can be deposited.
Fulbright asks you to open an online bank account immediately after arrival to make sure you have funds available as soon as possible. However, if you do not feel comfortable using an online bank account, and want to set up another account at one of the regular banks in the Netherlands (ABN AMRO, ING, ASN, Rabobank, SNS, or others), this is also possible. You can wait until you have received your BSN number and open an account at one of these banks, or switch to one of these banks after you have received your BSN number.
You will need to register at the municipality where you will live as soon as possible after your arrival. This is a legal requirement in the Netherlands. First contact with the municipality (setting up the appointment) should be made within 5 days of your arrival, if you were not able to do so ahead of arrival. Not all municipalities follow the same registration procedure, so be sure to check what the correct procedure is for your municipality; either your host will be able to provide you with information on how to register, or you can find it on the website of the municipality itself. As an example, you can find the registration process guidelines for the municipality of Amsterdam through this link. It is important to begin this procedure as soon as possible, as registration is a legal requirement in the Netherlands, and it is a prerequisite for receiving a Burgerservicenummer or BSN (comparable to a US social security number). This number is needed if you want to open a bank account at a regular bank. Depending on the municipality, you may receive your BSN immediately during your appointment to register, or a number of weeks later.
Before your arrival, your host organization should have applied for a residence permit for you. After your arrival in the Netherlands, there are still two things you will need to do before your residence permit process is complete:
- Give your biometrics via an appointment at the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND). Your host university will give you instructions when and how you need to do this.
- Pick up your physical residence permit, which will be a plastic card the size of a credit card. You will receive a letter at your accommodation when this is ready to be picked up.
For all residence permit issues, please contact the host organization/university for guidance.
Please download and fill out this personal data form, and send it to your program manager within 5 days of your arrival. If you have any changes of address during your Fulbright grant period, please always inform your program manager.
Please register in the Smart Traveler Enrolment Program (STEP) after your arrival. This is a service set up by the US Embassy and US Consulate in the Netherlands. If there are any safety or security issues in the Netherlands, they will send out an email to everybody on the list. Additionally, in case of emergencies, they know you are in the country.
The Dutch healthcare system (see this link) is set up so that for minor health complaints or referrals to a specialist, you will first need to see a general practitioner. In Dutch, a GP is called a “huisarts,” which literally translates to house doctor; these doctors still do house calls for those who cannot travel to the doctor’s office. They will service a certain postal code area that they can easily reach.
To have access to health care in the Netherlands, it is imperative to register at a huisarts near where you live. This link gives you an overview of how you can find a huisarts in your neighborhood. In some cases, a few universities will have their own huisartsen or may recommend certain huisartsen. If this is the case, this will be available on the university website. Please DO NOT WAIT until you fall ill to register with a huisarts – do this immediately at the beginning of your grant.
If you have found a huisarts near your accommodation but cannot register with them because they say their practice is full, sometimes it helps to explain that you will only be in the country for 4-6 months; they might have room in their practice for shorter-term patients.
The Fulbright Commission has made an Emergency Action Plan, which contains useful information about possible (emergency) situations and how to deal with these. You can find the plan here.
The Fulbright Commission the Netherlands will organize an introductory meeting with you, either in person or via Zoom, soon after your arrival. At this meeting, the practical details around the grant will be discussed, and of course you can ask any questions you may have about your stay in the Netherlands. If possible, the Commission will organize this meeting together with other incoming US Scholars.
During Your Grant Period
Apart from the first meeting with you after your arrival, there there will be no other mandatory meetings. However, we will invite you to any meetings the Commission may have with the US Graduate Students during your time in the Netherlands. We will also forward your email address to the US Embassy so that they can contact you if they have any meetings they would like to invite you to.
In the first semester, there will be a mandatory meeting for the US Graduate Students in late September 2024 in Den Haag. This meeting will concentrate on Dutch culture, economics, politics, and history. If you are interested, you are very welcome to join this meeting. The meeting will be concluded with a reception, welcoming the newly arrived US grantees, and welcoming back the Dutch grantees. This is always a lovely reception, for which of course, if you start in the first semester, you and your host will receive an invitation.
At the end of your stay, IIE will send you an email invitation to fill out a final report. More information about this can be found on this link. You will not have to fill out a separate evaluation for the Fulbright Commission in the Netherlands.
The first payment of your grant will be as soon as possible after your arrival. After this first payment, all subsequent payments will be sent out around the 25th of each month. This way, there will be money in your account when you have to pay rent by the first of the next month. Unless you inform us otherwise, Fulbright will continue to pay out the grant on the account number you provide your program manager with immediately after arrival. If you change banks, please inform the program manager as soon as possible, so that the next payment can be transferred to your new account.
Your final grant payment will occur one month before your grant period ends. So if your grant ends at the end of May, your final payment will be around the 25th of April (covering the May grant).
