Netherlands Immigration and Visas

If you wish to live in the Netherlands, you may apply for a residence permit. This is a permit that is valid for 5 years and allow the holder to live and work in the Netherlands. You can also become a Dutch citizen through naturalisation.

Qualification Requirements for Residence and Citizenship

To obtain citizenship through naturalisation in the Netherlands, you must’ve lived legally in the Netherlands for at least 5 years.

Form/Documentation requirements for Residence and Citizenship

The required documentation is as follows:

• A valid passport
• A birth certificate
• A valid residence permit
• Civic integration diploma

If you want to include a child younger than 18 years old, you must also provide:

• The same documents for your child
• If one parent is applying for naturalisation, you must provide the other parents consent

Cost Indicators for Residence and Citizenship

The costs of a residence permit for the Netherlands are 174 EUR. To become a Dutch citizen through naturalisation costs 945 EUR. If you request a citizenship together with your partner it is 1.206 EUR.

How to Apply for for Residence and Citizenship

1. Gather all the required documents
2. Make an appointment at the embassy, consulate or visa centre
3. Fill out the application form
4. Submit at the embassy, consulate or visa centre in the country you currently live in for at least 3 months.
5. Wait for a decision

A Schengen visa allows the holder to travel to any of the Schengen member countries for up to 90 days for tourism or business purposes within a 180 days period. Schengen member countries are most of Europe and that makes it the largest free travel area in the world.

Qualification Requirements for a Schengen Visa

If you’d like to travel to a Schengen country, you must have a travel insurance with a minimum coverage of 30.000 EUR for medical emergencies.

Form/Documentation requirements for a Schengen Visa

The required documentation is as follows:

Based on your employment status, you may need to provide additional documents:

• If you are travelling or you are a minor, you must also provide:
• Birth certificate
• Application form signed by both parents
• Family court order if one parent has full custody
• Copies of passports of both parents
• If the minor is travelling alone, you must also provide a notarized parental authorization

Cost Indicators for a Schengen Visa

A Schengen Visa has a fee of 80 euros per adult and 45 euros per child (age 6 to 12).

How to Apply for for a Schengen Visa

1. First you need to figure out what Schengen visa you need. This depends on your purpose of visit e.g. tourism, business or study.
2. After that you need to figure out at what embassy, consulate or visa centre you need to apply.
3. Then you need to make an appointment. At a maximum of six months before your trip starts and a minimum of 15 days.
4. Fill out the application form and gather all required documents.
5. Submit at the embassy, consulate or visa centre.

If you are visiting more than 1 Schengen country, you must apply at the embassy of the country you’re staying the longest in. If you plan on staying an equal amount of time in different countries than submit at the embassy of the country you intend to visit first.

If you’d like your family to take your family with you tot he Netherlands, then you should apply for one of the family visas. There are different kind of family visas based on the relationship you have with the person coming with you.

Qualification Requirements for a Family Visa

Different kind of family visa have different kind of requirements. The different kind of family visa are as follows:

• Partner
• Child under 18
• Child born in the Netherlands
• Adopted child
• Foster child

Partner family visa has the following requirements:

• You are both 21 years or older
• Your partner is going to live together with you in the Netherlands
• You have a valid Dutch residence permit
• You meet the income requirements
• You declare that you are your partners sponsor
• Your partner has passed the civic integration exam

A family visa for a child under 18 has the following requirements:

• Your child is younger than 18 years old
• Your child has not started a family of their own
• Your child belongs to your family and was also part of your family abroad.
• Your child will live with you in the Netherlands.
• You have a valid Dutch residence permit.
• You meet the income requirements.
• You are your child’s guardian.
• A declaration of consent if the other parent isn’t coming along.
• You declare that you are the sponsor for your child.

A family visa for a child in the Netherlands has the following requirements:

• Your child was born in the Netherlands but does not yet have a residence permit.
• Your child truly belongs to your family.
• From the child’s birth, you and your child’s main residence was in the Netherlands
• You have a valid residence permit or you became a Dutch citizen after the birth of your child.
• You declare that you are the sponsor for your child.

A family visa for a adopted child has the following requirements:

• You have a valid Dutch residence permit.
• You meet the income requirements.
• You meet all the requirements under the Placement of Foreign Children for Adoption Act.
• You can demonstrate the identity of your adopted child.

A family visa for a foster child has the following requirements:

• Your foster child is under 18 years old
• You have a valid Dutch residence permit
• You are able to provide your foster child with a good upbringing and care.
• You have custody of the foster child. This must have been arranged officially.
• You meet the income requirements.
• If your foster child is already with you before you come to the Netherlands, You need to have raised and cared for your foster child in its country of origin for at least 1 year.

• You have been granted custody of your foster child in the year that you raised and cared for the child in its country of origin.
• You are the foster child’s grandparent, brother or half-brother, sister or half-sister, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, uncle or aunt.
• If you have not raised the foster child before you came to the Netherlands:
• Your foster child does not have an acceptable future in its country of origin.
• Your foster child has no life threatening, contagious or long-term physical or mental disease.
• The parents or legal representatives give permission for the foster child’s residence in your family.

Form/Documentation requirements for a Family Visa

The required documentation is as follows:

• Completed visa application forms
• Valid passport
• Two passport sized photos
• Copies of the identification pages of your family member’s passport or ID card.
• Copies of your family member’s residence permit.
• Proof of your family member’s income.
• Declaration from the sponsor that confirms the relationship

For partners:

• Certificate of marriage or civil partnership

For children:

• Birth certificate
• Adoption certificate

Cost Indicators for a Family Visa

A spousal visa is 174 EUR and a visa for a child is 58 EUR.

