New members of the Netherlands forum, introduce yourselves here - 2018

That they do, but I'm referring to NT2 alone.

Hi there, 

Trust you all well.

I am Maria, currently living in South Africa.  I am single, with a daughter of 28.   I will be turning 50 in September but I am in good health and strong.    I have been in the construction industry for more than 20 years.  I have extensive experience as a Procurement Manager.  I have completed and received my Operations Management Diploma.  I am also very experienced in other fields from, administration, secretarial, event management etc. to mention but a few.

I am looking at options to relocate/immigrate to the Netherlands. What are my options?  is there anyone that can help me with this to see how to qualify?

Thank you

Hi
Thank you for your warm welcome to your website
I want to find someone working for us in Saudi Arabia
do you think I can find someone in this website for that?

Adrian Hall wrote:

Hi
Thank you for your warm welcome to your website
I want to find someone working for us in Saudi Arabia
do you think I can find someone in this website for that?

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

I must admit your post has got me a bit confused as to what you want.  Your profile tells me that you're from the British Virgin Island's, but you live in England and are looking for somebody who works for you in Saudi Arabia, in the Dutch section of the Forum.

Perhaps you can break this down into bite-size chunks, leaving just the relevant parts in it.

Cynic
Expat Team

Hi! I am John and I'm from the Philippines,  I joined this community to know more about Netherlands and the people, aside from being a beautiful and peaceful country.  Recently, my wife applied for a supervisory job in one of the hotels in amsterdam and the employer seems interested on here application.  The question asked is if she has arrange a place to stay. They said it is necessary, because they have experienced cancelling an employment before in the last minute, because the applicant was not able to find a place to stay.

We are trying to find any safe and cheap room for rent, where my wife can temporarily stay.  any filipino couples or anybody renting a room?  If my wife can push through with this, i am planning to follow and if possible find employment in Amsterdam.  We have no problem adjusting to different culture, because we also live abroad before.

Any inputs will be greatly appreciated.  I hope anyone can give advice on cheap but safe place to rent or any filipino community there. Thanks. If you don't mind, you can email me at:****, as im afraid i cannot read your replies, as I may not be able to navigate this site as a new member properly.   

Thanks again.

Hi! Bhavna,

sorry, i missed that policy. I wont post any contact details again. My apology.

John

Hi all, my name is lavie. Im currenltly living in Indonesia. Im planning to move to NL asap after the MVV is done.

TimW18 wrote:

That they do, but I'm referring to NT2 alone.

Overseas students on approved courses at Dutch universities are exempt the visa language requirements; whether they need NT2 to attend a Dutch language course is another matter entirely, the majority of overseas students attend English language courses.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Hi my name is Gul and i am from Turkey. I have been to Amsterdam once for touristic purposes. I will be studying architecture as a PhD student at TU Delft. It will take 4 years so i am intimidated by the thought of living abroad for so long. My studies will start on 15th of september. My dad will help me settle down. As an upcoming non EU student, the currency difference will be the biggest issue for me because it increases day by day. I had 5 years of work experience in my country but there i will be a student again. I hope i can make new friends to adjust myself to the new environment. When i was in Amsterdam my money was stolen and i was kind of scared about the security there but Delft must be better in that sense.

My name is Rebekah. I was born in Ireland, grew up in England and met my Cornish husband in Catalonia. We now live in the Netherlands, in Dutch suburbia, with our two differently wired small kids. I write about my experiences trying to bring up my kids in the Netherlands. You can read my stories here: www.writenowrebekah.com

writenowrebekah wrote:

My name is Rebekah. I was born in Ireland, grew up in England and met my Cornish husband in Catalonia. We now live in the Netherlands, in Dutch suburbia, with our two differently wired small kids. I write about my experiences trying to bring up my kids in the Netherlands. You can read my stories here: www.writenowrebekah.com

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

I just read your Glam Shaming story; I can assure you that not all Dutch kids turn up at the local playgroup dressed like that; in fact, when I asked Mrs C, I got the raised eyebrow and the "Nooit van gehoord" response I usually get when I ask questions about which I know nothing.

Good reads though, I have added the website to my favourites for some summer reading; thank you for posting the link.

