Newsletter
From AcculturationWiki
Introduction
On this page, you can find a regularly updated newsletter with important information from our International Office!
Newsletter July 2009 Version II
1. Now – 27 August 2009
1.1 Accommodation: as soon as we receive the information from the housing company Wonenbreburg (part of Woonloketbreda) we will send out an email to the students who have not yet found a room. The ones who already found a room, thank you for informing us about your new address. Once you arrive here in Breda, you need to change your address in studielink.nl as well.
1.2 Birth certificate: do not forget to take your legalised birth certificate to the Netherlands. You need it when you register yourself at the municipality of Breda
1.3 Insurance: check at your current insurance company if you are covered for your studies in Breda. If not, you have to apply for insurance in the Netherlands. More information about this is available once you start studying here.
1.4 IB-Groep / restricted intake for certain study programmes: there are certain study programmes that have a restricted intake and therefore a lottery drawing will take place, done by the IB-groep. In case your study programme has this, you will receive a so-called “Plaatsingsbewijs” from the CBAP / IBgroep in July / August. This is a proof that you received a study place and you will need to send part 2 back to the student administration at NHTV. You will most probably also receive more information about this from our student administration. Please note that we as NHTV get informed by the lottery drawing at the same time as you. Therefore we do not know now what will happen. From previous experience it has shown that all international students got a study place.
1.5 Summer post: during the month of July we will send you some important information about your chosen study programme, via email. This contains information about the introduction of the International Office, the introduction from your chosen study. Furthermore it also contains information about student counsellors and possible disabilities that you may have that we need to take into account.
1.6 Payment various: when you receive the summer post there will be various costs. You have to transfer them to the bank account of NHTV. The same account number can be used that is mentioned in the provisional admittance letter that we have sent you quite a while ago.
1.7 Action that you may need to take: if you need to do anything else or we need any additional information from you regarding your application, you will be notified by us via email in time. This will be the same email address: international.office@nhtv.nl. In most cases though, everything is alright so no worries!!
If you have been provisionally admitted based upon certain conditions (eg. obtain your diploma or language test), please make sure to send us this as soon as you receive it!!
1.8 Tuition fee: in the admission letter you can see information on how to pay the tuition fee. If you are not able to pay the amount in once, there is the possibility to pay in 10 instalments. The only condition for this is that you need to have a Dutch bank account, else it is not possible for our financial administration to process it. If you have a Dutch bank account and want to pay in 10 instalments, you can ask for such a form and we’ll send it. It is best to pay the tuition fee in once by transferring it to our bank. From next year on, when you will have a Dutch bank account you can pay in 10 instalments
1.9 Obtaining a BSN number/ Social security number in order to open bank account or to work: Everyone living in the Netherlands need to be registered at the municipality on the address where they are living. Since you as international students will start your studies here, you also need to be registered at the municipality. This is a mandatory part of your settlement here and we will assist you in this. The collective municipality registration will most probably take place at NHTV at the end of September (more info follows during our Int. Office intro on 27 August). Once your registration at the municipality is final, they send a letter to your address with your BSN number in it. This may take another 3 weeks so mid October you would receive this number.
Up till the collective registration, the municipality will not register any student coming from abroad! This would mean that you cannot work or open up a Dutch account before at least mid October. However…. Some students really need to work or really need to open up an account for various reasons, no panic! You can make an appointment at the local Tax Office of Breda in order to obtain a Social Security number. This is the same number, just a different name. So if you really need to work etc. and therefore have obtained a Social Security number before the collective registration at the municipality, you NEED to take the number with you in order to inform the municipality. Else you will get 2 numbers and lots of problems will arise. So even though you already obtained the Social security number, you still need to register at the municipality!!! WE STRONGLY ADVISE STUDENTS TO WAIT UNTIL THE COLLECTIVE REGISTRATION AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER. IF YOU SEE NO OTHER WAY AND YOU REALLY NEED THE NUMBER, YOU CAN GO OR CALL THE TAX OFFICE TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT.
Tax Office Gasthuisvelden 11 4811 VX Breda Tel: 0800-0543 (only from Dutch phones) Opening hours: Mon – Fri 08.00 – 17.00 hrs. Obtaining a Sofi nummer (Social security number)
2. 27 & 28 August 2009 Introduction days of Int. Office
2.0 Holiday / free days during the academic year: Calendar Week 44: Mid-term holiday Calendar Week 52 & 53: Christmas holiday Calendar Week 7: Mid-term holiday Calendar Week 18: Mid-term holiday
2.1 Introduction days: during the introduction days you will receive a package with lots of information. This will also be explained during the welcome lecture. Of course there is time for fun as well but during those days we want to inform you about various topics so you can start your studies well. Please note that attendance is mandatory! The programme will be sent to your email addresses half way of August. Note: there are no costs involved for this, it is for free!
Bulgarian and Romanian students: an extra meeting is planned for you on 28 August at 11.00 – 12.00 hrs. regarding your residence permit. More info follows with the programme.
3. Week 36 Introduction of your chosen study programme
3.1 Introduction of your own study programme: during the month of July you will get information from us regarding this. Every study programme has organised an introduction varying from 1 – 4 days of getting some information and getting to know your fellow classmates! This will be distributed via email. Note that there are many different study programmes and each of them MAY have a different introduction! Note: for this introduction there are costs involved and you will be informed accordingly via the summer post sent out to you.
3.2 Schedule: during the introduction week you will get more information from your own programme about the schedules. International Office does not make or distribute the schedules. The programme coordinator of your study (whom you will meet during this week) knows more about this.
