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Emergency numbers for Expats in Netherlands

If you're living in the Netherlands, it's important to jot down the vital Dutch emergency numbers before you land in an accident, have your passport stolen or require emergency services. Here is a list of important and emergency numbers in the Netherlands. Emergencies in the Netherlands The emergency number for police, fire or ambulance is 112. The pan-European 112 emergency operators will speak English. You will be asked for the address and city where you are calling from and the nature of the emergency. For information on emergency situations (noodsituaties) in the Netherlands, visit the government site www.denkvooruit.nl. Residents can also subscribe to the government mobile alert service (www.nl-alert.nl), which will send a text message regarding any emergencies in your area, or you can register your presence after a diaster or an emergency. Helplines and emergency numbers in the Netherlands ACCESS: publishes several online information guides for international resident...
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Avondvierdaagse - The four evenings walks

Every late-spring, groups of schoolkids, some 500000 in total, walk the Avondvierdaagse and stay up late til the evening. What is this strange tradition and is it worth spending time on while staying late in the evening? What is the Avondvierdaagse? It’s basically a community walk that takes place over four evenings. Thousands of children, and some of their teachers and parents, walk either 5, 10 or 15 kilometers per evening. The majority parents decide to walk along behind each other for 5 kilometers so that children actually get to bed before midnight. It is worth noting that, because of the sheer volume of bodies moving in the same direction at one time, it feels like you walk at least twice the 5km distance. Many children are accompanied by one parent, whilst the sane one enjoys the peace and quiet at home. Who takes part in the Avondvierdaagse? Schools, families, sports clubs, walking groups, random people and their dogs. What’s the point of the Avondvierdaagse? The...

Lost your Residence Permit ? Here is what to do now

The Residence Permit is a very important document for all of us. From a legal point of view, this is usually the only Govt. approved form of identification (other than the Driving Licence) that we should carry with us (it is the law!). And if this is lost or stolen, you need to take action quickly. Below you will find the information on what actions to take. Preventive measure Here are a few things you can do to be ready in case your permit is lost or stolen. Archive a photo of the card Take photos of the front and the back of the card. You can refer to it when you need to report the loss of the card. Use your phone or the cloud to store this photo so that you can retrieve it when it is needed. Record your V Number  IND knows you not by name, but your V Number. This is the unique identifier for you. They use it in all communication with you. This is also printed on the back of your Residence Permit. Record this number in a (preferably more than one) safe place ...

Free OCR Software Reviewed

Many Indians who come to the Netherlands get many letters that are in Dutch. It takes great effort to try to understand their content. Google Translate (and other services like it) can help us translate digitized content easily and with a good degree of accuracy, but its still hard to translate printed material. One option is always to seek the help of your colleagues, friends or neighbours, but sometimes it becomes one letter too many. Also, if the letter is personal, you may not want someone you know to read the contents. An option is to scan the documents you wish to get translated and digitize the content of the same. The way to do this is to run the scanned document through an OCR software. OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition. The idea is to convert the scanned document into digital content from which you can copy and paste sentences and paragraphs. This content can then be used as input to Google Translate. There are many OCR software available in the ...

Minors traveling with one parent - required documents

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TRAVELLING FROM THE NETHERLANDS WITH CHILDREN The European border controls are getting strict on seeing proper documentation in case a minor child is travelling with only one parent. Travelling with children can seemingly add miles to your checklist, and travelling as a solo parent can be even more complicated. Current policies designed to protect children from international abduction mean that you will need to provide extra documentation if you are traveling solo with your child or children. Without the required documentation, you might be delayed at Passport Control. Traveling with the correct documents will save you time and hassle, and can protect you and your children. We have attached the links you will need at the bottom of this article. If you are traveling from the Netherlands with children then identity checks are performed for travel outside of the Schengen Area. Therefore, travel from The Netherlands to most European countrie...

Free legal advice

Free legal advice is provided by the Juridisch Loket . This is a free service that is run in partnership with the town halls. The service is provided by lawyers who are certified to provide legal advice. You usually do not need to make an appointment (and hence if its busy, you may have to wait a while), but for more complex items they may insist on making an appointment. The advice is not going to be the best you can get, because these lawyers are investing their time here for free so as to get more experience with their work. But if you do not have much money, or if the work you need help with is simple and does not need real expert advice, you can definitely get in touch with them. Click here for locating the nearest Loket