Tips for a new Indian in The Netherlands

I came to Netherlands towards the end of 2009. Since then, I have seen the Indian crowd only expand...exponentially would not be a wrong term to use!

How do I claim this…by the number of people of my parents age in sarees and formal wear in summer :). Primarily I see people coming for work, graduation studies, post-graduation Masters, Research (PhD) and tourism. BTW I’m here for work.

Note: Since Jan 2014, I have transferred this blog to http://indiansinnetherlands.com due to better features. So for latest (and correct) notes, kindly click here: http://indiansinnetherlands.com.

Recently one of my colleagues came to Netherlands and I realized I could give him a lot of information about this place. Thought it might help a few more if I write a blog!

Before travel - Preparation and luggage:

1. If you are browsing to find information and everything is in Dutch, download Google Chorme. It will ask you if you want to translate Dutch to (decent enough) English. City center is called 'Centrum'
2. Primary language is Dutch. But most people in Netherlands are able to speak English.
3. Most of Netherlands is safe and crime rate is very low. However petty theft and house robbery does occur. So don't carry too much jewelry :)
4. Mid Oct thru early March is cold. Outside temperature will likely be in and around 0 degree centigrade. If you want to know how it feels, just keep your hands inside a fridge freezer for 5 minutes! Carry a good woolen gloves, woolen cap that covers even your ears, a good winter jacket and thermal wear. For April thru September, it is better to carry a good warm jacket anyway. It could be very warm or chilly at random.
5. Unless it is arranged for you, carry enough ready to eat food for at least 1 day. Not only that you will likely be tired and hungry, depending on the day/time you land, no shops might be open!
6. Unlike India, 95% of the shops (excluding restaurants) close by 5:00PM. On Sunday all shops are closed. Even the few restaurants that open will close early. If you are lucky, your city center might be open outside these hours. (One exception is Albert Heijn grocery store. They are open till 10:00PM Mon-Sat in most cities. Go to their website to find a store near your destination and open timings). 
7. If you want to cook yourself, carry your pressure cooker (carry spare gasket and safety valve), mixer (mixers here do not scale up to Indian needs of grinding), you may want to carry home made 'saaru' and 'sambar' powder. However MTR is available in Indian shops here.
8. The electric plug point shape is different from India. Carry a couple of European pin to Indian pin converters. It should cost within Rs100/- in India while it could cost upto €10 euros to buy it here.
9. Voltage/frequency is 220V/50Hz. So your mixer, laptop will work here...you only need the European pin to Indian pin converter.
10. If your visa is "Knowledge Work Permit" (also called highly skilled migrant or Kennismigrant), only then your spouse (dependent) can work.
11. Mobile is GSM based. So if your mobile is a standard brand (Nokia, Samsung etc) GSM phone, it will work here.
12. Carry needed medication. You will not get medicines unless you have a prescription from a Dutch doctor. Only exception is Paracetemol and other petty medicines. So carry needed medication sufficient for at least 2 months.
13. If you wear spectacles, carry a spare. It will be expensive here and takes them 2 weeks to deliver.
14. Carry your original driving licence . There is no need for IDP since Indian licence is in English. You are allowed to drive with India license for 6 months after your arrival.
15. For an idea on cost of living in The Netherlands, read my other post.
16. If you have a child and need English medium school, you need to find an 'International school' first and based on that decide your housing. There are not many international schools and so this check is important. Contact the school immediately (even before coming to Netherlands) to get advice on vacancy.
17. Check your office dress code. Suit might be preferred/needed. 
18. A good fit formal pants could be difficult to find here since shops do not adjust the length.
19. Due to weather conditions, clothes do not dry in the Sun. You need to wash and dry in a washing machine once in 3 to 7 days. So I suggest you carry extra sets of clothes. 
20. For the India to Netherlands flight journey, carry enough money. Ideally this should be very small amount to cover for any food/shopping need during your stopover. But carry at least 200-300euros more just in case something goes wrong midway forcing longer stopover (snow, fog, Iceland volcano, strike etc). It is best to carry in Euro, US Dollar or Pounds. BEWARE......INDIAN RUPEES MAY OR MAY NOT BE ACCEPTED OUTSIDE INDIA even in currency exchange centers.
21. Most airlines allow 1 check-in baggage of 23 Kgs. A few allow 30 Kgs (Etihad, Emirates, Jet etc).
22. If you are migrating for employment, you are likely to be eligible for 30% ruling. This means first 30% of your gross is tax free. This is a significant financial advantage. Ask your employer for it. For more details click here. 
23. Open a NRE account when you are still in India. While you can do it even after coming here, it is a long and painful process. Also get the internet banking userid/password so that you can make all transactions via NEFT on the internet and hassle free.
24. You might want to consider giving "Power of Attorney" to someone close to you. Understand the risks before you do it.

