What Happens to Your Dutch Uitkering
if You Move to Turkey? (2026)

No. WW can only be exported to another EU/EEA country or Switzerland. Turkey is outside that zone, so as a general rule your WW entitlement ends when you move there — it is not simply paid at a reduced rate, it stops. There is a narrow EU-based exception letting some claimants keep WW for up to 3 months while job-seeking abroad (Form PD U2), but that exception only applies within the EU/EEA/Switzerland and cannot be used for a move to Turkey.

Generally no. WW eligibility depends on having built up rights through recent employment in the Netherlands and being available for the Dutch labour market. If you are living in Turkey and not working in the Netherlands, you are not building up or drawing on Dutch WW rights. This is a different scenario from someone who was already receiving WW in the Netherlands and then moves — either way, residence in Turkey is generally incompatible with an active WW claim.

No, not under any circumstances. Bijstand under the Participatiewet (and related schemes like IOAW/IOAZ) is a Netherlands-residence-based safety net. It is not exportable even within the EU, let alone to a non-EU country like Turkey. Your entitlement ends once your gemeente establishes that you no longer live in the Netherlands.

Generally, yes — this is the main exception to the pattern above. The Netherlands and Turkey have had a bilateral social security treaty in place since 1968 (revised in 2000), and Turkey appears on UWV's list of treaty countries for exportable disability benefits. However, some components — notably the WGA follow-up benefit (WGA-vervolguitkering) — can be reduced by a UWV "landenfactor" tied to the cost of living in Turkey. Confirm your specific benefit type and the current factor with UWV before relying on this.

Yes. Moving abroad is a "wijziging" (change in circumstances) that Dutch benefit agencies require you to report, generally within a few weeks of it happening. Do this before you leave, not after — contact UWV for WW/WIA/WAO/WAZ or your gemeente for bijstand, and deregister from the BRP (municipal register) on departure. Waiting until you have already left and hoping it goes unnoticed is not a safe strategy; agencies actively check residence status.

This is treated as uitkeringsfraude (benefit fraud), regardless of intent. Consequences typically include having to repay everything wrongly received (terugvordering), a fine on top of the repayment, and in serious or repeat cases a referral for criminal prosecution. UWV and SVB also work with social attachés in a number of countries, including Turkey, specifically to verify claimants' actual residence and circumstances.

Possibly, but not automatically for every part of the benefit. The "landenfactor" cost-of-living adjustment applies specifically to the WGA follow-up benefit (WGA-vervolguitkering), not generally to IVA or to the wage-related WGA benefit. Because these adjustment percentages are reviewed periodically, ask UWV for the current landenfactor that applies to Turkey and to your specific benefit component before you plan your finances around a number found elsewhere.

These Dutch toeslagen (allowances) are generally lost on emigration. Huurtoeslag stops as soon as you no longer live in Dutch rented housing. Zorgtoeslag is tied to having a mandatory Dutch health insurance policy, which you normally cancel once you deregister — so it typically ends too. Kindgebonden budget can sometimes continue only if you still receive Dutch kinderbijslag (child benefit) via the SVB abroad, which itself depends on your specific situation. Check your own entitlements with the Belastingdienst/Dienst Toeslagen and SVB before you leave.

It depends on which benefit you receive. Recipients of AOW, ANW, WAO or WIA can generally use the CAK treaty pathway (Form 121/S1, requested from CAK before departure) to register with Turkish SGK for state healthcare coverage, under the Netherlands-Turkey social security treaty. This route is generally not available to people whose income is WW or bijstand, since those benefits themselves are not exportable to Turkey in the first place.

No — AOW is a different benefit with different rules and is not covered in detail on this page. In short, AOW is portable to Turkey under the same 1966/2000 treaty and continues to be paid and adjusted twice yearly. WW, bijstand and WIA/WAO are working-age benefits governed by separate legislation with their own export rules, summarised above. See our dedicated guide on Dutch pensions in Turkey for the AOW-specific detail.

Not in the way it covers pensions and disability benefits. The 1966/2000 Netherlands-Turkey social security convention primarily underpins pension (AOW) and disability (WAO/WIA) payments and healthcare access abroad. WW is governed separately by Dutch/EU coordination rules that limit export to the EU/EEA/Switzerland — the bilateral treaty with Turkey does not create an equivalent right to export WW.

Generally no for WW and bijstand, since both require either recent Dutch employment/labour-market attachment (WW) or actual residence in the Netherlands (bijstand) — neither of which applies once you are settled abroad. If you already receive WIA, WAO or WAZ before moving, that claim can generally continue under the treaty rules described above; it is a continuation of an existing award, not a fresh Turkey-based application.