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Formalities (visa and work permit)
The true adventurer would probably hop on the next plane to the Netherlands and start looking for a job there. It of course is not advisable to do that!
The Dutch government maintains an admissions policy for foreigners who want to come to the Netherlands. The admission depends on the following criteria:
- Your nationality
- The purpose of your visit
- How long you would like to stay in the Netherlands
Before you can travel to the Netherlands, there are some formalities that first need to be seen to. Here you can download the PDF "Preparations before arrival".
What has to be done depends on your nationality and whether or not you meet the criteria to be considered as a knowledge migrant:
- Do you need a work permit?
- Do you need a visa or an authorisation for temporary stay?
- Do you need a visa?
Work permit and visa
If you are not a citizen of one of the member states of the European Union or the European Economic Area and if you are not a knowledge migrant or a so-called "onderzoeker EU-Richtlijn", you might need a work permit. Also if you are a citizen of Bulgaria or Romania you need a work permit for a maximum period of 1 year.
TU/e will apply for your work permit.
Besides the work permit, depending on your nationality, you may also need a visa or an authorisation for temporary stay (MVV) to enter the Netherlands.
TU/e will apply for this visa by means of the accelerated procedure. Please note that you are not allowed to stay in the Netherlands during this application procedure.
When you get an appointment at TU/e the DPO Expertiseteam will send you an email with detailed information about the relevant procedures in your case and the required documents that need to be sent by you to TU/e.
It may be possible that some of your documents (birth certificate, marriage certificate etc.) need to be legalized or need to be provided with an apostille-stamp before they can be used in the Netherlands.
More information:
Knowledge migrant procedure
Who is a knowledge migrant?
A knowledge migrant is a migrant who comes to the Netherlands to work for pay and earns a gross-salary of at least € 50.619 (when he is 30 years or older) or € 37.121 (when he is younger than 30 years).
In certain cases the income criteria are not applicable:
- Phd-students or TOIO's who work in an education or research institution
- Researchers (Postdoctorals) under 30 years of age
- University lecturers under 30 years of age
The advantages of the knowledge migrant procedure
- Faster acces to the Netherlands (in principle the visa will be granted within 2 weeks)
- No need for a work permit
- Application for residence permit through the employer
- Faster issue of the residence permit
- The residence permit will be issued for the full contract period (for a maximum of 5 years). If the contract is extended after 5 years it is possible to apply for a regular residence permit with the limitation "Labour as an employee". No work permit is needed in that case, because after having worked for 3 years as a knowledge migrant one becomes free on the Dutch job market. Another possibility is to apply for a residence permit for indefinite period. For this permit there is no limitation (f.e. work or study) anymore and this permit will be issued for a period of 5 years and needs to be extended for another 5 years each time.
For more information you can get in touch with the DPO Expertiseteam