Background checks in the Netherlands: what employers may check

When you hire in the Netherlands, you may check a candidate's identity, right to work, qualifications, work history and references, and ask them for a certificate of conduct (VOG). You may not search criminal or police records yourself: in the Netherlands, only the government does that.

Deeper checks into someone's past, often called an antecedentenonderzoek, belongs to roles where the law requires them, such as police, defense, airport security and finance. This guide explains the four Dutch terms you will meet, what each covers, and how long each takes.

Four Dutch checks compared

The Netherlands has four kinds of background check. Only the last one is something a private employer runs itself, the other three are carried out by, or reserved for, government bodies.

Antecedentenonderzoek (history check)

• Who asks for it: employers in integrity-sensitive roles, most clearly the police.
• Who runs it: the police screen their own candidates; elsewhere the employer or a licensed agency.
• What it covers: police and justice records (police only), credit registration (BKR), social media and an interview; for high-risk roles also partner and household.

VOG (certificate of conduct)

• Who asks for it: any employer, for roles with a risk; required by law in sectors such as childcare, education and taxi transport.
• Who runs it: Justis, part of the Ministry of Justice and Security.
• What it covers: criminal record data in the Judicial Documentation System, weighed against the role; usually the last four years.

Veiligheidsonderzoek (security clearance)

• Who asks for it: employers with positions of trust (vertrouwensfuncties), such as defence, police, ministries and airport security areas.
• Who runs it: the AIVD or MIVD through their joint Unit Veiligheidsonderzoeken; for airports, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee starts it.
• What it covers: justice, intelligence and municipal records, residence history and finances, often including the partner. The result is a VGB (verklaring van geenbezwaar).

Pre-employment screening

• Who asks for it: any employer, often in finance, IT, security and roles handling money or data.
• Who runs it: the employer or a screening provider.
• What it covers: identity, right to work, diplomas, work history, references, a VOG and, where justified, public online information.

Sources: Justis, VOG for employers; Justis brochure Screening van personeel; Police screening; AIVD, civil aviation.

What is an antecedentenonderzoek?

An antecedentenonderzoek is a check into someone's past conduct. It is not one fixed legal procedure: Dutch employers and candidates use the word, and the near-synonymachtergrondonderzoek, for any in-depth background check. What it covers depends on who runs it.

Police candidates

The police are the clearest case. By law, a police officer may only start work once their reliability has been established, so every candidate is screened at the end of the selection process, when the police intend to hire them. The police search police and justice records, credit data from the BKR (the Dutch credit registry) and the candidate's social media and hold a personal interview. They also ask about debts, drug or alcohol use and long stays abroad (Politie).

The standard check is a reliability check (betrouwbaarheidsonderzoek). For high-risk roles the police also check the candidate's surroundings: at least their partner, parents living with them and children aged 12 or over (Politie, types of screening). Some police roles are positions of trust and need a full security clearance from the AIVD instead.

KLM, Schiphol and other airport jobs

Many people searching for antecedentenonderzoek are applying for airport work. Anyone who needs a pass for a security restricted area needs a verklaring van geenbezwaar (VGB). That is a security clearance, described below, not an antecedentenonderzoek. A VGB is tied to one employer and one role, so a new employer means a new application (AIVD).

Defense candidates

Nearly all jobs at the Dutch Ministry of Defense are positions of trust, so candidates go through a security clearance by the MIVD (Defensie).

Private employers

A private employer cannot run an antecedentenonderzoek in the police sense. It has no access to police or justice systems, and it may not collect criminal data itself. What it can do is pre-employment screening, with a VOG for the criminal record part.

Criminal records: the VOG

In the Netherlands, the criminal record check is the VOG (VerklaringOmtrent het Gedrag, certificate of conduct). You never see the record itself: Justis checks it against the role and either issues the certificate or refuses it.

You start the application online, choose a screening profile that fits the role, and the candidate completes and pays for it. A digital application costs €33.85 in 2026 (Justis). For the steps, the screening profiles and what to do with candidates who live abroad, see our page on the Dutch criminal record check.

