Apply for a start-up allowance

The start-up allowance consists of a performance-related grant and a loan. The performance-related grant is converted into a gift if you obtain a diploma within ten years. You must always repay the part of the start-up allowance that you borrow.

You can apply for the start-up allowance with the form Application for start-up allowance for the Caribbean Netherlands (pdf, in Dutch). You can use this form if you want to amend your application.

Explanatory notes to the form

Home address

Fill in the street name of your home address here. If you not have the exact address information then provide as much information as possible about your address.

Postal address

If you want to receive your post at a different address than your home address, fill in your postal address here.

Island

Choose the island where you live now.

Place of birth

Fill in the name of the place and the island where you were born.

Nationality and place of residence

Tick here which situation applies to you. After your application, we ask you to prove your nationality and place of residence by means of an extract from the population records of your island.

Bank details

Fill in your account number. Your student grant will be paid into this account.

Course details

Fill in the details of the course you are going to follow. You can find this information on the school’s Internet site.

Kind of education

Indicate here what kind of education you are going to follow.

MBO: 
Senior secondary vocational education. There are two MBO learning pathways: apprenticeship pathway (BBL) and vocational training pathway (BOL). 
BOL has four levels: level 1: assistant training, level 2: basic vocational training, level 3: vocational training, level 4: middle management training and specialist training.

HBO:
Higher professional education

You are not entitled to the start-up allowance for every course:

MBO (BOL) level 3 or 4: entitled to start-up allowance

MBO level 1 or 2 BOL or BBL: no entitlement to the start-up allowance.

HBO: entitled to the start-up allowance

University: entitled to the start-up allowance.

Is this a full-time or part-time course?

Indicate here whether you will follow a full-time or part-time course. You are entitled to a student grant for a full-time course only.

How long does the course last?

Indicate here how long the course lasts. Does your course last for less than a year? Then you are not entitled to a student grant.

From which date are you enrolled on the course?

Fill in the date from when you are enrolled on the course. Usually this is the first day of the month in which classes start.

What start-up allowance do you want?

You can apply for the start-up allowance for a study course in vocational education level 3 or 4 and higher education in the European part of the Netherlands. The start-up allowance does not apply to vocational education level 1 or 2.

The start-up allowance consists of a performance-related grant and a loan. The performance-related grant is converted into a gift if you obtain a diploma within ten years. You must always repay the part of the start-up allowance that you borrow.
The maximum amount for the performance-related grant is: $2,289.65. The maximum amount for the loan is: $4,579.31. In total, you can apply for a start-up allowance of: $6,868.96.

Do you want to have supervision in the Netherlands?

If you want to have supervision in the Netherlands then you can indicate that here.