As stated in the Terms and Conditions, all personal travel unrelated to the grant is to be kept to a minimum to honor the full-time nature of grants. Personal travel conducted outside of the primary grant location must be taken during normal vacation/recess periods of the host institution and weekends and/or national/religious holidays of the host country, whether such travel is within or outside of the host country. Grantees are permitted a cumulative total of 14 days of personal travel outside of the host country without deduction in grant benefits, subject to the prior written approval from the Fulbright Commission and the host institution. Any additional personal travel outside of the host country in the event of a personal emergency (such as a medical emergency or death in the family) or other personal reasons may be approved at the discretion of the Fulbright Commission and the grantee’s host institution. The 14 personal days are meant to serve as a break during the grant, whether continuous or intermittent, but should not be taken at the beginning or end of the grant.
There are a number of Dutch public holidays on which schools and universities will be closed. You can find these public holidays through this link. These national public holidays do not count towards the 14 personal travel days as mentioned in the terms and conditions.
In some cases, your program or research project may need you to go abroad for a short period of time, for instance for attending a conference. This is in principle allowed, provided it is an essential part of your program/research. This should only be for a short period of time and should be essential, to be decided by the Fulbright Commission. The Fulbright Health benefits, which normally do not cover you outside of the Netherlands, can then be amended so that they cover you during this period abroad. Please notify the program manager of your travel at least 5 days before you plan to leave for the trip.
If any changes take place in your personal data, such as a move to a different address, a change in banks, a new phone number, or a new email address, please always inform your program manager within 5 days.
Your grant and your residence permit is based on the full-time nature of your teaching or your teaching/research project. How this works out in terms of schedule will differ for each scholar depending on the teaching program and the host university.
Please consult with your host about what the protocol at the host organization is for being in the office or lab and working from home.
Fulbright Health Benefits / Dutch Healthcare system/Emergencies
The Fulbright Program provides a secondary health benefit plan (Accident and Sickness Program for Exchanges, or ASPE) free of charge. Please be aware that it is a health benefit with limited coverage. The limitations are as follows:
- ASPE does not provide comprehensive insurance coverage
- It is not valid outside of the Netherlands
- It is intended to serve as supplemental coverage
- It only covers you during the dates on your grant authorization
However, if you do not have primary insurance, ASPE will act as primary insurance. ASPE is administered by Seven Corners. For details about ASPE, please review the booklet entitled Your ASPE Guide to Health Care Coverage (https://www.sevencorners.com/gov/usdos). Read the guide thoroughly before beginning your grant to familiarize yourself with ASPE procedures, benefits and exclusions, and review the health care provider information on the Seven Corners website.
ASPE does not satisfy the minimum essential health coverage under the “individual shared responsibility” requirement of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). It is the grantee’s responsibility to comply with the requirements of the PPACA. For more information and a complete list of exemptions, please visit healthcare.gov.
The Fulbright Commission will issue your ASPE identification card by email before the start of your stay. If you have any questions about ASPE please contact customerservice@sevencorners.com.
All Dutch nationals (and other nationalities who receive a salary here in the Netherlands or receive Dutch welfare) are required by law to insure themselves via a national insurance system, which is not free of charge. This is not required for Fulbright grantees, as you are here temporarily and have the Fulbright Health Benefits. Only if you were to start a paid job in the Netherlands would you also be required to take out this insurance at your own expense. As your primary goal here is teach, or teach and do research, but you are not paid wages by the university, it is not necessary for you to take out Dutch insurance. However, the host university may require or recommend an insurance package for their international visitors.
The Dutch Health care system may differ somewhat from what you are used to in the US. For minor medical complaints, you would visit a huisarts (general practitioner). The system is geared towards letting the body heal itself for minor complaints, and to only prescribe medication sparingly. To see a specialist (apart from dentist or physiotherapist), you need a referral from your huisarts. Therefore it is important to register with a huisarts after your arrival, and not wait until you have a health complaint.
Good information about the Dutch health care system can be found on a number of websites, such as:
- https://gpinfo.nl/
- https://english.zorginstituutnederland.nl/about-us/healthcare-in-the-netherlands
- https://nl.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/doctors/
- https://www.iamexpat.nl/expat-info/dutch-healthcare-system/general-practitioners-gp-doctors-netherlands
- https://access-nl.org/healthcare-netherlands/
- https://www.zorgwijzer.nl/faq/healthcare-netherlands
On all these sites, there is information about Dutch mandatory health insurance and how to sign up for this. You can disregard this information (also see under “Other health insurance information”).
The national number for emergencies is 112. 112 is the European emergency number you can dial free of charge from fixed and mobile phones everywhere in the EU. It will get you straight through to the emergency services – police, ambulance, and fire department. You will be asked your location, what services you require and what the emergency is.
