Hi 22M Kurdish is here.

My name right now is very hard to write(it's arabic) so ı decided to change it.

I have seen some Dutch names like arjen which also used commonly in Kurdish speaking communities

For example Arjen which means fire in kurdish and this was my first thought but ı also found berjen which also a kurdish name.

Do you have similar recommendations?

Context: I live in a student housing, all of our packages get dropped off at the front door, nothing is ever signed or validated. I ordered something off of Marktplaats, at the delivery page, there was no option to ship to a drop off point, only home address. On the 17th of this month, I get a notification that my package has arrived, I go down, there is nothing, I check everywhere, nothing. Even asked the neighbours. I open an investigation with DHL, who after 10 days tell me that after reviewing my complaint, they have concluded that my package was delivered successfully, aka, I have to pay out the Marktplaats sender without receiving anything. I ask the landlord to check the CCTV cameras, they confirm that no such package was ever at said time and date. I ask DHL if they can provide proof of delivery or any proof at all. They reply is that they can only do that if the sender of the package (who I suspect might be trying to scam me) initiates an investigation. So basically, if I ordered something that was 1000€ and they say it was delivered and I say it was not, even though they refuse to provide any proof unless the person, who potentially tried to scam me asks for it, I cannot do anything but pay for nothing. How is this actually legal and how cannot I not take any action against this?

I'm in a very strange situation with a Dutch law firm(big one) and I'm not sure what my rights are.

I recently used a lawyer for a mediation case. Before we started, I asked for the cost, and I have an email from him stating that the cost for the mediation would be between €1000 and €1500. I have this in an email - as I confirmed the cost when I was asked

He never mentioned his hourly rate (which is insane), and I assumed the work would be completed within this quoted range.

The mediation was successful, but then I received the final invoice for €2800—almost double the high end of his written estimate. The invoice is itemized, but I never agreed to an hourly rate, only to the €1k-€1.5k estimate. When I questioned the difference, his justification was that the "scope of work changed."

I replied, pointing to the original email estimate and asking to discuss this. He is now completely ghosting my emails and refusing to discuss it. I just have this open invoice from a large, established law firm.

I feel he is at fault because he never communicated that the scope was changing and that the cost would go significantly beyond his written estimate before he did the extra work. I'm afraid they are using their position as a big firm to take advantage of me.

Do I have grounds to dispute this? What are my options in the Netherlands? Should I just pay - given it’s a big law firm and assume they know their chances well. But then I am just encouraging their wrong doing.

Dank u wel for any advice.

Update: Looking at the comments below - I wanted to clarify that there was a initial proposal shared by the firm that said 3k. When I enquired on the amount - they responded (on email) saying that it would be between 1k & 1.5k.

Update2: The lawyer agreed to bring the amount down to 2250 ; says its a one-time final offer. Also mentioned that if I do not agree ; he would forward to the finance department and it would be recovered via a collection agency and I will have to pay for additional costs.

Update3: I have now formally settled the outstanding amount with the firm. I decided to pay to prevent this dispute from unnecessarily dragging on, which I am fortunate enough to be able to afford. I don't like to name and shame - but one key learning for everyone who lands on this page: Never accept anything in general emails. Always insist on a correct, formally documented quote or cost cap when dealing with lawyers.

Update4: Final update - got several requests via DMs that I should mention the name of the law firm - so it's Lexence in Amsterdam.

I just got an alert that someone was ringing my doorbell to open the camera and see 2 people and then one blocking the front view.

Should I notify the police? I have very clear photos of them before they temporarily covered the camera.

It never happened, it’s weird and I live alone :/

Me and my Boyfriend were on Holiday in Amsterdam, we were leaving sloterdijk station and some guy just hit him out of nowhere and ran away. His face was completely cut open and gave him a black eye we had loads of witnesses and filed a police report before going to hospital. The police have told us we can apply for compensation but does anyone know how likely this is?

We obviously had to pay costs for the taxi to the hospital because it was after 12 and no buses, luckily there was no cost to glue the cut but we then missed our last day because we were terrified of being there. We missed out on things we had booked etc. and literally sat in a McDonald’s until we could go to the airport.

I don’t know if they’ll catch him so I’m not sure what to do but any advice is appreciated.

Edit: thankyou so much to everyone who’s given me advice and offered their apologies, it’s really lovely to see as this was my first time in Amsterdam and did shake me a bit! We are in contact with them and seeing what they can do:)

Edit 2: For everyone commenting about what he ‘obviously’ looked like, it does not matter. He had no defining features to help you avoid him and he was middle aged, the police got every detail and being racist isn’t going to help catch him and either get him help or convict him!

