In June and September 2003 two new policy regulations were published in the Dutch ´Staatscourant´ concerning the employment of certain non-EU nationals in the Netherlands. Lawyer Patrick Rovers outlines the developments and changes most important to HR.

Not-for-profit organisations

An international not-for-profit organisation can apply for a Dutch work permit for their highly educated key specialists and managers without preceding mandatory local and European vacancy registration procedures, advertisements in Dutch newspapers and/or weeklies and/or the Internet, and/or without making use of services such as those offered by recruitment agencies.

The Dutch central employment office (CWI) has set a special criterion vis-à-vis the international not-for-profit organisation, namely that the organisation has to employ a minimum of 50 full time equivalents worldwide. Besides that, the non-EU key specialist or manager should be of direct importance to the international activities of the not-for-profit organisation.

The catch

The catch is, that the work permit will be issued for less than three years, meaning that the beneficiary will not become eligible for the 'work permit not required´ annotation on his or her Dutch residence permit. For this the beneficiary has to prove that he or she has legally worked and lived in the Netherlands for a minimum of three years, for which a three-year work permit is needed.

Charlotte Beal, HR Officer, Greenpeace International, Amsterdam, hopes that the new not-for-profit organisation regulation will enable Greenpeace to fill its roles more effectively and easily.

“Greenpeace has about 30 Regional Offices around the world and, because of the nature of the work we do it is important that we sometimes recruit skilled employees from other countries and of various backgrounds and cultures," she explains. "For example it will be advantageous for us to recruit someone who is familiar with the South American culture if they are going to be a campaigner for the Amazon. We also support a diversity policy, though which we aim to hire people of different nationalities and ethnic minorities.”

Beal continues, “Certainly in the past we have spent a considerable amount of money, time and effort fulfilling all the conditions set by the Dutch CWI and Eures on hiring non EU-nationals. Obtaining work permits and proving that the candidate is the best person for the job has been a drawn out procedure where often a start date has been delayed on the basis that a work permit application is not ready.

“As a not-for-profit organisation we want to spend as little money as possible on this type of procedure, and I hope our recruitment costs will drop because of this new law. It's a bit soon to say how beneficial it will be to us, as we still have to ‘test’ and evaluate the new procedure. But if it saves us time and money, and enables us to fill our positions with the right people, then surely it’s a good thing.”

Statement from the Dutch Department of Economic Affairs

Certain international groups of companies, which do not (yet) meet the current CWI annual revenue requirement of 50 million Euros, may become eligible to issue work permits for their key specialists and managers (without preceding mandatory local and European vacancy registration procedures, advertisements in Dutch newspapers and/or weeklies and/or the Internet, and/or without using recruitment services.) As a result of a special statement, to be provided by the Dutch Department of Economic Affairs, the respective international group of companies will have to convince the Department of Economic Affairs that their presence in the Netherlands serves an essential Dutch interest.

The objective of this new regulation is to open up the Netherlands to relatively new international groups of companies and their key managers and specialists. The new CWI regulations also state that the regular minimum annual salary requirement for the aforementioned specialists and managers (EUR 50,000) is not applicable, but the salary has to be in line with current Dutch standards.

Spouses/partners of non-EU scientific staff of universities, HBO´s and research facilities

Prospective Dutch employers of the spouses or partners of certain non-EU nationals legally working for Dutch universities, HBO´s and research facilities, may now be able to secure a work permit (without preceding mandatory local and European vacancy registration procedures, advertisements in Dutch newspapers and/or weeklies and/or the Internet, and without using recruitment services), for a period what is equal to the validity of the work permit of the respective non-EU national working for Dutch universities, HBO´s and research facilities. This arrangement is similar to that of spouses/partners of non-EU key staff of international groups of companies, temporarily assigned to the Netherlands.

Marlies van den Bos-van Sambeek, head of the Visa Department of Leiden University is enthusiastic but remains realistic, "Quite often the spouses or partners of our non-EU scientific staff members are highly educated and have had successful careers in their countries of origin," she says.

"This new regulation offers these individuals easy access to Dutch work permits but their future Dutch employers will still have to go through the CWI paperwork. This regulation will probably make the Netherlands more attractive to non-EU scientists because their spouses or partners now face fewer hassles as far as possibilities to legal employment in the Netherlands are concerned. I am content with this development even though it is still early days."

October 2003

Patrick R. Rovers is a lawyer with Van Velzen CS, Breda, the Netherlands. He can be reached at vvcs.nl@vviworld.net

This article is for informative purposes only, is general in nature, and is not intended to be a substitute for competent legal and professional advice. Rules and regulations regarding foreigners, work permits, visas, and residence permits are continuously subject to change.