Immigration
Moving to the Netherlands starts with the right visa or residence permit. Find everything you need to know about permits to study, work, start a business or bring your family to The Hague, Rotterdam, Delft or Leiden.
Visa or residence permit
Do you have the nationality of an EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you are free to live and work in the Netherlands. You do not need a visa or residence permit, you only need to register at your local municipality.
Do you have another nationality? Your options depend on how long you stay in the Netherlands.
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Stay for less than 90 days. Depending on your nationality, you may need a short stay Schengen visa.
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Stay for more than 90 days. You need a residence permit to work and live in the Netherlands. You usually need a sponsor for your application, such as an employer, university of family member. Dutch residence permits often already include your work permit.
Study in the Netherlands
Find out about the residence permit for students and what you need to do for a student side job. After you graduate, the orientation year gives you a year to start your career in the Netherlands. During the year, transfer to a new permit to stay, like the highly skilled migrant permit or startup visa.
- Get a study permit through your university, who apply as your sponsor.
- Get a work permit (TWV), arranger by your employer, for a side job during your studies. You can work 16 hours a week during term time or full-time in June, July and August.
- Apply for the orientation year permit after graduation from a Dutch or top-200 university worldwide. Recent graduates get one year to find a job or start a business, no sponsor needed.
Work in the Netherlands
Find out about the residence permits that let you work in the Netherlands. Your employer usually acts as your sponsor and arranges the paperwork. Which permit fits depends on your role, your salary and type of employer.
- Highly skilled migrant permit: the most common and fastest route for skilled professionals. You work for a recognised IND sponsor and earn a minimum salary per age group, with a lower requirment for recent graduates.
- EU Blue Card: EU alternative with intra-EU mobility opportunities, similar salary thresholds, but higher requirements for degrees, work experience and salary for graduates. No need for recognised sponsorship, but it would make decisions faster.
- Essential startup personnel: join a early stage startup as one of its first employees and receive a salary and financial stake in the company
- Scientific researcher: carry out research or a PhD at a Dutch university or research institute, and be eligible for another orientation year after your research ends.
- Intra-corporate transferee: transfer from a multinational company outside the EU/EEA to its Dutch branch, as trainee, manager or specialist.
- Privileged person or diplomat: work as a diplomat, consular officer or staff member of an international organisation, and skip the residence permit with a diplomatic identity card.
Start your business
Find out about the residence permits that let you build your own company in the Netherlands, from the startup visa to the self-employed permit. Which permit fits depends on whether you are launching an innovative startup or working independently, and where your funding comes from.
- Startup visa: grow your innovative dea into a business. Built your early stage startup together with a recognised facilitator who guides you during your first year in the Netherlands.
- Self-employed permit: offer your product or service as an independent entrepreneur or freelancer. Score at least 90 points across your experience, business plan and added value for the Dutch economy, with easier pathways for Turkish, Japanese and American (DAFT) entrepreneurs.
Family and partner
In most cases, you can bring over your foreign partner (married or unmarried) and children to join you in the Netherlands. Which permit fits depends on your own residence status, and whether you are Dutch, EU or non-EU. In most cases, the partner is free to work in the Netherlands and does not need a separate work permit.
- Dutch partner: You are Dutch. You apply for a residence permit as family member, often without needing to show separate income. You need to pass civic integration exams.
- EU partner: You hold a EU/EEA or Swiss nationality. You apply for a residence permit under EU law, with similar conditions as the Dutch family permit, but you do not need to take civic integration exams.
- Non-EU partner: you move together or already live in the Netherlands with a residence permit. You can apply for the employee and family permit at the same time. You need to show sufficient, stable income. The partner does not need to take civic integration exams for most work permits.
Permanent residence and becoming Dutch
Find out about the permits that let you stay in the Netherlands for good, from permanent residence to Dutch nationality. Which route fits depends on how long you have lived in the Netherlands and your relationship status.
- Permanent residence permit: live in the Netherlands for 5 years of uninterrupted, legal residence, pass the civic integration exam and meet income requirements. Removes the need to keep renewing your residence permit and stay indefinitely.
- Naturalisation: become a Dutch citizen after 5 years of legal residence, or after 3 years if you are married or in a partnership with a Dutch citizen. Often requires giving up your current nationality, though exemptions apply.
- EU long-term residence permit: qualify automatically alongside your permanent residence permit after 5 years, making it easier to move and work in other EU countries later on.