Dutch people who get into trouble at their holiday address this summer can also send a WhatsApp message to Foreign Affairs from Tuesday.
After a successful pilot, WhatsApp will be a permanent means of communication for the 24/7 BZ Contact Center from Tuesday with Dutch people who call on the ministry for help or information. On Tuesday, Minister Blok paid a working visit to the 24/7 BZ ContactCenter to speak with employees and hear about their experiences.
The 24/7 BZ ContactCenter is currently running at full capacity. The contact center of Foreign Affairs receives more than half a million telephone calls and about 150.000 emails every year. In the summer months, twice as many people contact the Contact Center as on days outside the summer holiday season. And from Tuesday, the employees of the Dutch contact center will also be available via Whatsapp.
Minister Blok: 'I wish everyone a carefree holiday. We want to help Dutch people prepare for their holiday as well as possible, for example with our BZ Travel app, which contains important information about the country of destination. Unfortunately, we see that things sometimes go wrong. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is permanently available for travelers who get into trouble. We want to make it as easy as possible for them to get in touch with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. By expanding the contact option via WhatsApp, we are even better in line with the wishes of the traveler. Our employees are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for Dutch people who want to call on the services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.'
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strives to continuously improve the services for Dutch nationals abroad and to adapt them to the wishes of the Dutch citizen. This year, for example, the travel advice has also been updated according to the wishes of the user, in order to help travelers better prepare for a trip abroad.
Last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs laid down the entire consular services in a special catalog for the first time. This catalog is part of the annual policy memorandum The State of the Consular. This month of July, Minister Blok presented the latest version of the State of the Consular to the House of Representatives.
Nice and what is the number or profile of that?
Who can provide me with the contact details to communicate via the Wh.App?
It would have been useful if the BZ number that corresponds to the app were shown here.
WhatsApp
Ask your question via WhatsApp. Send a WhatsApp message directly. Or add our mobile number +316 8238 7796 to your smartphone's contact list and then send us your message. We try to answer your question within 30 minutes.
Note:
You can only use the number for WhatsApp. And not for anything else. So you cannot call or text this number.
You will only receive a response from us if you send a message personally. Are you or someone else sending a message from a WhatsApp group? Then you will not receive a response.
Do not share privacy-sensitive data with us via WhatsApp. Such as a citizen service number or a copy of a passport.
This is for readers who do not know that you can click on a link in the text and end up on a page containing the information.
“Do not share any privacy-sensitive data with us via WhatsApp. Such as a citizen service number or a copy of a passport.” Good advice, yet unworldly.
If you want to stay in Thailand for more than a month, you are forced to leave a long trail of European passport copies. You share this privacy-sensitive data with just about every official body. The same in many hotels. You simply have no choice.
I cannot get rid of the impression that those authorities have a very different view of information security for our privacy-sensitive data than BZ NL.
It's still good advice. There is nothing Buza can do about the fact that others deal with it differently. Buza must set a good example. There is also an official app copy ID. If you have to send something at all, you can at least mask sensitive data.