How do I apply for AIO if my AOW and other income are too low?
If you live in the Netherlands, have reached AOW age and have low income and limited assets, an AIO supplement from SVB may help. AIO is separate income support, not a repair of missing AOW insurance years.
What would you like help with?
Detailed explanation, checklist and sources
On this page
- Check your starting position
- List all income separately
- Check assets and living arrangements
- Start with the official AIO check
- Submit completely and keep evidence
- Check the decision and seek help
- Check amounts and disregards
- Report gifts and gambling separately
- Check partner work duties and stays abroad
- Can I apply for AIO while receiving full AOW?
- Documents to prepare
- Sources
1. Check your starting position
AIO may be available with no or incomplete AOW, little other income and limited assets. Even with full AOW, support may be possible if your partner does not yet receive AOW and your combined income and assets are low. SVB assesses your individual circumstances.
2. List all income separately
List AOW, occupational pensions, foreign pensions, wages, other benefits and rental income separately. Partner income can count. Healthcare and rent allowances are not deducted from AIO. Employment-income exemptions have conditions and limits: have the current rules checked rather than assuming every receipt counts in full.
3. Check assets and living arrangements
SVB examines assets, debts and living arrangements, including your partner's circumstances. Use current SVB asset limits. Owning a home does not automatically exclude AIO: an interest-free loan may be possible. Report relevant assets abroad and previous gifts; an incomplete picture can have consequences later.
4. Start with the official AIO check
From two months before your AOW age, use SVB's official check to see whether applying makes sense. SVB says you can then download the application form. If the check does not work or a question is unclear, contact SVB. A check result is not an award decision.
5. Submit completely and keep evidence
Follow the official form and its evidence list. Identify missing or uncertain details as questions instead of guessing. Keep a copy and submission proof and answer requests for further information within their stated deadline. Our local preparation does not require uploads and sends nothing to SVB.
6. Check the decision and seek help
Check the starting date, calculation, living arrangements and income deductions in the decision. Do not assume automatic backdating or a sum equal to full AOW: the applicable social minimum matters. Use our own help-request route for uncertainty and check the objection procedure and deadline in your decision.
7. Check amounts and disregards
Current SVB asset limits are €8,000, or €16,000 with a partner or resident minor child; debts are deducted. Of work income, 25% is disregarded, capped at €289 monthly. For a working partner without AOW this lasts at most six months. Tax refunds also count as income.
8. Report gifts and gambling separately
Received gifts are exempt up to €1,200 yearly; report exceeding this and bills regularly paid by others. Earlier gifts you made can, following investigation, lead to recovery from the recipient; tax exemption does not prevent this. Report both gambling stakes and winnings and keep bank evidence. Without a declaration of winnings, SVB deducts the stakes from AIO.
9. Check partner work duties and stays abroad
At AOW age you have no work-search duty. A partner below AOW age may still have one; the municipality can assist towards work. Government guidance allows you up to 13 weeks abroad per calendar year with AIO. Do not automatically apply this to a younger partner. Report changes and planned absence to SVB and verify the individual limit.
Can I apply for AIO while receiving full AOW?
Possibly, if your partner does not yet receive AOW and your combined income and assets are sufficiently low. SVB assesses all conditions. Full AOW therefore does not automatically exclude every household with a partner.
Documents to prepare
Prepare your next stepFill in and save · Word
Tick what you have checked or collected. Note what is missing and take your overview to a meeting.
Unless saved in My overview: Your entries stay only on this screen. Download before leaving; closing or reloading clears them. Do not enter identity numbers, passwords or unnecessary personal details.
What do you still need for your next step?
Item 1 / 8 · Where do you stand with this item?
AOW age and residence in the Netherlands
This overview follows your own answers. It does not assess your rights or guarantee that your file is complete.
Your choices stay here. Use the buttons below if you want to save or download.
View all details, notes and timeline
Your timeline and evidence
List events and contacts. Note where you keep the evidence; no upload is needed.
What goes in my timeline?
Record what happened, when, the response and where to find the letter, message or photo. Mark uncertain dates.
Is my evidence sent?
No. You only note where it is kept. No files are uploaded or sent automatically.
How do I save my timeline?
Your entries are not saved automatically. Choose Save and continue later to store this preparation, including your timeline, in My overview. Wait for confirmation and save new changes again. You can also download a Word file without an account.
Up to 20 events. Choose a different position for an event to change the order.
0 / 8 · Checked or collected
For each event, note the date, what happened and where the evidence is kept. Example: 3 October — letter received — correspondence folder.
Describe the solution you would like, such as an explanation of a deduction and repayment of the outstanding amount.
For example: which document is missing, who can provide it and what should I do first?
Record the date and its source. If unknown, note this and check promptly. This tool does not calculate or monitor deadlines.
After your conversation
These are your own notes. Confirm agreements with the other person; these notes do not prove their agreement.
This is your preparation, not a submitted request, objection or legally reviewed document. A tick records only your own progress. Check the procedure and deadline in the original letter.
Save and continue later
Clear entries
Download anything you want to keep first. Clearing cannot be undone.
- AOW age and residence in the Netherlands
- AOW, other pensions and remaining income
- Partner income and household
- Assets, debts, home and gifts
- Official form and missing evidence
- Submission proof, decision and objection route
Contact with a lawyer
You can use the chat and information without a phone number. A contact request requires a phone number, a verified email address and your wish for telephone contact. Our team assesses which partner fits your question. Data is shared only under the stated consent procedure. A partner or engagement is not guaranteed.
View the current application processSources
Need personal assistance? Request a lawyer through our chat. We explain the next step; submitting a request does not engage a lawyer. The links below support the legal information.
SVB · Voorwaarden en aanvraagroute AIO ↗SVB · Inkomen en vermogen voor AIO ↗Rijksoverheid · Aanvullende bijstanduitleg ↗Sources may be in Dutch. General information about Dutch law, not individual legal advice.