How to Apply for for a Family Visa

1. Gather all the required documents
2. Make an appointment at the embassy, consulate or visa centre
3. Fill out the application form
4. Submit at the embassy, consulate or visa centre in the country you currently live in for at least 3 months.
5. Wait for a decision

If you’d like to study or do an internship in the Netherlands, you must apply for a study visa. The Netherlands has 3 different study visas:

• Short stay student visa
• Student visa for secondary or vocational courses
• Long stay student visa

Qualification Requirements for a Study Visa

There are a couple of requirements you need to meet if you’d like to apply for a study visa, these are as followed:

• You have a South African nationality
• You have family ties with persons who live in the Netherlands and have a residence permit or have the Dutch nationality.
• You can speak and write in Dutch.

Form/Documentation requirements for a Study Visa

• Completed visa application forms
• Valid passport
• Two passport sized photos
• Birth certificate
• Academic transcripts
• Official letter from the academic institution in the Netherlands
• A complete study plan
• Financial proof for the entire period of study (around 870 EUR/month)
• Proof of travel and health insurance
• Proof of paid visa application fee
• Photocopies of all the original documents
• Tuberculosis test, if you are from a high risk country
• Biometric information

Cost Indicators for a Study Visa

To apply for a study visa in the Netherlands costs 207 EUR.

How to Apply for for a Study Visa

1. Check if you meet the requirements
2. Gather all the required documentation
3. Your education institution needs to apply for you
4. Pay the application fee
5. Wait for a decision
6. If you’re accepted, you need to collect your MVV and a student residence permit.

A work visa is a visa that allows the holder to work in the Netherlands. There are 2 different kind of work visas in the Netherlands;

• Long stay visa (MVV)
• Work Holiday program (WHP)

Qualification Requirements for a Work Visa

Form/Documentation requirements for a Work Visa

The required documentation is as follows:

• Residence permit or MVV
• A valid passport
• Proof of a clear criminal record
• Proof of all application information e.g. job contract
• If you are from a high risk country, you should have a tubeculosis test
• Proof of sufficient income

Cost Indicators for a Work Visa

The costs of a work visa application depends on what visa you’re applying for and your kind of work field. The costs are usually not higher than 300 EUR.

How to Apply for for a Work Visa

1. Check if you need a MVV or a residence permit
2. Make sure you have one if needed
3. Fill in the application form
4. Gather documentation
5. Apply at a embassy, consulate or visa centre
6. Wait for decision
7. Collect residence permit or MVV if you don’t have one already
8. Travel to the Netherlands
9. Collect your work visa

A work experience visa allows the holder of the visa to live and work in the Netherlands for a company work placement or a vocational work placement. The work experience visa is valid for 1 year.

• Long stay visa (MVV)
• Work Holiday program (WHP)

Qualification Requirements for a Work Experience Visa

• You must be working temporarily in the Netherlands under an EU programme
• You must earn a sufficient income to sustain your living in the Netherlands

Form/Documentation requirements for a Work Experience Visa

The required documentation is as follows:

• Residence permit
• Copy of passport
• Document from their educational establishment
• A diploma
• Document to confirm that the worker is in receipt of a grant and the amount of that grant
• A internship, practitioner or work agreement
• Complete application form
• Sponsor declaration
• Completed and signed appendix of Details, when necessary, of gaining work experience (apprentice).

Cost Indicators for a Work Experience Visa

The costs of a work visa application depends on what visa you’re applying for and your kind of work field. The costs of a work experience visa are 345 EUR.

How to Apply for for a Work Experience Visa

1. Check requirements
2. Collect documents
3. Apply at a embassy, consulate or visa centre
4. Pay for application
5. Wait for a decision
6. Collect residence permit or MVV if you don’t have one already
7. Travel to the Netherlands
8. Collect your Work experience visa

An Au Pair Visa is a visa that allows the holder to stay in the Netherlands for 1 year and live with a host family while performing the tasks of an Au pair.

Qualification Requirements for an Au Pair Visa

• You must be between 18 and 25 years old
• You can not be married
• You do not have (foster) children
• You have not had a residence permit for exchange in the Netherlands before.
• You are going to live with a host family which is registered in the Personal Records Database (BRP).
• Your host family has 2 or more members
• Your host family meets the income requirements.
• You have not worked for the host family before,
• You are not related as a family member to the host family
• You are going to live in the Netherlands temporarily on an exchange programme as an au pair through a recognised au pair agency (recognised sponsor)
• You will do light housekeeping tasks for the host family. You do this no more than 8 hours a day and for a maximum of 30 hours a week. You have 2 days off each week.
• You and the host family will make a schedule for all 7 days of the week.
• You have not signed a contract with a host family, intermediary agency or au pair agency stating that you must pay a fine if you do not fulfil the contract.
• You have not paid any fees to an intermediary agency or au pair agency.
• You have not paid more than €34 in costs to prepare for your stay in the Netherlands.

Form/Documentation requirements for an Au Pair Visa

The required documentation is as follows:

• Copy of Passport
• Proof of a clear criminal record
• Contract by a designated agency signed by au pair and host family
• Residence permit
• Proof of a travel and health insurance

Cost Indicators for an Au Pair Visa

The costs of an application for an Au pair visa is 345 EUR.

How to Apply for for an Au Pair Visa

You can’t apply by yourself. Your Au pair agency must start your application process.

• Contact au pair agency
• Check requirements
• Collect documents
• Apply at a embassy, consulate or visa centre
• Pay for your application
• Wait for a decision on the application
• Collect MVV
• Travel tot he Netherlands
• Collect residence permit