Dutch Compulsory Identification Act

Download the forms 'Job description and plan for training and supervision PhD student ' and 'Information form'.

The Dutch Compulsory Identification Act places certain requirements on employers and employees.

1. When new employees, interns and guests enter service, the employer must establish their identity on the basis of a proof of identity.

If you want to appoint a new employee or invite an intern, then you need to submit a request for this to the P&O Department in the form of a completed application form. Furthermore, for researchers in training you need to submit the job description and training and supervision plan. The P&O Department will only consider such requests if you add a copy of a valid proof of identity of the person concerned that you have signed. A future employee or intern must be able to prove his or her identity. You should verify that the person concerned is the person stated on the proof of identity.

A foreign guest who receives an expenses remuneration should prove his or her identity as early as possible but no later than on the first day of his or her visit. You should verify that the guest is the same person as stated on the proof of identity. NWO-I pays the expenses remuneration after it has received a valid proof of identity from the guest.

The following are considered to be valid proofs of identity:

• For Dutch citizens: a valid passport or municipal identity card;
• For foreigners: residence document from the Immigration and Naturalisation Service, refugee passport or a foreign passport in which the Immigration and Naturalisation Service has issued a residence permit.

A drivers licence is not a valid proof identity because the nationality is not stated on it.

2. A copy of the proof of identity of all employees, interns and guests must be kept in the (salary) administration.
3. The employer is also obliged to inform employees about the Dutch Compulsory Identification Act. The employer should make employees aware that civil servants from various inspectorates can ask them to prove their identity during their work.

Civil servants from the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service, the Department of Information and Inspection of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, the UWV [Employee Insurance Administration] or the Sociale Verzekeringsbank [Social Insurance Bank] can ask employees to identify themselves at the workplace. According to the Dutch Compulsory Identification Act, you as a representative of the employer are required to give employees the opportunity to satisfy this proof of identity requirement. However, neither you, nor the employer NWO-I, are responsible for the reliability of the content of the documents that those concerned show the inspectors.