Cynic
Expat Team

Hello

I live and work in Croatia. I am 26 years old and plan to move to NL.
Been in relationship with a dutch guy for over 2 years now, we've visited eachother on and off during this time and spent at least half of those 2 years together in real. Its becoming too bothersome and expensive and we have planned that I go there to him. We kinda waited till July this year because of laws changing so now I'm ready and have better chances to find work there. Just currently we have to get an apartment, which is kind of a long process...when he finds one Im basically going there asap. I have return ticket to there at September and we will see if all is ready by then. (Hopefully is)

Cheers

Hi there,

I am in South Africa and looking to relocate. I have applied for multiple roles however the response is a standard one. Most recruiters are looking to fill a position immediately and the organisations are not offering work permit sponsorship.

I  have joined the forum for advice and guidance as to the best way for me to get a work permit without having a job already. I do have confidence that my skills and experience are enough for me to find a suitable job. It is just the lack of a permit which is holding me back at this point.

Any advice would be welcomed.

Thank you.

RionaA wrote:

Hi there,

I am in South Africa and looking to relocate. I have applied for multiple roles however the response is a standard one. Most recruiters are looking to fill a position immediately and the organisations are not offering work permit sponsorship.

I  have joined the forum for advice and guidance as to the best way for me to get a work permit without having a job already. I do have confidence that my skills and experience are enough for me to find a suitable job. It is just the lack of a permit which is holding me back at this point.

Any advice would be welcomed.

Thank you.

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

You've discovered the reality of the Dutch private sector recruitment agencies, that being that unless you have a particular skill that is in great demand, then they are only interested in talking to you if you can attend an interview today, to start work tomorrow.  While they can find people like that (and they do ..... every day), people such as yourself don't have a chance.  The reason why they do this is simple, it's how they get paid.

However, all is not lost; in recognition of this, the Dutch government are slightly more flexible in this respect.  As a South African citizen, you have to go through the MVV process; MVV is both a residence and work permit.  Part of the process includes an assessment by the Dutch Government as to whether whatever skills you say you have could transfer into work skills and what chance you would have of finding work; no chance = no MVV.

You haven't told us what you do, so I can't really comment further on that except to give you a link to the general page of the IND website; this has other links on it that will take you to more specific categories for which you may be suitable.  Each link has a process at the bottom of the page.

Just to comment on languages; part of the MVV process is a Dutch language exam.  You say you speak Afrikaans, which is a language sourced from German, Dutch, English and local African tribal languages as they were spoken 200 years ago and it hasn't really developed much further than that.  Nobody in Holland (except other South Africans) speaks Afrikaans, but it is very similar to Dutch and many people will (like me) understand parts of the written version, it's when you open your mouth that it all starts to go down-hill.  So, the message is to learn Dutch - your Afrikaans will help you learn and you need it to pass the exam, plus it can only improve your chances of getting a decent job in Holland.

One last warning about work visas; they are by definition temporary.  While you get the chance to apply for long-term residence status and many people are successful, there is no guarantee this will be granted and you could find yourself 5 years down the line on a plane back to where you came from.

If you have any further specific questions, please come back to us.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thanks for the reply Cynic.

I am a Data Analytics Specialist. I have a Bachelors degree in applied mathematics and statistics and a Masters degree in economics. I have 13 years experience in an analytics environment.

I will definitely prioritize learning Dutch. I am happy to start tackling anything which can assist with the application.

Good Morning.
We are a South African based family wanting to relocate to the Netherlands. We have two young daughters aged 5 and 9, so our situation is somewhat complicated.
My fiance is a project manager, with an honors degree in business management. He has also done his PM certifications, including as a scrum master.

I, on the other hand, will complete my LLB degree next year. I am also scrum certified. I have a bit of a scattered career, mostly focusing on regulatory compliance in the past 5 years. but have managed call centers and currently manage global scrum teams as a scrum master.

Where do we start to get going? We want the move to be permanent, so as to provide my girls with the best possible future.

Looking forward to some assistance in this regard,

Hi SueRas and welcome to the Forum.

At the top of the page is a link to our Handy Tools section; within which is a link to our Expat Guides; my advice would be to start there.

To try and answer your questions.  As non-EU citizens, you will all need visas and work permits to come and work/live in Holland (although your kids are not really an issue, they would be on the back of yours).