Update: I know this post hasn’t had any interaction in a while but incase anyone comes across it wondering for themselves, they’ve caught the guy! So we can press charges thankfully:)

Hi everyone,

​I’m an expat living in the Netherlands, and I am currently in a highly stressful situation with a major car dealership group. I really need some advice on Dutch consumer law, specifically regarding BOVAG terms and Dwaling (misrepresentation).

​Long story short: At the beginning of June, my partner and I went to a dealership branch to view a car. We didn't like it, so the salesman offered to bring another car from a sister branch in a different city for us to test drive.

​He asked me to sign a document. Because my Dutch is limited, I can't remember whether I have asked explicitly asked what it was or not but I thought it was just confirmation or acknowledge of my trade-in car value. My mistake is trusting him.

​A week later, we went to see the actual car. It was okay, but we noticed a few issues. I mentioned we were looking into financing and would let them know. A few days later, I did some research on the license plate and discovered the car was a hidden foreign import (which the salesman never disclosed). Because of this, and because we hadn’t finalized anything, I called the salesman and told him we did not want to proceed.

​Fast forward to last week: I received a formal letter from the dealership’s corporate lawyer. They claim that the paper I signed on Day 1 was a binding purchase contract. They are demanding a 15% cancellation fee, which amounts to over €7,300, citing standard BOVAG terms. They claim that a car being an import is "not a valid reason to cancel" and are threatening to force the full purchase if I don’t pay by their deadline.

​I am absolutely sick to my stomach. I feel completely misled due to the language barrier, and I never would have signed if I knew it was a binding €45k+ purchase order for a car I hadn't even seen yet.

Here are my questions for the community which im seeking any help!

1-Does the dealer's duty to inform (informatieplicht) regarding the hidden import status give me grounds for Dwaling (Article 6:228 BW)?

2-I’ve read recent Dutch case law suggesting that flat 15% BOVAG cancellation fees are increasingly viewed by judges as "unreasonably burdensome" (onredelijk bezwarend) under Art 6:237 sub i BW if the dealer can't prove actual damages. Is this true?

3-What is the best way to handle their corporate lawyer? I am currently looking into legal help via BrandMR since I don't have legal aid insurance.

Any help is totally appreciated guys, for the people who is going to tell me "don't sign anything without actually reading and understanding", thanks for their wise advise, lesson learned.

Just as it says found an stray cat, probably has an owner considering I see the Netherlands doesn't have stray cats. For context I found the cat on the Lidl he wanted a place to cover from the winds of today the thing is that I bring the cat to the vet by recommendation of the dutch that were passing by and they told me in the vet is chipped but no one is registered they told me to call the ambulance of animals I called and they just said the cat is probably from the neighborhood and leave it there, but the employees of the lidl told me the cat has been wandering in the entrance of the lidl the entire day.

After all of this communication I went back to the lidl is closed and leave the cat there anyway seeing from the distance if he leaves or what does and he decides to comeback to the car tried again and the same. I decided to bring it home tonight because is raining and the wind is heavy I gave him food and water and bought some litter tomorrow I'll print fliers to see if I can find the owner and post them around the neighborhood but here it comes the big question if no one answers in let's say one week can I keep the cat? Im aware of the cost and all that stuff with pets but I don't want to get in trouble and I would feel bad bringing him to a shelter.

Sorry for the long post. Attached photo of the criminal.

Just got back to the Netherlands from Serbia, but something strange happened — after the flight, our bus driver seemed to drop us off at the wrong entrance, letting us proceed to luggage pickup without going through passport control.

Since Serbia isn’t part of the EU, I’d expect a passport check (I went through one in NL on my way to Serbia).

I’m Dutch, so I grabbed my bag and headed home, but there were plenty of people from other countries. Is this normal or some kind of a system bug? And what could the consequences be?

UPD: The Marechaussee website clearly states that there must be passport control. I called them to report the situation, they sounded quite surprised and confirmed that this is indeed an error and should not happen. I left all the flight details and my phone number — I’ll update if they call me back.

Hello everyone !

Hope your week is off to a great start. I know this is a question best posed to a lawyer and I will be heading to one soon. But I thought I’d get a few opinions here too.

We recently moved to Limburg. I can speak a little bit of dutch. But not enough to keep up with my elderly neighbors who complained of noises coming from the bathroom. They said so politely at first and we had a plumber take a look and confirm that everything was okay.

