Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk has been working all year to speed up and simplify the chronically-slow residence permit system. Expats we spoke to are still waiting for their permits – and an explanation on how the new system works.

The majority have had a rough time; catch 22s, contradictory information, unduly long procedures, mistakes, inability to find basic information, and an IND staff who seem to be ignorant of their own policies, to name but a few.

Minister Rita Verdonk has been heavily criticised for the delays

The latest legal and administrative change, in a long series of changes, occurred on 1 October this year. It was aimed specifically at streamlining the process for foreign professionals by abolishing the need for a work permit for non-EU expats earning over EUR 45,000 per year. But, as one of our readers discovered, it is not yet quite as simple as that.

As a self-employed IT professional from the US, one of our readers was used to problems and catch 22's.  This is his third year in the country. "You have to sort of go into business without actually being permitted to go into business," he explains. Waiting for a permit meant that he was unable to work for the first year. When he applied for renewal, the IND sent a letter asking why he had no income.

Now he is hoping to qualify for the new ruling that abolishes work permits. "I contacted Expatica because the information I received is ridiculous," he says, referring to a phone conversation with the IND help desk, after October 1, about the new procedures. "They said that while this is the law – the details have not been clarified, the procedures have not been decided, and the exact rules have not been written."

He was told he would have to wait until the 1 January to apply for work, but in the meantime the new work permit rule would probably be applied to the top 50 Dutch companies only.

This reader has a problem with giving unfair advantages to large companies while ignoring middle to small companies; "Capital is supposed to be capital, there is not supposed to be special interest."

Another of our reader's fits the professional profile yet even he has been lost in confusing and conflicting information. It all started out well enough for this seasoned banker from the UK; he arrived with a work contract for a large bank in April. Within the first few days he had received a Sofi number and had his passport was stamped by the then still existent Foreign Police, or Vreemdelingpolitie.

"That's when it all went terrible," he says. "Opening a bank account was a nightmare. If this is the way they treat a new senior employee – what the hell are they doing to the paying customers?"

Unfortunately, he arrived at exactly the point of changeover. "As far as I can work out, I was given exactly the right documents by the Foreign Police the first week I arrived but, they said they couldn't deal with this anymore."

He is required by the bank to have "the correct legal status", but no one seems to be quite sure whether this is simply a "proof of residence" (proof that you are registered with your local town hall) or a "residence permit". 

He was told at one point that an EU citizen is not eligible for a residence permit; "not that anyone seems to know."  After over EUR 20 spent on phone calls, he was still unsure of where to take the documents. When he finally arrived at city hall he was informed that there was no way to know how long it would take, that the system was "very, very unfriendly to foreigners" and that it could take months and probably would.

As we go to press, he is about to have his first appointment, not for a decision — but to fill in the forms. He is still unsure whether his company actually requires a residence permit or simply proof of residence, and they do not appear to know either.

Another reader has had a terrible time with the lack of basic information and was sent on a merry-go-round for several months while IND staff seemed unsure of where to find his documents.

A 3rd world immigrant and economist, he has been here for 8 years. He applied for his extension in January and after several months of silence, he became alarmed.

"When I called, they were unsure where the documents were kept," he says. "I kept getting shifted from offices in Rijswijk to Zwolle to Den Bosch to Hoofdorp. Most of the time the people on the phone were either too abrupt or they didn't listen."

He became so exasperated at the lack of progress he called the IND complaint line. They promised a letter within 6 weeks. When that did not arrive, he went first to the National Ombudsman, and finally to a lawyer.

"I stopped counting how much money I wasted on these calls because I was afraid if I kept track I would do something stupid," he says. "This is not good for a service that cost me EUR 890.” Recently he has received notice not to call anyone, but to wait until he received a letter to pick up his renewal at city hall. He is still waiting.

Only one reader who responded had a better outcome with the IND than with the old Foreign Police. She is a Business Analyst originally from US but was living in Switzerland for several years before coming to the Netherlands.

When she moved here in 2003 she found it impossible to get information and eventually simply showed up at the Foreign Police. Her complaints about the old system seem to echo the ones made about the new one; no answer on the phones lines, staff that gave a different answer each time, and eventually the realisation she had been given the wrong forms.

"They were so rude and wouldn't believe the mistake was theirs," she says. In April of this year, she applied for an extension expecting the worst. "I called the IND in July," she continues. "They picked up the phone after two rings which was amazing. I was told I would get a letter in four days. I was sceptical, but the letter arrived and I got my permit for 5 years. It's really strange that some people have such a terrible experience and some people don't."

14 October 2004

[Copyright Mindy Ran and Expatica 2004]

Subject: Residence permits and the Netherlands