Do I need a work permit?

Whether or not you need a work permit to work in the Netherlands depends on your nationality.

• Citizens of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom

You do not need a work permit and there are no restrictions to the number of hours you can work.

• Citizens of other countries

You do need a work permit. It is free of charge. Dutch law restricts the numbers of hours you may work in the Netherlands. Every calendar year, you must make a choice between:

• (full-time) seasonal work in the months of June, July and August or
• part-time work throughout the year, but no more than 10 hours a week.

You cannot do both. In Dutch a work permit is called a Tewerkstellingsvergunning, often abbreviated to TWV. Your employer or employment agency must apply for a work permit at the UWV WERKbedrijf (formerly Centre for Work and Income, CWI), tel: 079-750 2903. You cannot do this yourself. A copy of the front and back of your residence permit for study purposes and proof of enrolment must accompany the application for a work permit. It will take the UWV WERKbedrijf 1 to 2 weeks to process the application. Your work permit will be valid for the same time period as your registration at the University. You will therefore need to request a new work permit if you renew your registration at the University.

Working after graduation

• Residence and work permit for non-EER and Swiss nationals

At the time of graduation from the UvA, most students will hold a residence permit for the purposes of study. If you wish to continue to reside in the Netherlands after graduating and find employment here, you can make use of the one-year ‘search period' introduced for recent graduates. 

The residence permit for the purpose of 'Seeking Work After Graduation' (verblijf gedurende zoekjaar afgestudeerde) allows you a period of 12 months, calculated from your examination date, to find employment in the Netherlands as a ‘highly skilled migrant' (kennismigrant) or a regular ‘labour migrant' (arbeidsmigrant).  During the 12-month ‘search period' you are not allowed to apply for benefits from the Dutch state, but you may work freely in the Netherlands in order to earn an income sufficient to finance your stay.

There are no regulations governing how you find a job in the Netherlands. You are also entitled to go on holiday for half a year and find employment after that. The 'search year' cannot be extended, meaning that if you do not find employment in the Netherlands during this year, you will have to leave the country.

• Application procedure

After graduation, go to the the IND's website (see link below) and download the form entitled 'Application residence permit or change to restriction without MVV'. Follow the instructions in the form under the section entitled 'Following completion of your study, to look for a job, as a highly skilled migrant and to utilise the search period'.

You will need to send in a certified copy of your UvA diploma with the application for your residence permit. To obtain a certified copy, bring your original diploma to the Service & Information Centre.

If you have finished your programme but not yet received your diploma, you can ask your admissions officer to help you obtain an afstudeerverklaring, a declaration of graduation.This declaration, issued by the Board of Examiners of your programme, must state the programme from which you are graduating, your graduation date and the date on which you will receive your diploma. Within two weeks of receiving your diploma, you must send a certified copy of it to the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND).

We advise you to submit your 'Application residence permit or change to restriction without MVV' in person at the IND Front Office next to Amsterdam Sloterdijk Station. The IND can then check on the spot whether your forms are filled in correctly. You can make an appointment to submit your forms by calling 0900-123 4561.

Please note: Students with a Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) scholarship are not eligible for a search-year residence permit.

• Will your current residence permit expire before you graduate?

If so, please contact the UvA's Immigration Officer for advice at immigration-sts@uva.nl. 

Mandatory basic healthcare Insurance

From the moment you start to work in the Netherlands, you must have Dutch basic healthcare insurance, even if you are an EU citizen and are covered by an EU health insurance card. Keep this in mind before starting to look for work, as the cost of basic healthcare insurance may be more expensive than the income you receive from your job. In this case you would merely be working to pay your basic healthcare insurance.

Due to the added cost of having to take out basic healthcare insurance, it may be more worthwhile for students who need a work permit to work full-time during the months of June, July and August instead of part-time throughout the year, as you will then only need basic healthcare insurance for those three months and will be able to retain the cheaper student insurance for the remainder of the year.

If you intend to work part-time on and off, make sure you choose an insurance company that allows you to switch easily between private insurance for international students and basic healthcare insurance. For more information, please see the UvA website on health insurance.

Burgerservicenummer

If you wish to work in the Netherlands you will need a Burgerservicenummer (BSN). A BSN is a personal tax and social security number. Every person residing in the Netherlands must have one. You will automatically receive a BSN when you register at the City Hall. There is no way of receiving a BSN without registering at the City Hall.

Fact sheet

Nuffic (the Netherlands organisation for international cooperation in higher education) has published a useful fact sheet on finding a job, as well as information on issues such as income tax and social security.

How to find a job

You can find information on working in the Netherlands in:

• The Holland Handbook, Xpatmedia, ISBN 90 5594 3010
• Looking for Work in The Netherlands, by Nannette Ripmeester, Expertise in Labour Mobility, ISBN 90 5896 0145

These books are available for student use at the documentation centre of the Service and Information Centre, Binnengasthuisstraat 9, Amsterdam.

If you speak a European language, you may be able to find a job at one of the numerous call centres in Amsterdam. There are several employment and recruitment agencies which work with international students, including the ones listed below.

Work at the University restaurants

Many EU/EEA students work part-time at the University restaurants and canteens. The University restaurants are always looking for new, motivated personnel, especially for work in the kitchens or for dishwashing. If you are looking for work, you can phone Sorbon at 020 525 2699 or send an email to pz@sorbon.nl.

DUO (IB Group) study grants and loans

If you are an EEA national and work a minimum of 32 hours a month, you may be eligible to receive a study grant, loan and a Public Transport Chip Card for free public transportation either during the week or on the weekends from DUO (Informatie Beheer Groep).

However, be aware that that there is a maximum amount you may earn each calendar year without having to pay your grant back. The maximum amount for 2012 is € 13,362.53. Please note that this is only valid for degree students (not exchange students).

For more information on the Dutch study grant system, please see the link below.

Traineeship and internship regulations

An internship is any work placement or practical training arrangement designed to give you practical experience in the discipline or field that you are studying.

UvA students from Bulgaria and Romania or from outside the EEA do not need a work permit for an internship. You will however need a formal traineeship agreement between the trainee, the traineeship provider and the UvA.

The traineeship provider must be able to present this agreement to the Labour Inspectorate if asked to do so. Use of this traineeship agreement is therefore not optional: it is compulsory.

Students from the EEA, with the exception of Romania and Bulgaria, do not need this agreement.