DigiD: your login for everything official
DigiD is the national digital identity login. Health insurers, DUO, the tax office, the gemeente, and MijnOverheid, which is your official digital letterbox, all authenticate you through it.
It is free. There is no reason to wait.
What you need first
A BSN, so do that first. A registered Dutch address, because the activation letter goes there by post. A phone for the DigiD app.
How it goes
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Apply at digid.nl. The site has full English. You enter your BSN, date of birth, postcode and house number.
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An activation letter with a code arrives by post. It should not take more than seven business days. If it has been longer than that, something went wrong with the address, so check your registration rather than waiting it out.
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Activate before the deadline printed on the letter, then install the DigiD app. Set the app up properly, including the ID check if your permit supports it. More and more services now refuse the SMS only method.
Worth knowing
MijnOverheid is where official mail lands once you switch it on. Tax letters, gemeente letters, traffic fines you definitely did not earn on a bicycle. Log in once with your new DigiD and turn notifications on, otherwise letters pile up in a mailbox you did not know existed.
Lose your phone and you can reactivate the app with your ID and a new activation letter. Annoying, but survivable. Losing access the week before a DUO or insurance deadline is the painful version, so set the app up on a second device if you can.
You can switch the interface to English nearly everywhere. The letters still arrive in Dutch. A photo and a translation app gets you through, and the activation code is just a code.