Day 0:

1. Upon landing in Netherlands, you can buy pre-paid SIM card at the airport. Generally preferred among Indians is 'Lyca mobile' since its calling rate to India is about 1cent/minute. It costs €15 to buy the SIM with currency of €7.50 already loaded. 'Lebara mobile' is a competitor. Often they have better deals. Compare and then buy.
2. If you are landing in Schipol airport, the train station is within the airport. Make sure your destination train station has a lift/escalator from the platform to the transit point. Else you will have to carry your luggage up/down the stairs. Normally taxis/city-bus are available outside the train stations.
3. If train is not an option for you, 'airport shuttle' is the next cheapest followed by taxi. Please take official taxi only (and not someone who is trying to sell you a taxi inside the airport) to avoid paying much more than official rates. Note: Car seat for kids is not mandatory for airport shuttle and taxis.

Week 1:

1.  Grocery stores: Albert Heijn (also Lidel, C1000, Jumbo). You will get tons of varieties. Some items specific to Indian taste are: 
• Butter – ‘Roombotter - Ongezouten’, 
• Curds - ‘Bio Garde, STAND Naturel’ yogurt, 
• buttermilk - 'Karnemelk',
• rice – ‘euro shop basmati rice’ or sona masuri from Indian store, 
• dosa-rice - 'euro shop Surinam rice'
2. If you are really out of stuff late at night, you can go to 'Night Shop' or 'Albert Heign to go' shop that are open till late in the night. However you will get only limited stuff and is not a substitute for your grocery shopping. Also, these shops are more expensive than regular grocery shops. Night Shop will be open till about 1.00AM. 
3. Clothes store: 'C&A', V&D, Hema, PRIMARK – cheap and good. Often there will be discount ‘Sale’. So buy only what you need and wait for the Sale weeks for the rest.
4. Miscellaneous store: Action, Blokker, Kruidvat, Zeeman. You will get stationery, mug, bucket, DVDs, batteries, shopping cart, rice cooker etc etc etc.
5. Footware store: van Haren is cheap and good….again keep ‘Sale’ weeks in mind.
6. Indian store: Most cities have Indian stores where you get almost all of your day to day needs as if in India. In Eindhoven, as of 2013, there are Sri Cash and Carry, Omid (not Indian, but stores Indian stuff), Rohit and Jyoti. Google for address. You will get ready to eat, Maggie, soan pappdi, grated coconut…everything! If you have a stove and a microwave in your accomodation, life is easy here!
7. Indian store: Other than Indian stores, Chinese, Turkish and international stores also store Indian food items (like dals, ready chapatti, pudina, palak etc)
8. Electronics store: media markt.…look for Sale. Also check the price in mediamarkt.nl. Products are often much cheaper there. You can even order it to the nearest store at no additional shipping cost and pick it up from there a day or 2 later.
9. Petty Medicines: Etos
10. Medical store: any 'Apotheek', but unless it is over the counter medicine, you will need prescription from a Dutch doctor.
11. Post office: Generally a separate counter in 'Bruna' book store.
12. If you did not buy a Lyca mobile SIM card at the airport, you can buy it at the train station information/currency exchange desk. Some phone shops in the Centrum will also sell.
13. A shopping cart will cost you €15/-. But worth the buy since it will last for years and will relieve you the pain of carrying stuff in hand. With a shopping cart, you fill it with your grocery and drag it on its wheels to your home.
14. To travel by train, it is good to know the basic ticketing system. Go to http://www.ns.nl for timetable, ticket price. Click English if you prefer information in English. Trains have a confusing variety of discounts, ticketing modes and eligibility criteria for these. If you are confused, go to the ticket counter at the station and ask them what is best for your situation. However you will pay 50cents extra per ticket if you buy tickets at the counter instead of the vending machine.
15. For door-to-door travel planning using public transport, go to http://www.9292.nl/. For English, click the UK flag. If you provide your home address and your destination address, it will tell you the options you have for travel.
16. You can use 'Smartvoip' to call India and other countries from your laptop. Google Smartvoip.
17. Once you get your insurance letter from your insurance company, you can register yourself with a Doctor. The healthcare system is a bit strange and important to know. Read my other post for details.

