Warning About Downtime/Weird-Time

I am thrilled to announce that Maastricht Minutiae is finally moving to its own servers space with a brand new look, some fresh features, and I hope a big future as I continue to write about Maastricht, the surround area, and expat living in this little corner of the Netherlands. We’ve got at least two more years in Maastricht and I invite you all to stick around to experience it with us.

Now the Bad News: Downtime.

The move will take place on Monday. Because of a fancy script on my new site and the fact that my domain name is currently pointing here (wordpress.com), there will be a some downtime while I transfer the domain and get the script activated with my host. This will probably take place in the early/mid-afternoon for those of you in the Netherlands since that’s when my host becomes available to help me. Please bear with me as the new site gets rolling.

Have a Great Weekend and I’ll see you all on the other side of the move.

What Your Gemeente Can Do for You

“Gemeente” (or Town Hall) is probably the third Dutch word you’ll feel compelled to learn (after koffie and Goedemorgen). And it must be your first stop after moving to a new town in the Netherlands to register your residency and, if you haven’t already, get a BSN (personal ID) number. Since your first few visits to the Gemeente can be rather taxing, here are some thoughts on making the process easier; or at least more informative.

Know Why You Are There

The Gemeente is responsible for more than just residency. Some other things handled there are:
- Registration for a Drivers License
- Registration for a Green Bin
- Management and billing of city services (for example, sewer, road tax, housing taxes, etc)
- Information about business and residential zoning.
And, of course, they all have a general information desk and Maasricht now has an International Desk as well.

Read the Rest at Maastricht Region: to Live

Starting my Business in the Netherlands Part 1

I really wanted to hold off on writing this article until I had officially registered with the Kamer van Koophandel (KvK; Chamber of Commerce), but I’ve been so invested in the process over the last week or so that it is short-circuiting my brain’s ability to write about anything else. So here is Part One of “Starting my Business in the Netherlands”.

Step One: Find a need, Fill it.
So the basics of starting a business in the Netherlands is more or less the same as starting a business anywhere else. You need to identify a need in a market and then determine to to fill that need with a service or product. The KvK offers the Starters Center, a Dutch-language website to help new entrepreneurs, but I found that the Small Business Association‘s resources for the USA were just as helpful for the conceptual stage.
(Update/Caution: I took a closer look at the Starters Center and found a lot of broken links.)

I sort of fell into the services I’m offering based on my archivist background and writing this blog actually. I am providing copyright research to publishers and writing/administrative services to other organizations. I want to help clients take control of the information around them, and I can do that best through writing, organizing resources, and website building. My business website will be ready as soon as I complete the registration process since I don’t want to inaccurately represent my business name without knowing if it is available.

Step Two: Write a business plan
Business plans are a pain to write, but there are a lot of resources out there for it and English resources will get you through many of the sections. I checked the KvK’s section on writing a Business Plan to make sure I could answer the questions most pertinent to them:

• What am I marketing and why?
• Who are my clients?
• How will I connect with them?
• What are my costs?
• What are the anticipated outcomes?

“What” you are selling is also important for zoning. Some residences cannot be used to start a businesses. We spoke with the Bedrijfscontactpunt (Business Contact Point) office at the Gemeente and they said there should be no problem for me as a freelancer. Apparently some people try to start clothing stores or chocolate shops out of their apartments.

Step Three: Be sure you can get at least 3 customers.
I’ve been toying with starting a business for months, but it wasn’t until a got a second client lined up that it stopped being so scary for me. As a freelancer service provider in the Netherlands, its important to always have a minimum of three clients per year. Otherwise the tax office could deem you the employee of one of your clients and create a whole mess of employee taxes, pension payments, benefits, and so on. The advice I received from another local freelancer is to define my freelance activities broadly. The economy hasn’t been good to freelancers in the past year or so, so a breadth of services helps keep your options open.

Step Four: Identify a business structure.
I’m still working on this step and will be visiting the KvK in person this week in hopes of nailing it down. For my current circumstance there are three possibilities:

• A ZZP’r or Freelancer: This is probably the structure I’ll go with since it is the simplest and only requires me to submit taxes once per year. However, I cannot have employees.
• A Sole Trader: Is a one-person business that can hire on help when needed. It requires more frequent submission of taxes, but otherwise is similar to a zzp (or rather, a zzp is similar to a sole trader).
• Partnership: This is where things get a bit complex for us. Dan also has a new project that needs to be registered as a business. I think it would be easier if we could register our businesses as one partnership, but I’m not sure if that’s an option since my info services and Dan’s webcomic are very different.

