How to check a model agency in the Netherlands
What can be checked, and what we did and did not verify.
Unlike Belgium, the Netherlands does have a free public check. Anyone who supplies labour for payment must be registered in the trade register for that activity (Waadi). Fines reach €32,000 — for the client too.
How to read that check
We tested the KVK Waadi Check ourselves on 2026-08-09. The search box returns every company, registered or not. As a control we searched a business-directory publisher — which lends no staff — and it came back exactly like a model agency. Appearing in that list means nothing. You have to select the company to get the real answer.
So we publish no Waadi status for the agencies listed here: we did not establish it, and inferring it from the search list would be wrong.
What you can check yourself
The KvK number. Every Dutch company must show it on its site. In practice almost none do: 2 of the 105 agencies in this list publish one. Where it is there, we show it — then you run the check yourself.
You never pay to work. If you are asked for a book, a registration fee or a photographer, the answer is no.
A real address. Some agencies deliberately publish none — that is not in itself a warning sign. A fully virtual agency asking for money is.
105 agencies. Which one, and how?
A list does not help if you do not know where to start. Signed guides you and presents you.