Netherlands: Visa-Exempt Highly Skilled Migrants May Temporarily Begin Work Without Endorsement Stickers

• Approval letter. The foreign national will be considered work authorized if their permit approval letter mentions work authorization.
• Authorization process. Visa-exempt permit holders must contact immigration authorities to schedule an appointment within two weeks of receiving their permit approval to benefit from the new policy. The appointment can be scheduled with a local immigration office or an Expatcenter (collaborative service between town hall and immigration). In-country appointment timing will depend on immigration or Expatcenter availability, with appointment scheduling delays currently averaging at two to three months. At the appointment, individuals can either submit biometric data (fingerprints and photograph) for their residence card to be approved; or collect their residence permit card if biometric data was submitted at an earlier stage in the process.
• Work authorization under the new policy is valid for up to four months. Within this four-month period, individuals are expected to attend their in-country appointment, which will render an alternative proof of work authorization (either a residence endorsement sticker or residence permit card) once the four-month interim policy lapses.
• The new policy applies to approvals issued between July 22, 2022 and January 22, 2023, and may be extended depending on in-country appointment availability. Foreign nationals with an approval issued before July 22, 2022 must still obtain a residence endorsement sticker before performing work.

• Faster work start. Individuals benefiting from the new policy are no longer required to collect a residence endorsement sticker at an in-country appointment. Due to lengthy appointment scheduling delays at both immigration and Expatcenter offices, completing this endorsement step would take several months after arrival.
• Visa-exempt citizens. The new policy applies to individuals who are visa exempt from the long-term visa (MVV) requirement. For citizens requiring an MVV visa, work authorization is listed on their visa sticker, allowing them to work immediately upon arrival.
• Long wait times. Foreign nationals should expect lengthy wait times for in-country and consular appointments, and all efforts should be made to attend appointments. Rescheduling appointments can lead to even more prolonged wait times and the delay of start dates.

• COVID-19 concession. Fragomen welcomes this measure, which reintroduces a pandemic-related concession in place during 2020-2021 and was petitioned for by Fragomen’s Dutch government strategies team.
• Visa restrictions. Unlike some EU Member States, the Netherlands does not permit visa-exempt citizens to collect a visa or residence card at a consular post, which would offer an alternative solution to in-country waiting times before securing work authorization.
• Immigration events. In-country immigration and registration appointments are typically streamlined in the Netherlands, particularly due to the increase in Expatcenter service capacity over the past years. However, immigration events such as the 2015 refugee crisis, Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine conflict temporarily disrupted government processing as officials support crisis responses.

In-country appointment scheduling delays are expected to normalize in due time, although this may take until Q4 2022 because of accumulating backlog. Additionally, Q3 is typically a busy period in immigration due to foreign nationals seeking relocation before the start of the academic year. Employers and foreign nationals are advised to anticipate delays for the remainder of 2022.