The Dutch police also have a local number for non-emergencies: 0900-8844.
ASPE ASSIST
Mental Health Support Hotline
ASPE provides access to a mental health consultant and referral services hotline. ASPE Assist is a benefit for all Exchange Participants, including those on the Fulbright US Student Program, during their USDOS program. ASPE Assist is designed to supplement the health benefits that are concurrently provided through ASPE. ASPE Assist is operated by The ANVIL Group (Everbridge), in partnership with Seven Corners.
ASPE Assist Services
- Mental health advice
- Mental health crisis support
- Sexual assault response
- Violent Crime response
- Providing advice to grantees when they feel at risk or vulnerable
ASPE Assist is accessible 24 hours a day and is available to provide support to Exchange Participants, including grantees on the Fulbright US Student Program, in urgent and non-urgent situations, such as identification of mental health conditions requiring in-person or telemedicine treatment and referral for such treatment, crisis intervention, and many other scenarios. The medical staff responding to grantee calls are trained to handle serious situations such as cases of sexual assault and mental health crises. They can also provide medical advice.
ASPE Assist Contact Information
Phone: +1-833-963-1269
Worldwide: +44-20-3859-4463
Email: anvil_aspesupport@everbridge.com
More information and resources can be found in the Emergency Action Plan, which we ask that you please read before your arrival in the Netherlands.
At the End of Your Grant Period
IIE will send you a request towards the end of your grant period to fill out a final report/evaluation form. Please fill this out. More information can be found through this link.
Your lease will either be of a fixed period with a given expiration date, or you will have to give notice of your termination of the lease – you can find this information in your lease. Usually, you will have to give notice that you wish to terminate your lease 1-2 months before the date you want your lease to end, and the proper procedure for this should be found in your lease. Fulbright recommends that you ask for a confirmation in writing (by email or otherwise) to confirm that your notice has been received. If you have paid a deposit, please check what you need to do to have your deposit returned to you. If the utilities are registered in your name, please also make sure that those are canceled.
Please inform your program manager of the date on which you will leave the country.
When you leave the Netherlands, you will need to de-register at the municipality. Officially, this is called deregistering from the Personal Records Database (Basisregistratie Personen – BRP). Not all municipalities have the same procedure, so please check with the municipality where you are registered on how to do so. It is important that you do not forget this, as you may still be charged for municipal taxes until your de-registration has been processed. An example of how to de-register can be found on this link (for Amsterdam). Most municipalities with an English website will have this information on their website. If not, please contact your local municipality by phone to inquire about the correct procedure.
When you leave the Netherlands, please return your residence card to the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND). our host should take care of the official notification to the IND, but it is your responsibility to return the actual residence permit to the IND. The address in Zwolle and instructions can be found on this link.
Please make sure that you have ended all your subscriptions before you leave the Netherlands, including any direct debit payments you may have set up with your bank account, e.g. Swapfiets, museum card, OV-chipkaart, utilities, phone, TV/internet, library, etc.
If you do not intend to or are not able to use your bank account back in the US, please transfer all the money from the account and close the account. Your bank should be able to tell you what the procedure for this is. Please make sure you do not expect any more payments into this account (for instance, a return of your deposit) before you close the account.
The end of your residence permit should also be the end of your stay in the Netherlands. As the IND describes it on this link: “You must leave the Netherlands in good time. ‘In good time’ means that you leave the Netherlands before the expiration date of your current residence permit.” Therefore, you must ensure that your return flight is on or before the date on which your residence permit expires.
General Information
The US Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, contains provisions affecting recipients of grants under the Fulbright Program. Please find the information on taxes specifically for Fulbright grants on this link.
You will not have to pay income tax on your Fulbright grant in the Netherlands. You may have to pay municipal tax, depending on your rental agreement, as an inhabitant of a municipality.
At the moment of preparing this information, there are two systems in place for paying in public transport. By the time you arrive, one system will most likely slowly be phased out. You will be able to pay for the bus, tram or train directly with your Dutch debit card or a bank app (and possibly credit card). This system is called OV-Pay, and you can find more information on this link. The system which will be phased out, but for now is still also in place, is the OV-chipkaart, you can find more information here.
You can find general information about how public transport in the Netherlands works on this link (although it does not yet mention OV-Pay at the time of preparing this information).
If you will be using the train frequently, it may be worthwhile to buy a kortingskaart, or discount card. Information about the various travel discounts available can be found on the website of the NS, the national train system. Also, the current grantees will be a good source for information about public transport and how to navigate it.
A good English website to plan your public transport travel in the Netherlands is 9292, which is also available as an app. The Dutch railways also has a good travel planner on their website, and this too is available as a mobile app.
For a full overview of the Dutch school system, please see this link. It gives a great overview of the complete education system in the Netherlands, from kindergarten to PhD. Of course, you will mainly be involved in the higher education part of it as students and researchers.
