Married or a registered partner
Are you married? Then your spouse is your partner. If you have a registered partnership, your registered partner is regarded as your partner.
Living together
What if you are not married, nor registered partners, but you do live at the same address? A person you live with is regarded as your partner in these situations:
- You have a notarial cohabitation contract.
- You have a child together.
- You are deemed each other's partners under a pension scheme.
- You own a house together.
- You or the other person has a minor child who also lives at the address. Only if 1 of you rents a room from the other, or if you both rent a room from a 3rd party, you are not each other's partners. You must have a rental contract.
Child or parent no longer regarded as partner
Are you living with your child or parent? Until 2025, in this situation your child or parent was regarded as your partner. This is no longer the case since 1 January, 2025.
Living apart
If you no longer live at the same address and you are planning to separate, you are no longer regarded as each other's partner. If your partner has been admitted to a nursing home, you are still regarded as partners.
Partners for part of the year
Is 1 of your children eligible for a grant for students in secondary education (link in Dutch)? For this scheme, we take into consideration the calendar year in which the school year starts. If you live or lived together for more than 6 months during this calendar year, you are considered partners for the entire school year. Even if you have separated.
If you are repaying a study loan, we consider your partner situation per month. Your repayments will be based on the situation on the 1st of the month.
EU students
Do you wish to apply for student finance based on the fact that your non-Dutch partner works in the Netherlands for at least 32 hours a month? Then you only have a partner when you:
- are married, or
- are in a registered partnership, or
- can prove that your are in a long-term relationship.
How to prove you are in a long-term relationship
To prove that you are in a long-term relationship, you need to send us supporting documents. Please call us at +31 50 599 7711, so we can tell you which documents are needed in your situation.
Changes
Has your partner relation ended? Or do want to inform us of a new partner relationship? Please go to Updating your personal details and check what to do.