The NLHelpU app contains information about several services like DigiD, social wealthfare payments, bank accounts, health insurance. This helps with finding out what kind of social services are to be considered, and how they can be arranged.

Refugees arriving to a new country have to manage several documents in a foreign language, not knowing which one is more relevant than the other. Often, social workers do not have the time to explain or even translate every document in detail. Therefore refugees sometimes bring all documents they own to every appointment, with the need to look through all of them in order to identify the right one.

The first steps for a refugee or migrant to get started in a new city, is often very bureaucratic. Receiving social welfare, signing up for health insurance,  and also registering with DigiD, the Dutch identity management platform used by government agencies including the Tax and Customs Administration.

Many of these services require a number of documents to be provided by the applicant. The app allows the user to take pictures of the documents and store them locally on the phone. This keeps track of the documents and allows them to be emailed in order for the application to be processed. This can either be done by the user, or by the 'assistant' of the user.

It is astonishing, how quickly after identifying the problem, the app was built. It is being continuously improved and updated with the help of the software development platform GitHub. The App provides a user friendly surface and easily digestible information to help refugees navigate a new environment and a new system.

Website: https://www.nlhelpu.nl/ 

Case study date: July 2018