Get The Visibility Your Company Needs
Reduce compliance risks and mobility costs while managing individual and project-related travel with ImmiSMART: the solution that unifies your travel and mobility programs.
Netherlands Immigration Services
Newland Chase offers full support with all aspects of corporate immigration to Netherlands. Please find an overview of the typical corporate immigration processes below. Every situation is unique, so please do get in touch, either through your usual Newland Chase contact or using the details on the right hand side of the page. Our immigration experts will be glad to discuss your needs in greater detail.
With a well-established office in The Hague in the heart of the business district, Newland Chase Netherlands provides corporations and individuals operating in The Netherlands with complete support for all their immigration and visa needs – inbound to The Netherlands and outbound to more than 190 countries around the world. Our full spectrum of services allows us to manage all of your business visa and employee immigration needs.
Newland Chase’s team of highly qualified consultants, provides unparalleled expertise in Dutch immigration rules and regulations. Our team draws upon its years of collective experience to support the unique and challenging needs of our clients. Our team of Dutch immigration specialists provides the most up-to-date, comprehensive advice and expertise to clients across all sectors, delivering tailored solutions customized to our clients’ business needs.
Immigration Summary
Important Note: The Dutch Immiguru processes are currently under review. Please reach out to Newland Chase with any questions or case-specific needs.
The Highly Skilled Migrant (HSM) or Knowledge Migrant (KM) program is a very lenient and beneficial work and residence authorisation category for foreign nationals going to work and reside in the Netherlands and who meet certain salary criteria. It must be sponsored by a company which is registered as a Recognised Sponsor with the IND (Dutch Immigration Authority).
The applicant may have a local contract directly with the Dutch entity or may in some situations remain on home-country contract and be assigned to the Netherlands, in which case there is no requirement for the employee to have been employed by the sending company for any minimum time. The required minimum salary level for a highly skilled migrant residence permit application is dependent on the applicant’s age.
When submitted via one of the 'Expatcenters' in certain major cities, the HSM process can be further expedited. The One Stop Process is a streamlined process that requires the applicant to make just one visit to the authorities post-arrival: the address registration and collection of residence permit is combined.
Alternative routes exist but are not popular. The EU Blue Card has a higher salary threshold and criteria are higher than for the HSM category. The standard local-hire single permit requires a labour market test, processing time is slower and refusal rates are high.
The Intra-Company Transfer Permit (EU Directive 2014/66) is only applicable to assignees falling into management/specialist or trainee categories sent to the Netherlands for over 90 days from outside the EU and has a maximum total duration of stay of three years. If an applicant meets qualifying criteria for this process, they may not use the HSM category or the ICT single permit, but managers and specialists may be able to change status after the three years maximum duration.
ICT permits under Directive 2014/66 allow mobility within EU member states - i.e. work permission is not required for EU ICT permit holders to work in other member states for less than 90 days (although a notification may be required) and a streamlined Mobile ICT permit application may be applicable if working in other member states for longer than 90 days.
If the Dutch company is optionally registered with the IND as a "Recognised Sponsor" the processing time for individual applications is much shorter. The applicant must have been employed for at least three months by the sending company or group of companies immediately preceding the date of the intra-corporate transfer application.
Work permit (Intra-Company Transfer): Companies that are not registered with the IND as recognised sponsors under the Knowledge Migrant route, may be able to follow a standard Work Permit procedure for intra-company transfers which do not fall into the scope of the EU ICT directive. This route is on average one to two months slower than the Knowledge Migrant Program Procedure. The company must have an annual worldwide group turnover of at least EUR 50,000,000 and must have multiple international subsidiaries, including an operating entity in the Netherlands.
Companies that are transferring employees into the Netherlands for short-term assignments (up to 90 days in a six-month period) can obtain a Temporary Work Permit and do not need to complete any post-arrival formalities or obtain a residence permit.
Assignment from within the EEA: A non-EEA national who is employed and contracted by a home entity in an EEA country and sent to perform services in the Netherlands does not require a work permit. An online Posted Worker Notification (PWN) will need to be filed prior to start of work. For stays beyond 90 days, a residence permit application must be submitted within 90 days of arrival.
Some Temporary Assignments for work-related activities are permitted on a Schengen C Visa or visa waiver stay for non-EU/EEA/Swiss nationals assigned from outside the EEA to the Netherlands for a temporary period, either for business meetings (up to a maximum total duration of 13 weeks within a year); for software implementation where the assignee is being sent to fulfil foreign contractual obligations to a Dutch client company; or for training (both limited to a maximum duration of 12 weeks within a 36-week period). A visitor may only be eligible for one of the mentioned exemptions per visit. Combining these exemption categories is not allowed from a Dutch travel and work authorisation perspective.
Cross-Border Work Permit (Highly Skilled Migrant): Non-EU/EEA/Swiss nationals legally resident in another country within EU/EEA/Switzerland, but working in the Netherlands may be considered a Highly Skilled Migrant cross-border worker. To qualify, their employer in the Netherlands needs to be registered as a Recognised Sponsor with the IND (Dutch Immigration Authority) and they need to meet certain salary criteria. If those conditions are met, they need to obtain a work permit but not a residence permit for the Netherlands.
The Work Permit Exemption (International Commercial Trade Regulations Program) has recently come into force, replacing the narrower Knowledge-Based Industry Pilot Program which ran as a test from July 2013 to June 2017. Under this new work permit waiver program, registered Dutch companies can bring non-EU/EEA/Swiss foreign nationals to the Netherlands to perform activities as part of a pre-approved project related to the delivery of goods and services for a period of up to three years. Work permits are not required but a notification should be made to the Dutch Labour Authorities and a residence permit applied for stays of over 90 days.
EU/EEA/Swiss nationals who will be working and residing in the Netherlands do not need to apply for a work or residence permit; a valid EU/EEA ID card or passport is enough to prove right of residence and employment in the Netherlands. However, if remaining in the Netherlands for longer than four months, they should complete local registration with the local municipality (note that birth and marriage certificates, and potentially other family status documents, will be required and may need to be legalised/Apostilled, depending on the country of origin). For assignees on employment contract in the EU, EEA or Switzerland and posted to the Netherlands an online Posted Worker Notification (PWN) must be completed before work starts.
Our Netherlands team members are highly qualified and dedicated professionals with extensive experience in all aspects of Dutch immigration. They come from the best of legal, consulting, in-house corporate and government backgrounds and bring a breadth of experience and insight both in immigration and a multitude of industry sectors. With a dedication to service and a consultative approach, our people act as your trusted advisors and partners in achieving your business goals in The Netherlands.