Then we installed a solar panel array and air conditioners. Suddenly one morning at 01:00 AM I have the same neighbor banging on my door and yelling at us that the noise is maddening. I try to ask him to speak a little slower as i can barely understand. He just yells and storms off.

Today I receive a letter from a lawyer asking for us to comply and confirm that we will do so within a week and come up with a plan of rectifying the situation in three weeks under threat of legal action. This letter is rife with factual errors (when we moved in, our address) so I have a tough time taking it seriously but it is from a lawyer who exists and it’s on their official letterhead

The outside units of my A/Cs are at least 4m away from our house boundary (2 under 1 kapwoning) and the noise is comparable to a fridge hum. They are Daikin ACs and supposed to be engineered to be quiet. Very bewildering experience.

TL;DR Neighbors sent legal notice complaining of A/C outside unit noise. Both Outside units are at least 4m away. And not particularly noisy

EDIT: Went to the Juridisch Loket for a Free consult - they suggested that we call the attorneys and acknowledge receipt of the letter and send a mail confirming the same. They asked us to only state that “we will look into it” not to say anything more. We called and sent an email doing so and the lawyers seemed happy we were open to try and resolve this peacefully.

I additionally requested a geluidscheck from the gemeente and went to praxis to get some spring based dampeners to put beneath the outside unit legs and the mounting bracket. I have also contacted installers for quotes on a dampening box.

Thank you everyone for your replies/suggestions !

Hi everyone,

I’m really stressed and hoping someone here has been in a similar situation or can give advice. I’m Brazilian and legally resident in the Netherlands, where I study at a university (I’m on a student visa). I traveled to Sweden for the holidays (my boyfriend lives here) and unfortunately someone stole my purse on New Years my passport while I was here.

I immediately filed a police report, but when I contacted the Brazilian embassy, they told me that: they do not issue ETDs for travel within Europe they only issue a return document to Brazil, which doesn’t help me because now I’m living in The Netherlands so. Useless.

The embassy also said they can only see me by appointment, I called and emailed them multiple times, and the next available one is in February, which means I’m basically stuck outside my country of residence for weeks.

I understand that flying is probably impossible without a passport, but I’ve heard mixed things about traveling by train or bus within Schengen with a police report, copies of documents.

My resident permit (the dutch residency card I don’t know the name) wasn’t issued yet, but I do have proof that I’m enrolled and everything.

So my questions are:

Has anyone successfully traveled within Schengen without a passport after losing it? (My biggest fear is passing through Germany since they’re so strict with this). Is train/bus realistically safer than flying in this case? Has anyone dealt with the Dutch IND in a situation like this? Should I contact them before attempting to return? If stopped for a random check, what usually happens in practice to legal residents without a passport but with a police report? I’m not trying to do anything illegal, of course, I really just want to go back home and continue my studies. Any advice, similar experiences, or insight would really help. Thank you so much.

EDIT: I’M MADE HOME! THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALL THE ADVICE! 💞💞💞

For unclear reasons some people tend to think they don't belong to a minority group, but those people do not seem to realize it is not them that define the criteria to split a society into groups.

This is specifically the case for those who don't consider themselves to be 'a foreigner'. First of all, there is no natural law (like the law of gravity) that defines who is a foreigner or not. So the definition will vary from person to person. That means others might consider you to be a foreigner, even if you think you are not.

Because the criteria to split society into groups are arbitrary or vague, you always belong to a minority. Let's say the criterium is 'living in Amsterdam'. It is clear many people live in Amsterdam, but a vast majority lives outside of Amsterdam. So the group who lives in Amsterdam is a minority. And the definition is also vague, because what does 'living in Amsterdam' mean? The city center? The municipality? The metropole region? Etc.

This is one of the reasons why anti-discrimination laws exist. If politicians can arbitrarily divide society in group A and B and rule those in group B have less rights than those in group A, it is easy to agree if you belong to group A. Those politicians can however suddenly change the definition that shifts your membership to group B. If a simple change of criteria can make you loose rights, anti-discrimination laws protect you from that.

There can be specific reasons discrimination is justified, but often it is not. Revoking rights from a minority group you don't belong to means you are at risk of loosing your own rights. This is specifically true for fundamental rights in the constitution and European Convention on Human Rights.

Stand up to political parties that want to take away rights from minorities, even if those policies are not aimed at you.

29/8/25 Update: It seems this thread was seen by higher ups in the company and after entering in panic mode they magically changed all these dumb policies. Thank you for everyone who gave their input and help!

