Child benefit - You have adopted a child

Child benefit for a child you adopt in the Netherlands

If you adopt a child who is already in the Netherlands, you can simply get child benefit as if it were a child of your own.

Child benefit for a child you adopt outside the Netherlands

If you adopt a child from outside the Netherlands, you can get Dutch child benefit if you have an adoption certificate from an accredited adoption agency. An accredited adoption agency will have a licence from the government.

Also, the country your child is from will be covered under the Hague Adoption Convention. If you do not have an adoption certificate as described above, the SVB will investigate the rules for adoption in the country the child is from. We will see if the rules correspond to the rules in the Netherlands. If so, you can receive child benefit.

Child benefit for an adopted child who is still living outside the Netherlands

You can get child benefit for a child who is temporarily still living outside the Netherlands, provided the following conditions are met:

• The Netherlands has an agreement on the verification of entitlements with the country where the child is living, and
• you pay at least € 408 per quarter towards the child's support.

Your SVB office can tell you whether the Netherlands has a verification agreement with the country where the child is living.

Child benefit before adoption?

If you have been allocated a child but he or she has not yet been registered as your child with your municipal authorities,  you may already be able to get child benefit. Contact your SVB office about this.