Security clearance: the veiligheidsonderzoek and VGB

A veiligheidsonderzoek is the deepest check in the Netherlands, and only roles designated as positions of trust (vertrouwensfuncties) can get one. It falls under the Security Screening Act (Wet veiligheidsonderzoeken). A position of trust is one where misuse could harm national security, such as most police and defense jobs, customs at Schiphol, or handling confidential information at a ministry (Rijksoverheid).

The AIVD or the MIVD runs the check through their joint Unit Veiligheidsonderzoeken. It looks at intelligence, municipal, police and justice records, and can include the candidate's finances. There are three levels, A, B and C, with A the most thorough. A positive result is a VGB (verklaring van geenbezwaar), which lets the person start in that role.

For airports, the check is at B level and mostly administrative. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee starts it, the candidate's partner is included, and it is repeated every five years. Since 2022, the AIVD is also alerted automatically when new justice data appears about a pass holder (AIVD).

As an employer, you cannot ask for a VGB for an ordinary job. If your role is a position of trust, the candidate fills in a personal details form and you submit the application.

What an employer may check in the Netherlands

Every check is processing of personal data under the GDPR and its Dutch implementing act (UAVG). You need a legitimate reason, the check must be necessary for the role, you must tell the candidate beforehand, and you may keep the results only as long as needed (Justis). The Dutch data protection authority adds that consent is usually not a valid basis, because a candidate is not free to refuse (AP).

• Identity: yes. During the application, look at the original ID only. Once the person is hired, you must keep a copy by law.
• Right to work: yes, andrequired. Check the passport or residence permit before the first working day, and keep a copy.
• Education and diplomas: yes. Verify only the qualifications the role needs. Dutch diplomas can be confirmed with an extract the candidate downloads from DUO.
• Employment history and references: yes. Tell the candidate which referees you will contact, and ask only about the work.
• Criminal record: only through a VOG.You may not ask about criminal history yourself unless the role requires it; a VOG is usually enough.
• Social media and online search: only when necessary for the role. Tell candidates in advance, look at professional information only, and let them explain what you found.
• Credit history: rarely. Employers have no general access to the BKR; a credit check is limited to roles where finances are a real risk.
• Health: no. No questions about health. A medical exam is only allowed for roles with specific medical requirements, such as pilots.

The identity and criminal data rules come from the AP's guidance on applicants. If you use a screening company that handles criminal data for you, it must hold a licence under the Private Security Organisations and Detective Agencies Act (Wpbr) (AP).

How long each check takes

A VOG usually takes one to four weeks; a security clearance can take eight weeks or more. Plan the slow checks before the offer, not after.

• Pre-employment screening: days. It depends on how fast referees and schools respond; add the VOG time if you ask for one.
• VOG: 1 to 4 weeks. Digital applications are fastest; it takes longer when Justis needs to look into a record.
• Police screening: 8 weeks, counted from when the investigator takes on the file.
• Security clearance (VGB): up to 8 weeks. That is the legal maximum, but the clock stops while information from abroad is requested.

Sources: Gemeente Tilburg on the VOG; Politie selection procedure; AIVD.

Hiring in the Netherlands from the UK or another EU country

Dutch rules apply to anyone you hire to work in the Netherlands, wherever your company is based. The EU GDPR and the UAVG govern the screening, and the Dutch data protection authority (AP) supervises it.

• Use the VOG, not your home-country check. A UK DBS check or a German Führungszeugnis covers only that country's records. For a candidate who lived in the Netherlands, the VOG is the only way to check the Dutch record.
• You can request a VOG from abroad. Employers without Dutch eHerkenning can log in with eIDAS, the EU login, or use the paper form (Gemeente Tilburg). A candidate who is not registered at a Dutch address applies to Justis directly, for €41.35 (Justis).
• Check the right to work early. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens may work freely. Since Brexit, most UK nationals moving to the Netherlands need a residence permit that allows work.
• Ask for foreign certificates only when the role justifies it. For a candidate who lived elsewhere, a certificate from that country follows the same rule as the VOG: only when the role needs it.
• Through an employer of record? Then the employer of record is the legal employer and is responsible for the checks. Agree who runs which check before the first hire.