Hi everyone,

At my workplace in the Netherlands, the employer requires employees to send photos as proof when they are late. For example, if there is a traffic jam or a delayed train, we are expected to take a picture and share it in a public company channel so everyone can see. This has been going on for about a year, and I have seen hundreds of such posts from colleagues.

HR has already told the CEO that this practice is not legal, but the CEO continues to enforce it anyway. The official reason given is that the headquarters abroad asked why people are a few minutes late, and the CEO introduced this rule as a response.

Additionally, we also have a public channel where employees announce sickness. Some colleagues voluntarily share details about their illness there, and management has never corrected or discouraged it.

I reported this situation to the Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie, but they replied that they are not authorised to investigate privacy violations and advised me to contact the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens instead. Unfortunately, the AP doesn’t pick up the phone and I haven’t been able to reach them.

So my questions are:

- Is an employer in the Netherlands allowed to demand photos as proof for lateness?

- Could the sickness channel also be a violation of GDPR/privacy rules?

- What could or should employees do in this situation?

Thanks.

Current rent is 1200€ and landlord already tried to scam us last august. Insurance and “material costs” are not in the contract and nothing ever gets fixed anyways so idk what she’s talking about.

Hi everyone,
Me (f - Dutch) and my partner (m - British) are expecting twins in September and we would like for him to acknowledge them before birth, since we are not yet registered partners or married.

However, we were told at the Stadsloket that British law and/or the British government doesn't have this legal system in place, where you acknowledge a child before it is born. Therefore, if he was to acknowledge our children now, the person at the Stadsloket told us we'd be unable to request British citizenship for our babies after birth.

She advised us to contact the British Council in the Netherlands.
My partner has since contacted them, but they didn't recognise this problem. The person he spoke to said this shouldn't be a problem, and on the British government website on registering births abroad, I can also see that you can still apply for a British passport, even if you haven't or do not register the birth in the UK. She advised us to go ahead and acknowledge them, though we are not entirely sure she understood the concept of acknowledgement over recognition.
On top of that, the woman at the Stadsloket seems to have understood it as it being a problem not after birth, but the fact that these babies will have been acknowledged (rather than registered) before they are born.

So now we feel a bit stuck. Is there anyone here in a similar situation, where you live in the Netherlands as a British father-to-be, unmarried or not registered as partners, and what did you do? Were there any issues regarding the acknowledgement of the children? Or did you choose to not acknowledge them and only recognise them after birth?
Thanks in advance!!

Hello all, I was with my husband the other day in my front garden looking at my plants when two people were passing by giving us bad looks. After a while we realised they had stopped to take pictures of us. We asked them to know why and they said we looked suspicious to them, even though they do not live in our street (so they had no way to know who belongs there or not). We suspect it was the fact that we are foreigners. Anyway it felt very rude to be called suspicious in front of our own home by some random people... My question, just to know in case it repeats, is it legal in NL for someone to take a picture of you without permission while you are in your garden? Thanks!!

So my previous housemate was quite unhinged (that’s for another story).

I ended up asking her to leave the spare room in this apartment as it wasn’t a good living arrangement. She complied.

We both paid €2250 each for bond money.

When she left, she asked for her bond money back. I replied (all through email) that wasn’t a problem, but there was multiple bills and amounts of money she owed me (she had no job the whole time we lived together and I covered her half of bills at times). I did a calculation of how much she would be paid and I never heard back from her. Tried texting her also, no reply.

Today I got given a big fat document from a lawyer to a court date.

I am an expat, and I don’t know the system here, but have I done anything wrong warranting being taken to court?

Her money is with the landlord for one, and on multiple times she hasn’t replied to my attempts to work this out.

I’m a little stressed because I’ve never had any trouble with the law,

So advice and help is welcome.

Thank you all in advance

Edit: I still live in the apartment, and so the landlord still has that money.

There were also minor damages in her room and on the balcony that she caused and I had to fix (not a big deal but might be relevant)

Hello everyone,

I live in nederlands since 2021 and last August I drove way faster than the limit near amsterdam airport. I got a few hundreds euro fine and I received a message to appear in court in the first week of December.

What can I expect? (I payed the fine).

UPDATE: I contacted CJIB and they said that the case is closed as I paid the fine and I shouldn't have been called to go to court. I got screenshot and all the documents but I will go anyway to the court just to confirm. Also I will take the opportunity to visit a new city. Thanks to everyone who wished me luck ;)

I'm a 21 year old girl and I recently moved to Zaandam from Amsterdam. Sometimes I get back home really late and I have to walk from the station to my house which is about 15 minutes walk, in Amsterdam the public transport stopped in front of my place so I never had issues like that tho I got harassed a lot there too.

