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Housing

As undocumented migrant, you are allowed to rent your own accomodation from a landlord. However, not having legal income makes this in practice quite difficult. You are not allowed to use homeless shelters, apart from womens shelters for victims of domestic violence. Special shelters for undocumented migrants exist in the bigger cities. However, even they have admission-criteria.

Renting accommodation Even if you have no residence permit you are entitled to rent housing accommodation in the Netherlands. However, most landlords ask for a proof of income before you sign the contract. If you don’t have a residence permit and your income is inofficial, this is difficult to show. Therefore it is in practice impossible to rent accommodation from a housing corporation. You are allowed to rent:
  • independent housing accommodation by private landlords (independent tenancy).
  • a room or apartment where you share the front door with other tenants. This is generally intended for students.
  • a room or apartment from an owner who also lives in the same house.
Please take extra care if you are a tenant in one of the following situations:
  • subtenancy with a tenant who lives in the same house. In many cases the owner does not allow the main tenant to sublet. If the owner discovers this, the main tenant and the subtenant will both be evicted.
  • subtenancy with a tenant who does not live in the same house. This is hardly ever allowed by the owner. If the owner discovers this, the subtenant will be evicted from the house and the tenancy of the main tenant will be discontinued.
Protection as a tenant If you have legal tenancy, you are entitled to protection by the Dutch Tenancy Law. As of 2023, the landlord is obliged to give you a written contract. Strictly speaking a written agreement is not required for protection as a tenant, but you need to be able to prove that you rented the accommodation, for example by proving you made rental payments or by proving that you actually lived at the address. Protection by the Dutch Tenancy Law means that you can bring legal proceedings against unreasonable rent increase and against termination of tenancy. 1  You may want to contact a lawyer. The Woonbond can advise you about tenants’ rights. Housing benefit Housing benefit is an allowance from the tax office to help certain tenants to pay their rent. People without a residence permit are not entitled to housing benefits. Be aware: if one of the residents has no residence permit, every other person who lives at the same address will lose their entitlement to housing benefit as well.2  Of course, most undocumented migrants are not registered in the adress, in that case their residence is not known to the authorities. Utilities The person who has independent tenancy can register with the utility companies (gas, water, electricity). These companies do not require identification papers but they do require a tenancy agreement and a bank statement. For a contract with a cable company or other television and Internet providers you not even need a tenancy agreement.
Shelter for the homeless and crisis support In most municipalities the official shelters for the homeless refuse people without residence permits. This is because the applicable law (WMO) prohibits undocumented immigrants from accessing these shelters. 1 In winter, some cities offer emergency shelter for all homeless people. This is often the case in big cities. Wintershelters are normally open from november or december 1st till april or may 1st. Apart from the wintershelter, in almost all cities winterCOLD shelters (winterkouderegeling, WKR) are open when the temperature drops below 0 during the day.
These shelters are obliged to help women and men who have fallen victim to domestic or sexual violence. This also applies to undocumented migrants, provided they need shelter for their safety.1  However, the applicable Dutch law wrongly limits access to victims who initiate legalization proceedings.2
Shelter for asylumseekers in an Asylum Seekers’ Centre (AZC) These centres are accessible to asylum seekers during their asylum procedures. Shelter for migrants with medical problems in an Asylum Seekers’ Centre (AZC) The Asylum Seekers Centres are also accessible to asylum seekers who have been granted ‘delay of departure on medical grounds’ (article 64 of the Aliens Law1 ). Migrants have to apply for delay of departure at the IND.2 Once the IND has decided about this ‘delay of departure’ you can ask the COA for shelter in the asylum seekers’ centre.3 The IND will grant ‘delay of departure’:
  • to pregnant women as of six weeks from the delivery date as determined by the midwife untill six weeks after delivery.
  • to undocumented migrants with tuberculosis
  • if you are unable to travel or if a ‘medical emergency’ occurs after you have returned. For instance because the necessary medical care to survive is not available or accessible in your country of origin. This is not easy to prove and requires many documents. If you submit all the necessary documents, and the IND cannot decide in 2 weeks, it is also possible to get ‘provisional article 64’ with the same rights.
Shelter in Family Locations Family Locations (GezinsLocatie, GOL) are specialised asylum seekers’ centres. These centres are only accessible to migrants with minor children who actually have to leave the Netherlands and have no right to stay in the Asylum Centre. Undocumented families are referred to the Family Location after a rejected asylum procedure. Other undocumented families can apply for admission at the Dienst Terugkeer en Vertrek, if they are willing to cooperate on return. Access to the Family Locations is not regulated by law, only by a proces-document from the Dienst Terugkeer en Vertrek.4 Undocumented migrants in family locations have a duty to report daily at the Centre and the Police, and are not allowed to move beyond the boundaries of the city.5

In many cities there are specialised shelters for undocumented migrants. Each of these organisations has its own admissioncriteria and procedure, but most of them require a connection with the city and willingness to cooperate to find a durable solution (either legalisation or return).

See a list of options here: https://stichtinglos.nl/noodopvang

In bigger cities, day shelters are established where you can have a coffee, cheap meal, and sometimes shower or options to wash your clothes.

See the list of day shelters here: https://netwerkdak.nl/organisatie/