You and your fiancee both appear to be well qualified and have relative experience, so finding work shouldn't be an issue; although I must admit that I had never heard of "scrum masters", but was interested enough to use Google to become an instant expert in the subject and am now wondering just how many times you can repackage what used to be called planning.

You will face some issues:

The first step for both you and your fiancee will need to go through the MVV process, it's described in the Expat Guides I referred to earlier.  Part of the process is a Dutch language exam for you both; so you will need to learn Dutch.

Your degree is legal and to work in that field in Holland, you need to make sure your degree is recognised there; my advice now is to speak to your Uni and get some advice on what they can offer you to simplify things for you in Holland.  On the Dutch side, the organisation that deals with foreign qualifications is called NUFFIC; this link will take you to their website where you can check what you (and perhaps your fiancee) need to do.

If you scroll up through this Forum, you'll find lots of stuff that I've written on the subject of job searching; I'm not going to repeat them all again, read through them and if you have any further questions, please come back to us,

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

It's good to hear!
Thanks for adding me to your summer reading list.
Happy vakantie

Hi All,

Hope you are fine. I am looking to move to Netherland.. I am from India. I don't know the procedures to migrate.
I have completed Bachelors degree in Aeronautics and have work experience of 3 years in Aviation industry. I am looking for job in Netherland. Could you all assist me the same as you might be aware of all information. I am looking for any kind of job so I could enter Netherland soon.....

Thank you, Cynic.

We will be pursuing the MVV from South Africa then. Can you perhaps advise on what to say to the consulate in order to help us in the process, also what information we can give that would help us in obtaining permanent residence?

SueRas wrote:

Thank you, Cynic.

We will be pursuing the MVV from South Africa then. Can you perhaps advise on what to say to the consulate in order to help us in the process, also what information we can give that would help us in obtaining permanent residence?

Hi and welcome back,

This link will take you to a Forum that explains the whole MVV process.  You basically apply to the local Dutch Embassy/Consulate to where you currently live.  Once you've passed the language tests (again arranged via the local embassy), you can then apply, normal MVV can take up to 90 days to resolve.

You may wish to consider going the Skilled Migrant route; it would mean you finding work prior to moving (use agencies etc; this link may help, but you can probably use Google just as well as I can to find others).  Skilled migrant is much quicker (14 days) and there is no language exam and you may even benefit from the 30% tax break rule which is very lucrative.

Permanent residence is a long way (5 years) down the road and is politically driven; at this stage, all you can do is not do anything that would make the Dutch think you are becoming a burden on the State, so basically, find work, send your kids to school and behave yourselves.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Hi my name is Nava i'm 26 and was previously flying in and out of amsterdam for business since Jan. I've really fell in love with the city and the culture and have since relocated from Melbourne to Amsterdam. I work for an investment firm handling commercial developments. My role is strategic planning.

Since I been in Amsterdam I have made some friends but they kinda felt more like acquaintances. So I guess what id really like is to find people who I can actually connect with, chill have a laugh etc.

Anyone finds or have found themselves in a similar situation?

Pengola wrote:

Hi my name is Nava i'm 26 and was previously flying in and out of amsterdam for business since Jan. I've really fell in love with the city and the culture and have since relocated from Melbourne to Amsterdam. I work for an investment firm handling commercial developments. My role is strategic planning.

Since I been in Amsterdam I have made some friends but they kinda felt more like acquaintances. So I guess what id really like is to find people who I can actually connect with, chill have a laugh etc.

Anyone finds or have found themselves in a similar situation?

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

You've probably discovered one of the Dutch cultural differences (at least in comparison with many English speaking countries).  My experience is that the closest groups in Holland are family; outside of that group, they tend to make friends at a young age and they are friends for life; my wife (Dutch) is still very close to her group of friends that they created over 40 years ago while at school - they even have a word for this kind of experience (Gezellig) which doesn't easily translate into English.  The bottom line is it is not easy to make real friends in Holland; acquaintances are fine and they are in the main, all very friendly and society works very well, but it isn't Australia and never will be.

Many non-Dutch people first experience Holland when they are young, free and single and very much enjoy the social scene, the bars, the openness, the "alles mag en alles kan" attitude of many Dutch people; I think you may have discovered the reality of Dutch life; that said, it's not a bad thing, I love it there.