Month 1

1. ABN-AMRO bank has English online banking. Most others have only Dutch. You need the BSN to open the account. How to apply for a BSN and the time it takes is explained here.
2. Other than health insurance, it is strongly advised to take 2 more types of insurance. Personal Insurance- in case you/family damage someone else's property by mistake. Theft Insurance - to cover your house hold items in case of theft. ABN-AMRO also offers both and cost very nominal amount.
3. Ebay of Holland: - http://www.marktplaats.nl/ ; http://www.tweakers.net
4. Buy a cycle. New one will be very expensive. You should easily be able to find a good used (second hand) cycle. Do not buy from unknown people who look like thugs and are ready to sell at very cheap price. Most likely these are stolen cycles and police might question you. Look for something within known circles. There are second hand shops but cost much more than private owners.
5. If your spouse is not working, he/she can apply for tax return in the local tax office. After first 6 months of living in Holland, non-working spouse will get a monthly tax return of  aprox €160/month.
6. If you have child(ren) you can apply for child benefit with SVB. You will get about € 150 per quarter if you have 1 child and more if you have more. Google SVB for more info.
7. If both you and your spouse are working and you need a day care for your child, you can get partial day-care fee refund from the government.  Depending on the city you live in, it may be easy to extremely difficult to get a day care for your child. Try nearby smaller cities if getting it in your city is difficult.
8. In spite of the luxuries, you will need friends....especially for a housewife/kids. The best way to make friends is to invite someone who you meet with similar situation as you to your home formally for tea/dinner (and not just "come home sometime"...this will never work). Don't wait for the other party to initiate. Also, long timers in NL would already have their circle. So best bet is to make your own group of recently arrived.
9. There are quite a few Indians associations that conduct functions on account of Diwali, Ugadi etc. Google and facebook should help you to find one: 
• kannada: http://www.facebook.com/groups/shreegaMdha/ or shrigandha.nl (both are same)
• Telugu: https://www.facebook.com/tanetherlands
• Diwali celebration in Amsterdam: http://www.diwalifestival.nl/nl/route/4-route
10. You are allowed to drive in Netherlands with a foreign license for first 6 months after your arrival.
11. If your 30% ruling is approved, you can exchange your Indian license for a Dutch license paying a nominal fee at your local town hall (for a fee of about €50). Spouse of a 30% ruling holder is also eligible for this exchange. For further details on DL: http://www.expatica.com/nl/leisure/travel_tourism/how-to-get-a-dutch-drivers-licence-1672.html
12. Spouse of a Knowledge Work Permit holder is not eligible for 30% ruling if he/she gets a job  after coming to Netherlands as a dependent. However many have received the 30% ruling if they got employed within 3 months of coming to Netherlands.
13. It is allowed to change jobs on the work permit.
14. Ryanair is a good low cost airline for travel within Europe if planned at least 4 weeks in advance. Use the 'Skyscanner' mobile app to plan your vacation. It lists in the order of ticket cost to all destinations from a given source for a given period.
15. Probably you are already looking forward to plan your next trip....see this post for a list of places to visit in Netherlands and Europe.
16. Popular cinema complex is Pathe: http://www.pathe.nl
17. Internet speed is generally very high. Videos from youtube etc will just stream uninterrupted. So you can watch your favourite serials and cricket on your computer itself
• If you are missing your favorite serials, you are likely to find it here: www.desitvforum.net
• If you are missing live cricket, google for 'cricket streaming live'. You will get multiple websites that show live telecast most often for free.
• For HD quality movies, try www.einthusan.com or www.youbolly.com
• Try http://www.newtvworld.com/India-Live-Tv-Channels/watch-etv-Kannada-live-streaming.html
• Try http://freeasia.tv/
18. For news about Netherlands in English: http://www.dutchnews.nl/
19. If you have a lot of junk to throw away:
• for daily rubbish, you can collect them in a black dustbin bag (buy in grocery store) and keep them on the footpath weekly on a designated day for your area.
• for clothes there is a separate dustbin. You can find these near some schools and daycares
• to throw plastic waste and bottles, dustbins will be near shopping centers
• for batteries disposal, you can check for a waste bin in your office or go to electric shops like media markt for example. 
• for anything and everything, go to Millieustraat. It is the city waste collection center. Some cities charge you a nominal fee and some do not.
20. To meet like minded groups/people: http://www.meetup.com/find/
21. To learn Dutch on your own:
• Radio: http://tunein.com/topic/?TopicId=37787463
• Text: http://www.dutchgrammar.com/
22. This point is a little too far away for most, but you must know if you are working in NL. For every year of working in NL, you are eligible for 2% of AOW value as monthly pension after you reach retirement age (about 66). The AOW value is determined by SVB every year depending on inflation etc. In 2013, its value is about €725.00. So before leaving NL for good, call SVB and ask for a statement. Then call them when you are 66 to arrange for the pension!! :)

Disclaimer: This is my best effort and personal opinion only. No responsibility will be taken for any inaccuracy.