Letter address
What is it?
A postal address is an address where you receive your mail. You can apply for a postal address if you are temporarily without a home address or if you are staying in an institution. You will then receive your mail at this address.
Is your family member moving to a care facility? If so, please read the brochure Residential Letter Address Care Facility (at the bottom of this page under Documents and Forms) first.
How does it work?
A letter address is always an address in the Netherlands and may not be a postbus . You can apply for a postal address in the municipality where the person providing it lives. We call this person the letter address provider. The letter address giver must make sure you get your mail from the government. For example:
- letters
- tax forms
- a polling card
- a subpoena
A postal address is not granted automatically. The basic registration of persons assumes registration at the address where you actually live or are temporarily staying. Do you want to apply for a postal address because you temporarily do not have a home address? Then fill in the brief address questionnaire in which you explain where you are staying and for how long. A civil affairs employee will then contact you. You may be invited for a personal interview.
The municipality may ask you to provide supporting documents.
Who can apply for a letter address
- The individual himself (the person who will live in an institution, or who has no residential address)
- Parents, guardians and caregivers of youth under 16 years of age who need a letter address.
- Majority for a person who has authorized him/her in writing to do so.
Learn more about obtaining a letter address at rijksoverheid
Digital request form letter address
What to do.
After you complete the questionnaire, a civil affairs employee will contact you. The employee will inform you about applying for a letter address.
Care facility
Are you staying in a care facility for a longer period of time? Look under the Documents heading for the leaflet residential letter address when moving to a care facility. Here you will find more information about using a letter address or a correspondence address.
What do I need?
- your valid ID
- signed, written consent of the letter-addresser
- proof of identity (or a copy thereof) of the letter sender
- if your new residence has not yet been delivered: a copy of the lease, purchase contract or deed of delivery
- As a house seeker, you demonstrate that you are actively looking for housing. For example, you submit proof of registration from Thuis in Limburg, room rental sites and private rental sites
- If you are temporarily residing abroad submit supporting documents such as:
- flight tickets with date of return
- contracts with employers showing the period you will be assigned
- study statement from the educational institution abroad indicating the duration of the internship/study
- lease of the residential property abroad