As a foreign worker, can I work in the Netherlands?

Free access to the Dutch labour market for EU, EEA and Swiss nationals

You can work in the Netherlands without a visa, residence permit or work permit if you come from one of the following countries:

• a member country of the European Union;
• Liechtenstein;
• Norway;
• Iceland;
• Switzerland.

However, you will need a valid passport or identity document.

Duty to notify for posted workers

Foreign employers must provide notification of workers from another European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland in certain cases. They have a duty to notify if you come to work temporarily in the Netherlands from another EEA country or Switzerland and are posted to a Dutch company. They must use the online notification portal for foreign workers.

Non-Europeans can work in the Netherlands, under certain conditions

You can work in the Netherlands if you do not come from one of the countries listed above, under certain conditions. For example, you must have a sponsor (employer) who brings you to the Netherlands.

All the conditions for working in the Netherlands are set out on the site of the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND).

Immigrants to whom other rules apply

Certain groups of workers from abroad can qualify more easily to work in the Netherlands under special schemes. For example:

• highly skilled migrants such as scientific and other academic researchers;
• workers who are transferred to a job in the Netherlands within the same company;
• students;
• artists;
• asylum seekers;
• non-European students who are following a course of study in the Netherlands and have been accepted for an internship;
• cross-border service providers.