Dutch Government Suspends New Limits on Business Visitors Pending Legislative Change

The Dutch government has suspended a recent rule that unintentionally limited third-country nationals attending business meetings to only one uninterrupted stay of up to 13 weeks in a 52-week period. As a temporary measure, third-country nationals are again allowed to visit the Netherlands for business meetings multiple times per year, with each stay limited to up to four weeks within a 13-week period.

The suspension will allow the government to draft new legislation to remove the inadvertent limitation.

The suspension does not affect the government’s recent broadening of the activities permitted during a business visit to include receiving training on the use of goods manufactured in the Netherlands or services to be performed in the Netherlands.

Fragomen closely monitors policy changes in the Netherlands and will send updates when the amended legislation becomes available.

What This Means for Employers

The suspension of the inadvertent limitation on stay for business travelers will come as a relief to the business community, which had been concerned that the limitation would hamper business development in the Netherlands.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].