3.3 Photo, smartcard and inlog codes: during your own introduction week (week 36) you will have your picture taken. This picture will be placed on a smart card/ student card. During that week you can also pick up your personal log in codes and passwords for the NHTV’s intranet. All of this will need to be picked up at the Service Desk at the N-building (Mgr. Hopmansstraat).
4. Month of September
4.1 Proof of registration: some students need a proof that they are a student at NHTV. You might need it for the government in your home country or perhaps you have a student loan, etc. During the first weeks of September, the Service Desk at the Mgr. Hopmansstraat 1 (main building NHTV) will have 3 Proofs of Registration for each of you ready to pick up. Note that we as the International Office are unfortunately not allowed to make those! Our student administration will only make a Proof of Registration for you IF you have paid your tuition fee!! If not, there will be NO Proof of Registration for you. You can use one of the proofs of registration when you want to open up a bank account.
4.2 Registration municipality & BS-Number: when you are planning to stay more than 5 months in Breda and/ or you will obtain a degree from NHTV you need to register at the municipality / town hall of Breda. As from this year, the municipality has decided to perform an extra service for you so you do not have to go to the municipality yourself. They will come to NHTV (main building) on certain days and on those days you have to go and register yourself there. More detailed info about dates, times etc. will follow. The collective registration will be planned somewhere end September.
Items that you should take with you to the appointment: Make sure you have a valid passport / ID card and birth certificate with you. (For students who will not live in Breda, you need to register yourself in your city. Note that that city may have different rules.) Once you are registered with the Municipality, you will get a BS-Number that enables you to work.
4.3 Tax Office & Social Security number Every year there are some students who already want to start working and apply for the IBgroep study financing before they are registered at the municipality, and do not wait until they receive the BS-Number from the municipality. They go to the Tax Office in order to get a Sofi Number (Social Security Number). This number is the same as the BS-Number but with a different name!! IF you went to the Tax Office already and have obtained such a Sofi Number you NEED to inform the Municipality about this number on the moment that you are registering yourself with them!!!
4.4 Studielink: as soon as you have found yourself a room in Breda or in the Netherlands, you need to change your address in Studielink to your Dutch address before the end of September 2009! So you need to remember your username and password from Studielink!! For the future, every time you move to another address, you have to change your address in studielink and go to the municipality! Furthermore every year students need to re-enroll in studielink. You will not go through the application process but you will need to inform studielink that you want to continue your studies here.
5. Month of September – November
5.1 Bank account: there are several banks in Breda where you can open an account as an international student.
- Rabobank: Concordiastraat 2, Breda
- ABN AMRO: Chasseveld 1, Breda
- ING Bank: Markendaalseweg 41, Breda (house bank of NHTV, recommended)
If you open a bank account, please note that every bank may require different documents. Some banks only accept a passport and not an ID card. Furthermore you need to have an address in Breda and show the bank a proof that you live there. Please be aware that some banks may require a BS-Number/ Social Security number for example.
5.2 Working / Side job: if you want to earn some extra money you need to find yourself a job. McDonalds is always looking for int. students and various temp agencies also have plenty of jobs. Job agencies:
- ASA Student Uitzendbureau: Torenstraat 21, Breda
- SUSA Studenten Uitzendbureau: Reigerstraat 8, Breda
- Recruit a Student: Ginnekenweg 32, Breda
5.3 Study financing from IBgroep: EU/EER students are able to apply for a study grant from the Dutch government whilst studying in the Netherlands. Once you start studying in September and have found a job for at least 32 hrs a month you can visit the IB-groep service office here in Breda and apply for it. The amount is around € 250 p/m. On top of that you of course receive your salary from your side job. For more information: www.ib-groep.nl. Please note you can only apply for this once you have found a side job in the Netherlands ánd you have started to study at NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences!
5.4 Insurance: EU/ EER or Swiss nationality and NON EU students: planning to work in the Netherlands: You need to take out a Dutch insurance called the Basisverzekering (Basic Health Insurance). This may be quite expensive for some students ( € 65,00 minimum per month/depending on the own excess) but mandatory if you do not want to get into trouble during your study years or afterwards. If you do not have the mandatory `basisverzekering’ when you were working and you decide later on to get the `basisverzekering’ then you will need to pay for all the months that you didn’t have the cover of the basisverzekering130% of the premium. More information on the basisverzekering can be obtained once you are here. NHTV has a collective insurance with the company Zilveren Kruis Achmea. The collective insurance number is: 207000892. Please notify us if you want to take out an insurance through Zilveren Kruis. Website: www.zilverenkruis.nl.
EU/ EER or Swiss nationality and NON EU students: NOT planning to work in The Netherlands: You can keep your health insurance from back home if your insurance covers your stay abroad (check this at your own insurance company!!!). You can also apply for insurance through us and these costs are around € 40.00 per month. For NON EU students it is strongly advised to take out insurance through us. The insurance company we work with is called AON. The AON insurance also covers you for liability, household contents and luggage, legal aid, accidents and extra costs. www.students-insurance.eu.
Note!! If you want to apply for a Dutch Basic Health Insurance you need a Dutch bank account and your BS-Number. If you want to apply for AON you need to have a Dutch bank account.
Important matters to think about during/ after your studies:
When you move to another room:
- Change your address in studielink.nl. NHTV sends you letters to the address that is stated in studielink so make sure it is the correct one!!!
- Go the municipality and change your address. You need to take your ID/ Passport and a rental contract. They open from Mon – Fri from 08.00 – 14.00 hrs. and on Thursdays until 21.00 hrs.
- Inform the International office via the Change of Address form
- Inform bank, insurance etc.
When you have graduated and move out of the Netherlands:
- De-register yourself at the municipality! This is very important!!!!!
- Close your bank account!!
- Inform other important companies such as insurance etc.
