Photography & Drones — Netherlands

If your drone has a camera you must register as an operator before you fly in the Netherlands, even if it weighs under 250 g. Visitors from outside the EU register with the RDW by email — allow about three weeks and EUR 23 — and the number is valid for only one year. Anything over 250 g also needs an online flight licence (EUR 10, carried with you). Fly below 120 m, always in sight, never at night, never over the Schiphol control zone, royal palaces or the Wadden Sea, and keep 50 m from motorways and 25 m from railways. You may only film people who have agreed to it.

The Public Prosecution Service s aviation guideline sets baseline tariffs: flying without being entered in the operator register EUR 100; flying without a pilot licence EUR 250 (A1/A3) or EUR 350 (A2); flying inside the geographic zone of an airport or port EUR 250; a secured or critical-infrastructure site EUR 350; interfering where emergency services are operating EUR 500. A second offence adds 50%. Real 2025-2026 convictions of recreational pilots ran EUR 450 to EUR 1,150 where offences stacked, but those involved a NATO-summit no-fly period where the prosecutor departed upward from the guideline.