There are also Limited Liability structures available, but for my needs they are off the table for now.

Steps Five – ??: Register your business.
I still need to go through these steps, but they are very important since unlike in the US you shouldn’t start freelancing without registration in the Netherlands. There is a minimum income required for taxation, but the state wants to be able to track your obligation (and theirs). You may also be eligible for monetary start-up assistance. Registration involves registering with the Trade Register and the tax authorities to receive a VAT number. Your business name is checked against others in the database to make sure there are no conflicts.

My best advise is to try and talk to people at the KvK directly. While there is basic information on their website in English, it isn’t really enough to make final decisions about your own circumstances. Or at least is hasn’t been for me. All the legal forms are in Dutch so I’ll also be needing assistance filling those out.

More on starting my business and a proper soup-to-nuts post or three on the subject coming soon!

Culture Surprise at the Doctor’s Office

As someone who suffers from a variety of chronic, but not debilitating medical woes, you’d think I’d be better about getting my medical care set up. Not so much. My general dislike for going to see the doctor and the learning curve of a new system gave me ample excuse to take my time. Still, after procrastinating for several months, my chronic wrist problems finally forced me to finish filling out paperwork and make an appointment.

Finding a Doctor
I’ve written a little bit before about medical insurance in the Netherlands and how it operates somewhat like an HMO. One of the key components is finding your primary care physician (huisart) since this is the person who will handle all your medical care from now on. Even when you are in an emergency situation, you are supposed to call your huisart’s office first and they arrange an ambulance to pick you up (there is the 112 number if you’re in a really dire situation; a la 911 in the States).

It is generally suggested that you ask a friend or neighbor to recommend a huisartspraktijk (doctor’s office) or huisart to you. You’ll want someone near by and insurances are universally accepted, making other people who live in your area the best source of information. This is tricky for an expat who hasn’t marrying into a Dutch family and may not have made many friends yet. Most of the people we’ve met don’t live in the area, but we asked around and got suggestions. I also found that our insurance company has an online database of doctors that we could search by location and that is ultimately where I found the office I applied to. They have several doctors, which increased my chance of finding a woman.

It was recommended to me by a Dutch neighbor that I should walk into the huisartpraktijk to become a new patient. Many doctors already have full dockets, so they may be more receptive to a face-to-face request rather than a phone call. It also meant I got to scope out the waiting room and pick up the starter paperwork: a couple of contact forms with a few medical questions. I filled out the paperwork, dropped off copies of my US records and made my first appointment.

The First Appointment
The first appointment is really a consultation with your new huisart before you are added to the system. That way you can meet and decide if you’re comfortable with your physician before taking your clothes off. It also provided my new doctor with the chance to discuss my medical history a little and to talk about my chronic issues.

I really appreciated this appointment. I’ve never had a consulting appointment with a primary care physician before and it helped to set me at ease a little. I was surprised that unlike in the US, and even at our Netherland’s dental office, I did not have to fill out a form with 50 questions about my medical history. The doctor just asked about the health of my direct relatives and if cardiovascular problems, diabetes, and breast cancer had ever cropped up in my immediate family. She also inquired as to the age of the person who suffered from these ailments. My questions were answered and while the meeting was certainly formal, I didn’t feel rushed.

I was a little surprised to find that I would have to make a separate appointment to have my wrist looked at. I guess there will be no making an appointment for one thing and then discussing other problems here. The receptionist also told me that I would have to call them this afternoon to make my appointment because I wasn’t in their system yet. When I called I was able to get an appointment lined up quickly; less than a week from today.

Non-Intervention Medicine
There is clearly a non-interventionist attitude towards medical care here in the Netherlands, or at least here in Maastricht. My doctor told me that there is no regular exam necessary until age 30 for women. At age 45 is when they start watching your risk factors for things such as cancer or cardiovascular disease (unless you have some really strong risk-factors at a younger age of course). This is so very different from the US where risk factors are frequently monitored quite close and at an early age. My expected interaction with my huisart appears to boil down to one thing: “Only when you are sick.”

