Visa & Immigration

Immigration isn’t about continuing an old life, it’s about starting a new life. 

 

I need assistance to get a Visa

We will assist you to find the right Visa

Price: € 799,- / for any Visa support
(+bureaucracy costs which could be incurred)

*Price exclude tax

Short-stay visa

A short-stay visa grants you the right to stay in the Netherlands for a maximum of three months. This is ideal if you are coming to work as a highly skilled worker for a short period or visiting the Netherlands on business. You can apply for this visa from the Dutch Embassy in your country. The purpose of your trip must be clear. This visa is available to residents of almost 70 non-EU countries.

Highly Skilled Migrant

Employees who wish to hire you as a highly skilled migrant must start an entry and residence procedure at the IND. This option is only open to employers who are recognized by the IND. The IND will investigate whether there are any objections to admission on the grounds of public order or security risks. This procedure takes around two weeks. If the investigation produces a positive result and you meet the other conditions for highly skilled workers from abroad, you can pick up an MVV from the Dutch Embassy in your country. This document will allow you to travel to the Netherlands and pick up your residence permit from the IND.

If you do not require an MVV, your employer can start the application procedure for your work permit while you are in the Netherlands as a highly skilled migrant.

The Netherlands has a program for highly skilled migrants. This program makes it even more attractive for Dutch companies to employ highly skilled migrants. Application for this program makes it easier for companies to employ highly skilled migrants and offers highly skilled migrants special minimum salary levels. Furthermore, the 30% rule makes working in the Netherlands ever more attractive from a tax perspective.

The highly skilled migrant program is not open to all companies. Furthermore, not every highly skilled migrant from outside the EU is eligible under this program. The most important conditions are as follows:

  • The employer is recognized by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) and has a residence permit (a permanent or temporary residence).
  • The highly skilled migrant has an employment agreement with a Dutch employer of a duration of at least three months.
  • The employer pays at least the minimum salary applicable to the highly skilled migrant.
  • The highly skilled migrant has a valid passport, a healthcare insurance policy taken out in the Netherlands and does not constitute a risk to national security.

If you are coming to work in the Netherlands as a highly skilled migrant, you will be earning a relatively high minimum salary. Employers must pay the salaries set out in the highly skilled migrant program. These minimum salaries are as follows:

  • Highly skilled migrants younger than 30: €3.672 gross per month;
  • Highly skilled migrants 30 and older: €5.008 gross per month;
  • Highly skilled migrants in their job-seeking year: €2.631 gross per month; These are highly skilled migrants who take up employment in the Netherlands within one year of having completed an accredited study programme at a Dutch institution of higher education.

Procedures: You can only come to the Netherlands to work as a highly skilled migrant if your employer is recognised by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND). Many highly skilled workers therefore choose to work via Dutch payroll company Holland Employment Experts for our payroll services. We are recognised by the IND and you can work via us for companies that are not recognized by the IND. Moreover, we assist highly skilled migrants with all the paperwork and procedures involved in coming to the Netherlands, such as application for the Entry & Residence Procedure (TEV). Handy for employer and highly skilled migrant alike.

Provisional residence permit (MVV)

If you are from outside the EU and wish to stay in the Netherlands for longer than three months, you will need an ‘MVV’, or provisional residence permit. A residence permit can be applied for directly if you apply for this visa via the entry and residence procedure. You must indicate your purpose for being in the Netherlands.

TWV

TWV stands for employment permit for persons from outside the European Economic Area. Your employer can apply for a TWV from the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV). As part of the application procedure, your eligibility as a prospective employee who serves a ‘genuine Dutch interest’ will be assessed. In essence, this assessment considers whether your prospective employer really is unable to find suitable personnel in the Netherlands or elsewhere in the EU. A highly skilled migrant does not require a TWV.

GVVA

GVVA stands for a combined residence and employment permit. An employer applies for this permit from the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) if the migrant worker is to be employed for longer than three months. The IND assesses whether you, as a prospective employee, serve a ‘genuine Dutch interest’ (the important consideration here again is whether the employer really is unable to find suitable personal in the Netherlands or elsewhere in the EU).

The permit consists of a residence document for you as the employee and a supplementary document for you and your employer. This supplementary document indicates which employer you are allowed to work for as a migrant worker and under which conditions. The GVVA is not issued to highly skilled migrants, but to ‘regular’ workers not originating from from the EEA or Switzerland.

There is an exception for some migrant workers for whom no work permit (TWV or GVVA) is necessary, as is the case for highly skilled migrants.

 

EU Blue Card
In addition to the Dutch highly skilled migrant scheme, there is a European scheme for highly skilled migrants: the EU Blue Card. To be eligible for an EU Blue Card, highly skilled migrants must:

  • have completed a three-year Bachelor’s study program
  • hold a degree certificate whose credentials are recognized by the International Credential Evaluation (IDW) service
  • earn at least €5,567 gross per month

This is a higher income and education requirement than required of regular highly skilled migrants. Holders of an EU Blue Card have a faster track to permanent residency than highly skilled migrants coming to and working in the Netherlands under the Dutch program

DAFT visa?
The DAFT visa is a work and residence permit for American immigrants to the Netherlands, which is tied to a self-owned business in the Netherlands. It is a more accessible version of the regular Dutch Self Employed visa. The latter visa works with a more elaborate “point system” to evaluate whether the entrepreneur (and their new business) are of enough “added value” to the Dutch economy. The DAFT visa does not have this requirement, because of the special friendship relationship between the United States and the Netherlands.

For American immigrants to the Netherlands with an entrepreneurial spirit, the DAFT visa is a very attractive option to quickly and easily acquire a work and residence permit for the Netherlands. Entrepreneurs of all sizes are accepted under this visa: self-employed freelancers are just as eligible as big business owners setting up a Dutch branch of their thriving American business. There are no requirements as to the type of business, the type of customers of your business, or their origin. In this article we will explain the process in a few steps, and add some useful tips in the process.

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