Do you need a visa?
Yes. For skilled tech jobs, the most common route is the highly skilled migrant permit (kennismigrant), or the EU Blue Card.
- The employer must be a recognised sponsor with the IND (the immigration service), and it files the application.
- Only fixed, guaranteed salary paid into an account in your name counts; the 8% holiday allowance does not. The amounts are in the box above.
- If your nationality requires it, you also get an entry visa (MVV), collected at the embassy.
- After arriving, you register in the BRP and collect your residence permit at an IND desk.
Documents and where to get them
In your country, before you leave
- Passport, valid for the whole move; the visa is issued in the passport.
- Birth certificate (and marriage certificate, if married). Usually with an apostille (or legalisation) and a certified translation; check with the embassy.
- Criminal record certificate from your country of nationality and, if different, from where you lived recently: visa applications often require it. Request it close to the date it will be used.
- Degree, transcript and references from previous jobs, digitally, with certified translations if the visa asks for them.
In the Netherlands
- BSN (citizen service number): issued when you register in the BRP. Without it the employer applies the highest tax rate and you cannot take out health insurance.
- Basic health insurance (basisverzekering): compulsory for people who live or work in the Netherlands, with a Dutch insurer (government.nl).
- DigiD: the digital ID for public services and taxes; requested with your BSN.
Step by step
Before you leave
- Sign the contract and confirm in writing the gross annual salary (with or without holiday allowance), the start date and the relocation support.
- Ask the employer whether they will apply for the 30% ruling (a tax regime for people recruited from abroad, with salary requirements). It is requested from the Belastingdienst; the percentages and conditions change from 2027.
- Make sure the employer is a recognised sponsor and has applied to the IND.
- Find housing with an address where you can register: the market is very tight in Amsterdam, Utrecht and The Hague.
- In your country, tell the authorities you are moving: update your registered address and your tax residence. In the year you leave, tax may be due for the part of the year you were still resident.
First week
- Register in the BRP at the municipality (deadline: 5 days). If there are no appointments in time, book the first available one.
- Open a bank account with your BSN.
- Collect your residence permit at the IND desk.
First month
- Take out basic health insurance; you have up to 4 months, but you pay from the date it became compulsory.
- Apply for your DigiD.
- Register with a GP (huisarts) near your home.