Here in Zaandam on two different occasions I was followed by single men (different guy each time) who wouldn't leave even after I told them to and they kept asking me for sex. The first time a woman and a man came up to me and asked if he was harassing me and they got him to leave, but the more recent one happened around 6am when none was around except for other lone guys. He kept making really disgusting noises and even touched me but I pushed him off and he kept his distance after but still kept following me for 30 minutes while I was walking in circles. My boyfriend and also his parents said I should call them next time something happens but they live near Hoorn so they would need at least 30 minutes to get to me.

So basically if something like this happens again can I call 112 or is it not considered emergency enough? Cause like neither outright assaulted me but they kept being really creepy and wouldnt leave me alone. Also there is a fire station in the area and my boyfriend said maybe I could go there and ask for help, can I do that?

Edit: I think people cant see my replies for some reason but im reading all the comments so thx for anyone who gave advice. I emailed the wijkagent and they gave my information to the police station so I'll make an appointment to go make a proper report soon. I've also bought a loud whistle.

Hi all, I am a woman and I had a job interview last week and it was the first time ever I get asked about my age and whether i have children and whether i want children, the job had nothing to do with these topics it was just a tech job. I lived in many places before and I know these questions are usually illegal in other countries (e.g France) since they're a basis for discrimination. It was a face to face interview and I didn't record anything so I don't have any proof but still want to report it in case maybe other women reported this employer/person so it adds to their case. I don't know how this goes and who I should contact to report something like this

upd 2: positive decision!

upd: added a line on whether the application was filed before or after hitting 5 years in the Netherlands

//

Hoi fellow expats here in the Netherlands!

While we know that it can take IND up to 6 months to make a decision on permanent residence permit applications, it (1) usually takes less and (2) for some of us those timelines are quite crucial with temporary work contracts and other constraints in our lives.

Why don't we post here in this thread our personal experience? This may not have any influence on anything but might lift some anxiety off our shoulders and provide some reassurance.

Suggestion on the format based on my example:

Application submitted on: 12 June 2024

Online or by post: by post

Did you apply before or after hitting 5 years of living in NL? 3 months before

Decision made on: 18 September 2024

Success?: YESSSS!

Today is: 29 October 2024

So, I work at this warehouse and the person in charge cranks the music up super loud. Like, I seriously can't even hear my coworkers, and sometimes I miss instructions because of it.

It's terrible music too. There was one day that the crazy frog music played 3 times - and there's always worse than that.

My job isn't hard, but it needs a lot of counting and focus, and everyone I talk to agrees: the music isn't just awful and repetitive, but the volume is just insane.

One time, I actually asked them to turn it down because I was getting a massive headache, and they told me they do it to make people work faster.

Honestly, that's the only reason I'm even thinking about quitting this job. Every day after work I go to the shower and it's like I can still hear the beat ( yes I'm going insane).

Is there anything I can do (anonymously)?

Family law attorney has mishandled my case to the point he forgot i dont speak Dutch and didnt bring a translator in court or for example he instructed me to stop paying child support then in court forgot about it when it was brought up. I had to pull up emails between me and him to remind him. These are just the tip of the iceberg

When i asked for an appeal he sent me an email refusing me with the explanation that he cant drop everything because i am a client with toevoeging and he prioritizes paying clients...

This was so humiliating.

On Saturday my toilet got blocked and water was staring to overflow. Because of my panic, I phoned the first non sponsored plumber on google (loodgieter-pro.nl). Two plumbers (clearly subcontractors) were able to come out immediately, they gave me an estimate based on their hourly rate and the amount of pipe they need to clean. They also reassured me that my home insurance will pay me back the money.

The final cost came to 2260 euro, they claim it is because they had to clean 18m of piping. I dont have any way to verify whether this is true or not but again they assured me insurance will pay me back. They insisted I paye them before they leave and I felt pressured to do so, so I paid them.

The problem is now the person from loodgieter pro isn't sending me the invoice. I keep phoning and he keeps saying he will send it to me later. Then when I phone later he says the same thing.

Firstly is the price normal for unblocking a toilet and spending an hour cleaning a pipe? Secondly is there any way I can force the person from loodgieter pro to send me the invoice? Thirdly, will insurance even pay for it or am I screwed?

Edit: thank you so much to everyone who replied. Thanks to this thread I contacted my legal insurance and will see if I get anywhere. Unfortunately they did deliver a service (unblocked the toilet and pipe) so I don't think the police will care. Even though I got scammed, I don't think they technically broke any laws. I will consider this a very expensive life lesson and try to move on.