Brief Summary of Immigration Law – ELA 2010
The Netherlands
Substance of Immigration Eligibility
Foreign nationals wanting to stay in the Netherlands must indicate a certain purpose of stay, e.g. to live with their family, work or study. Different requirements apply and different documents are needed for each purpose of stay. Almost all immigration cases require sponsorship by a qualifying family member (family-based) or a qualifying employer (employment-based). No sponsor is required when taking up residence as a self-employed basis. Immigration sponsorship of an individual includes derivative sponsorship the individual’s spouse or partner and children under age 21, who may live and study in The Netherlandswhile the approved immigration status continues. Some, but not all, sponsorship categories allow spouse, partner and children to work.
Family-based Sponsorship:Dutch citizens may sponsor their spouses, unmarried partner, minor children and single parents older than 65. Sponsorship by any other family member is possible but more complicated. For minor children the maximum validity of the initial residence permit will be five years, for spouses and partners no longer than one year with the possibility to extend it afterwards for five years.
Employment-based Sponsorship:Employers intending to employ foreign labourers in the Netherlands must comply with the Employment of Foreign Nationals Act (Wav). In principle, every employer who intends to employ a citizen from outside the EU/EEA will need a work permit. Work permits arein general only granted if the employer can show that it is not possible to fill the vacancy in the usual way through recruitment within the Netherlands or the EU/EEA.
Intra company transfers:Under certain circumstances, a work permit may be issued without the requirements as described above, for example, in the case of a transfer of key personnel with a salary of at least 50.183 Euros, within an international group of companies, if the total turnover of the whole group is at least 50 million Euros per year.
Exemptions to the work permit requirement:
A work permit is also required in case the employee shall only work in the Netherlands for a short period of time, even for a few weeks. There are however specific situations in which a work permit is not required, for example:
- incidental work, which will take not longer than 12 consecutive weeks and
- which exclusively exists of assembly or repair toolmarks, machinery or equipment, installation and implementationof software or instruction in the use thereof,
- attending business meetings and entering into agreements for a period not exceeding 4 weeks.
- highly skilled migrants, who enter into the employment of a Dutch company or are being transferred to a Dutch subsidiary of their employer and who earn a gross annual salary of currently 50.183 Euro or, if they are younger than 30 years, 36,801.
- scientific researchers and physicians in training to become specialists, regardless of their annual salary.
To make use of highly skilled migrant procedure and the researchers procedure, the employer must first have concluded an agreement with the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND).
A work permit and residence permit for a highly skilled migrant will be granted for the duration of the employment as confirmed in an employment contract and/or employer’s declaration with, a maximum of 5 years.
After 5 years of legal residency for a specific purpose, a permanent residence permit can be applied for.
Approved residents must maintain their principal residence in the Netherlands. Absences for longer than 9 months outside the Netherlands may jeopardize residency approval.
Process for Immigration Approval.
- Approval of work permit by the Dutch UWV WERKbedrijf (UWV), if required.
- Registration of the employer with Dutch Citizenship and Immigration Services (IND) in case of highly skilled migrant or researcher procedure .
- Application for an provisional residence permit, MVV, (required for most non EU nationalities but not for e.g.US/Canadian citizens) and /or application of residence permit,approved by IND.
Time required for approval
Work permit: Planning at least fivemonths in advance is critical for caseswhere the employer must show that it is not possible to fill the vacancy in the usual way through recruitment. The assessment of the work permit application itself takes three to five weeks.
The highly skilled migrant procedure: Registration of a new employer will take about three to five weeks, the application for an MVV (if necessary) will take three to five weeks and also the residence permit application will take three to five weeks. Planning should start four months in advance to avoid delays.
Family-based cases: Family sponsorship residency cases in the immediate relative categories (for spouses, partners and children of Dutch citizens) generally take three to six months for approval.
For immigration-related questions in the Netherlands, please contact:
Sascha C. Kuit
Boekel De Nerée
Gustav Mahlerplein 2
Amsterdam, 1082 MA
Netherlands
P: +31.20 795 31 77