There are differences in the methods and attitude towards higher education between the Netherlands and the US. Past US Fulbright grantees in the Netherlands have noted some main differences that we would like to mention.
- Emphasis on group work, collaborative effort: Group work is given in many courses, and teamwork is perhaps more important in Dutch education than in US education.
- The grading system is different: It is on a 1-10 scale, where 5,5 is usually considered a passing grade, 8 is excellent, and 9s and 10s are rarely given.
- Grading also very often solely depends on an exam or report assigned at the end of a course.
- From the point of view of Dutch students, there is less emphasis on achieving excellent grades. Dutch students sometimes study just enough to pass, and do not always feel the need to excel. This is a generic statement, and of course does not hold true for all Dutch students, but US Fulbrighters have come across it enough to mention it.
If you are coming to the Netherlands with children, it is good to know that homeschooling in principle is not allowed in the Netherlands. There is some good information about this on this link. Through the same link, you can also find some information about enrolling your children in a Dutch school. Not all Dutch schools will be able to enroll your children, therefore it might also be a good idea to look at international schools. Children’s school fees are not covered by the Fulbright grant.
At the moment, the cost of living in the Netherlands can be considered high. The price of rent has risen significantly over the past couple of years, and inflation rates have begun rising as well. These trends are expected to continue in the coming year, due in part to the war in Ukraine.
A good way of getting a sense of what the average cost of living for a student are can be found on this website (choose the city you will be living in). Of course, this website provides only estimates, and actual costs will vary based on your standard of living and spending habits, whether you are traveling to the Netherlands alone or with family, what city you will be living in, etc.
Disclaimer
You are encouraged to talk about your Fulbright experience on social media. If you choose to blog about your experience, please include the following disclaimer somewhere:
This blog represents only my own ideas, observations, and anecdotes; it is not representative of nor attributable to the US Government (USG) or Fulbright Commission.
For more information about social media conduct and safety, please read this page on the US Fulbright website.
Instagram Takeover
The Fulbright Commission in the Netherlands has done doing several Instagram takeovers in the past, where US Fulbright grantees show what they are doing in the Netherlands. If you are interested in doing a “takeover” of our Instagram to show our audience what it’s like to be a Fulbrighter, please get in touch with your Program Manager.
Fulbright Instagram and Facebook Profiles and Pages of Interest
Official Fulbright Program: https://www.instagram.com/the_fulbright_program/
Fulbright the Netherlands: https://www.instagram.com/fulbrightnl/
Fulbright Women: https://www.instagram.com/fulbrightwomen/
Fulbright Latinx: https://www.instagram.com/fulbrightlatinx/
Fulbright Noir: https://www.instagram.com/fulbrightnoir/
Fulbright Prism: https://www.instagram.com/fulbrightprism/
Fulbright Lotus: https://www.instagram.com/fulbrightlotus/
Fulbright Salam: https://www.instagram.com/fulbright.salam/
Fulbright Access: https://www.instagram.com/fulbrightaccess/
The official Facebook page for the Fulbright program worldwide, run by the U.S. Department of State: https://www.facebook.com/fulbright/
Dutch Fulbright Facebook page (mainly in Dutch): https://www.facebook.com/StudereninAmerika.Fulbright/
Fulbright Association: https://www.facebook.com/fulbrightassociation
Dutch Communities you may find helpful
- LGBTQ+ community: The Dutch national organization geared towards a more inclusive society for LGBTQ+ people is the COC. Their website is in Dutch, but you can utilize Google Translate or another translating website to find the information you need.
- Maruf is an organization for being Muslim and gay.
- MSA Nederland is a Muslim student organization. If their website is not working, try accessing their Facebook page.
- You can find the municipal health centers via the GGD website. Among other things, you can get STI testing done at these health centers. They can also refer you back to a general practitioner or provide at-home testing if their clinic is busy. Not all their websites are also available in English, therefore it might be handy to know that the Dutch abbreviation for STI is SOA. An example of a link that is available in English is the Amsterdam GGD.
- If you are Jewish and living in the Netherlands, you may like to get to know the European Jewish Congress. Related, but in Dutch is the CIDI: they strive for the right of Jewish people to live safely and in freedom in the Netherlands and in Israel, and also have a place on their website to report anti-semitism.
- For information on trans rights and resources in the Netherlands, visit Transgender Netwerk (website in Dutch).
Free Dutch language learning apps:
Duolingo app via this link
De het app via this link
Dutch verb conjugations app via this link
Websites:
https://dutchreview.com/expat/learn-dutch/free-ways-to-learn-dutch/
Public transport planners:
https://www.ns.nl/en/travel-information (if you click on travel information, you will a lot of information)
https://www.ns.nl/en/season-tickets
9292 and NS are also available as apps