NETHERLANDS: Reduced Service Fee Due to Long Wait Times at IN Amsterdam Expat Centre

May 10, 2022

Due to a backlog of applications and lengthy waiting times for appointments at IN Amsterdam’s Expat Centre, the IN Amsterdam authorities will temporarily reduce their fees by 20% during the months of May and June 2022. As such, from 1 May up to and including 30 June the following fees at IN Amsterdam apply:

* Municipal registration/BSN combined with immigration procedure
** RNI refers to a stay of less than 4 months

During this time, IN Amsterdam expects to train new staff and upscale their capacity.

Background of Change

IN Amsterdam is one of the Netherlands’ Expat Centres serving as a one-stop shop for highly skilled migrants and intra-corporate transferees to collect their residence documentation and register in the municipality at the same appointment.

In the absence of an Expat Centre, the process must be undertaken at two appointments at two different governmental authorities, possibly in two different locations. Expat Centres ensure that highly skilled migrants receive a civil service number (needed by the employer to pay salary and to communicate with governmental institutions) more quickly and do not have to visit both the Immigration and Naturalisation Service and the Municipality.

Initially the Expat Centre service was free of charge, but over time, IN Amsterdam started to charge service fees for using their one-stop shop. Note that the service fees only cover the IN Amsterdam costs of added value to clients, not the costs of carrying out immigration and registration formalities.

There has been an increase in the volume of highly skilled migrants coming to the Netherlands (an approximate 15-20% increase from 2019), in particular to Amsterdam. That increase – combined with the backlog of civic services, passport renewals and driving license applications at the Dutch municipalities – have contributed to lengthy waiting times for an appointment at IN Amsterdam. IN Amsterdam has expanded its team of registration specialists to deal with the backlog.

Newland Chase Insights

It remains to be seen if IN Amsterdam’s efforts to increase staffing and upscale their processing will indeed sufficiently cut waiting times. Companies with highly skilled migrants or other third-country nationals coming to the Netherlands who would like to use the services of IN Amsterdam, should please be sure to take this long waiting time into account. Note that, while it is possible to use an IND Desk and a municipality in lieu of the IN Amsterdam Expat Centre, the waiting times at these authorities are also longer than usual.

For help with the application procedure,  appointments, or any other aspect of third country national recruitment, selection, onboarding or HR, please contact Newland Chase in the Netherlands at [email protected]