The Dutch digital identity system you need for almost every government website
Part of: Expat Essentials
DigiD is the Dutch government's digital identity system. It was launched in 2003 and is now managed by Logius, the government's shared digital infrastructure organisation. It is the login you use for government and semi-government websites: filing your tax return, applying for benefits, checking your pension, managing health insurance matters, and handling municipal paperwork.
If your BSN is the number that makes you legible to the Dutch state, DigiD is the key that lets you into the websites.
You apply for DigiD after getting your BSN. Without a BSN, you cannot apply. DigiD is tied to that BSN, which is why people often treat the two things as a pair: first the BSN, then DigiD.
The application itself is online. In the standard flow, you request it digitally and then receive an activation letter by post. That is why it is worth doing early rather than waiting until you urgently need to submit something.
The process has become less clunky over time. DigiD app activation can now use NFC document scanning on supported phones, which speeds up identity verification compared with the older letter-only flow. The exact device support changes over time; the stable point is that DigiD increasingly expects you to verify yourself through the app rather than through paper alone.
One useful example is Mijnpensioenoverzicht, the official portal where you can view your expected Dutch pension and AOW together.
Almost everything official in the Netherlands eventually points back to DigiD.
It is also no longer just for ministries in the narrow sense. In practice, DigiD is used across a wider ring of public and semi-public institutions: municipalities, tax authorities, pension portals, health insurers, and many healthcare websites.
Expats often assume Dutch bureaucracy is paperwork-heavy in a traditional sense. It is, but digitally. You still get letters by post, but the actual action is usually online through DigiD.
That combination is very Dutch: the letter tells you to go online; the website tells you to log in with DigiD; the login depends on a system you only learn about after arrival.
If you saw the May 2026 news about DigiD and IT supplier Solvinity: DigiD's official position is that you can keep using DigiD as normal and that the service remains under Dutch government control. DigiD says Logius — the government body that manages it — keeps control over the rules, security, and access, while Solvinity operates infrastructure under contract.
For the official explanation, see DigiD's update on Solvinity.
These guides are written to help you understand the Netherlands — not to replace professional advice. We do our best to be accurate but we make mistakes and information goes out of date. For anything that affects your legal status, taxes, finances, or health, verify with an official source or a qualified advisor.