Get BSN and bank accounts in the Netherlands for me and my partner

Question

I found a job in the Netherlands and now my future employer needs to arrange a working visa for me.

I will relocate with my partner, and the visa for her has to be arranged by ourselves. She will not work for some time once we'll relocate.

Currently we are citizens of a non-EU country.

Recently my employer has contacted me and told me that I need to:

• Register as a non-resident in person in the Netherlands.
• After this, I'll get my BSN (social security number).
• With this BSN I should open my bank account in the Netherlands.
• And I also should provide my employer with the address in the Netherlands where I registered (I doubt I need to at this point).

The process looks a bit complicated and the employer doesn't answer very fast, so hopefully you can shed light and answer some of my questions.

1. Am I understanding it right that at first I should register as a non-resident for my employer to apply for a visa for me and once I get my visa I'll register as a resident (I won't live in the Netherlands/EU while visa is getting arranged)?
2. Should I register at the city hall (such as Amsterdam City Hall)/local city office or just visit a local tax office (in Amsterdam or any other Dutch city)? My thought is that I can use a local tax office to get my BSN, since at first I register as a non-resident. Should I choose a city other than Amsterdam to speed up the process?
3. If I register as a non-resident, can I do it without an address in the Netherlands? I want to find an accommodation once my working visa is issued, not before.
4. I was told I will get my bank account instantly. But how long getting a BSN will take? Will I manage to get a BSN in 1-2 days? Or I will need to wait for 1 week? Or if I apply at the local tax office, even in Amsterdam, will it be fast?
5. Since I will relocate with my partner and we have to arrange the visa for her ourselves, should I travel this time with her to get BSN and bank account for her also? Or this is not necessary and she won't need all of this until I get my own visa?
6. What is the perfect time to apply for a visa for my partner? Once my visa is issued or before?

Answer 1

Okay, seems like I managed to find answers to all of my original questions.

Here's what I found.

1. No, it's not necessary to register in the Netherlands before you actually get your working visa. In my case it was my future employer, who required this info. They just need to enter these numbers into their system before the year ends. As for the government, they only require you to register once you get your visa and have arrived to the Netherlands (you register as a resident then).
2. If you, like me, just want BSN for your future employer, not for IND, register in some municipality (city) with a Registration Agency. Make sure to make an appointment. Most municipalities require making an appointment via a phone, but some (Alkmaar) will ask you to send them email instead. In some municipalities the nearest available date will be month away from the date of your call (Amsterdam), but some will let you make an appointment just couple of days away (Utrecht). If you're not comfortable with waiting, just call multiple municipalities until you find a suitable date available. Hint: use Skype on your phone for cheap international calls. Here is a link to the PDF with the list of all municipalities with a registration agency, including phone numbers and general information.
3. Yes, you can register as a non-resident in the municipality with a registration agency without actually having an address yet. Non-residents don't live in the Netherlands and therefore have no address here.
4. If you register as a non-resident in some municipality with a registration agency, you'll get your BSN instantly and in the same day you can open a bank account with this BSN. Don't forget to make an appointment (call them). In the bank you typically don't need to make an appointment. Bank account however will not be accessible for some time (month or more?). However some banks (ING) are giving debit cards (Maestro?) and internet banking access immediately, that is you will be able to use some services in no time, but not all (credit card for example). In any case, you'll get your bank account number, which you can give to your employer (my future employer requested it). Thanks to anomuse for this answer.
5. In my case it's my employer, who needs my BSN and bank account number so they can enter this info into their system. They will not arrange the visa for my partner, so it isn't necessary for her to get her own BSN and bank account number in beforehand. She will get them once her long-term visa will be issued and she will arrive to the Netherlands.
6. The perfect time to apply for a visa for a partner of the person who will soon work in the Netherlands is right after the employer started the visa request for this person. This can be done in the local Dutch embassy of the partner's home country. However, in our case we faced a rude and dare I say hostile behavior from the representatives of the Dutch embassy here in Russia. We talked with them via a phone, but they just said that they will not let us to apply for my partner's visa through the embassy. They insisted that this is the job of the employer, that is the employer should take the arrangement of our both visas on their own. My future employer has clearly stated that they will only arrange my visa, not my partner's. The other option is that I can arrange the visa for my partner myself, but only once I get my own visa. My visa will take months to be approved and then we'll need to wait for some more months to get my partner's visa to be approved. This is very frustrating and I think this refusal from the Russian embassy to process my partner's application is a sheer violation of IND policies. I've already sent my complaint to the IND via email, hopefully IND have some power over embassy to make them do their work. Keep in mind that some embassies of in some restrictive countries may be problematic and try to negotiate with your future employer that they also apply for your partner (or spouse) visa. Tell them you cover the expenses, if it's needed. This way you may save yourself from some unforeseen problems.