There is less of a tendency to prescribe medicines here unless absolutely necessary as well. When I spoke to my new huisart today regarding my eczema, which I’ve been prescribed copious amounts of cortisone for in the past, she said she’d write a prescription but “only if absolutely necessary”. This is a huge change from my last doctor who would give me anything at the drop of a hat. And probably a change for the better. There is no point in getting antibiotics or something else that won’t help. On the other hand, I will probably be slower to see my doctor for ailments since I won’t want to visit just to be told to sleep and drink lots of fluids. We will see.

Most of my questions actually stemmed from a gynecological angle, as I am accustomed to having a regular, separate gynecologist for my annual exams and other treatments. Gynecologic concerns are, in fact, my number one reason to have a female doctor. I learned that women in the Netherlands only have an annual pap smear every 5 years (provided that their previous one was normal I assume), and that I am not expected to start them until I am 30 years old. Also, nurses rather than doctors usually do pap smears. That never happens in the US expect maybe at a free clinic.

Talk about a huge change from the yearly exams I’ve had ever since my period started. I was very surprised. I suppose the Netherlands does not see higher rates of cancer than the US, but the attitude feels a little too casual to me. Perhaps more frequent exams are considered invasive or a hassle relative to their perceived benefit in younger women. Fortunately, I’ve always had normal annual exams, so I’m not too worried.

I am calling this culture surprise rather than shock because the differences are significant but not necessarily negative. I can get behind less frequent use of drugs and medication when not necessary. It remains to be seen how well I handle a less intensive gynecology program and having direct access to only my huisart.

Getting a Residency Card as an Expat's Spouse: The "Good"-Parts Versions

I’m very happy to announce that I’m finally an official temporary resident of the Netherlands complete with a hard plastic ID card good for one year. The process for me took nearly 4 months (partially because of my spouse status) and I hope it doesn’t take this long to renew the card in a year. Next: a driver’s license.

Since its been a long time coming, I thought a quick run-down of the paperwork process would be appropriate. I may expand this into a detailed article in the future and the order may be a bit off based on our particular circumstances, but for now…

Getting a Residency Card for USA Spouse of an Expat: The “Good”-Parts Version
1) Get your spouse employed or placed in the Netherlands. This is a vital step because non-EU citizens can only get working visas though employment. If your expat is gets a Knowledge Worker Visa, you won’t need to get a work visa of your own. Otherwise you won’t be able to work until you’re hired by a company willing to go through the paperwork.

2) Before you move, get your “moving” visa. This sticker is placed in your passport and allows you to stay in the Netherlands for an extended period of time.

2a) Get apostilles of your birth certificate & marriage certificate. Apostilles are an extra layer of officialness. I’m not sure why the Netherlands insists on them, but you need it anyways. They are typically issued by the office of the Secretary of State of the state you were married in and I was able to do everything by mail but I’ve heard rumor that some states are less flexible and require you to visit them in person.

3) Move. Move your pets. Start counting the days/weeks until you get your residency card.

4) Register as a resident in your local town/city. Everyone is required to register with their town hall within 5 days of moving to a new city. As expats its important to do this quickly since it will prevent delays with your other paperwork. Also, you’ll get a personal ID number from this process that acts like a Social Security number. You’ll need that to open up bank accounts and the like.

5) Your spouse will probably need to process his/her temporary residency & work visa paperwork first. If you’re in Maastricht, this will involve completing paperwork with your expat’s company and a trip to the IND for a temporary temporary resident/work permit sticker in your passport. Try to do it all at once if you can, but I’m not sure that’s possible.

6) Go back to your town hall and complete the paperwork to get your apostilled marriage license approved. When we were there we were told this process could take 4-6 weeks. They’ll want to take your marriage license for this approval, but you’ll also need it to finish up your own IND visit if you haven’t already.

7) Wait. If you can/need to, visit the IND to complete get your own temporary temporary sticker. Your expat won’t need to wait for the marriage license paperwork to go through so he/she will probably make a trip to Eindhoven for the official residency card during this time.

Wait for the marriage license stuff to get through all the hoops. When you get the document stating that your license is approved you may need to send a copy back to the IND (they do the approval, but a different department must need it for the residency card).

9) Wait.

10) Get the letter stating that you are approved. Its in Dutch of course.

11) One week later, get a letter stating that you can go pick up your residency permit.

12) Take the train to Eindhoven (if you’re living in Maastricht anyway) and pick up your new card. Remember to bring the letter and your passport with you. In my case, my card indicates that I am the spouse of an expat and that I can work without a working visa (my husband is a Knowledge Worker). Your card will reflect your relationship with your expat and your ability to work.

13) Celebrate with beer & waffles!

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