And how you do this being sick but keep trying? Seems hard

Hi there,

I'm Walid, 34 yrs old. Recently moved from Algeria to NL as work assignment, workplace IJmuiden, looking desperately for a house in Haarlem... It's been 4 weeks since I arrived and could not find ... My wife and daughter a joining me begining September ... I'm currently living in IJmuiden which is not really exciting. Any hints or propositions will be most welcome !!
Cheers,
Walid

Hrmm i think you just need to find that one person you connect with really well tbh. Its always easier to expand your circle and get things done with you have a partner in crime

My boyfriend lives in Amsterdam and we're planning to be together next year. Im from the Philippines. How do I apply for an expat status

jrperena wrote:

My boyfriend lives in Amsterdam and we're planning to be together next year. Im from the Philippines. How do I apply for an expat status

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

You will have to go through the MVV procedure, this basically gives you a work visa and residency all in one.  Search through the Forum, there are many posts on the subject, plus lots of Philipino ladies who have gone before you; I'm sure they will offer their experiences; please keep any postings you make to the Forum in English, no problem with you using your own language in private, or direct messages.

If you have any specific questions, please come back to us.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

HI guys

Im Michelle.  29 years old from South Africa and looking to move over to the Netherlands.  I have an Uncle and Aunt that stay in Beverwijk, whom I visit frequently. 
I am currently busy with my Bcom Honours degree, majoring in Operations Management (will be completed in December 2018).  I also have a Bcom Business Management degree majoring in Marketing and Human resources Management. 

My work experience is all in retail, numerous different types of retail stores, from big brands in clothing to sports equipment.  I have 9 years experience as a Branch Manager (Store Manager) responsible for the running of the stores (in charge of everything, from receiving of stock to recruitment of staff to manning the till points)

I can speak minimal Dutch, so would have to learn Dutch, which I dont mind and am a fast learner.  I can at least understand quite a lot of Dutch. 

Based on the experience you guys have on the forum, how would I go about this process, applying for MVV, or would I be able to apply for a Highly skilled Migrant.

Not quite sure where to start

lee.michelle20 wrote:

HI guys

Im Michelle.  29 years old from South Africa and looking to move over to the Netherlands.

.............

Not quite sure where to start

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

Skilled Migrant has a minimum salary level that you have to be paid to qualify; these are detailed in the link below; the requirements are described on the Dutch government (IND) website; this link will take you there.

Dutch language skills are very important, especially in the areas you mention; without them, you're looking at multi-nationals that work in English, if that's your chosen path, then my advice would be to use Google to find the Agencies looking for people in your discipline, or perhaps LinkedIn.  Be prepared for rejection; the moment they realise you don't speak Dutch and aren't available for interview that afternoon, they will probably hang up on you; for the same reason, speculative CV's tend to end up in the bin.  The fact you claim to be a "fast-learner" will make people wonder why you haven't learnt to speak Dutch already.

Bottom line - if you were a Chemist, Engineer, IT professional, Chartered Accountant, you would probably walk into a job in Holland tomorrow, Holland is not short of Operations people, they excel at it themselves.  You have family there, don't be afraid to ask them for details of any friends, colleagues they may have who can help you.

If you have any further specific questions, please come back to us.

Cynic
Expat Team

Hellow : I am dentist fron Perú,  I have come to Holland for a summer course in Erasmus of Rotterdam, I am trying to apply for an internship in health research, I do not know if that is possible with a tourist visa.

Hello all,
My name is Tamara, I'm an architect with an international experience and I come from Serbia. My partner is a Dutchie so we are preparing for me to move to NL. I'm here to make contact and new friends! 🙂 And also to pick up all tips and tricks from people with similar experience, related to working and living in NL.
Groetjes voor alles!
Tamara

I am South African living in Zaandam, after some years of living in Amsterdam I thought its time for a small city. No bad at all! I am hoping to meet some people with knowledge in sustainable development and ecotourism.

Heyyyy! I am Lien from Belgium and now living Rotterdam. I am looking to meet new, fun and interesting people in the area and would love to discover new places in the city as I know there is so much to offer.

I speak Dutch, English, French aaaand a little Spanish.

Anyway, if you feel like chilling, grabbing a drink/coffee, going to the movies/festivals/gym or something else,... please message me!

Have a nice day! 

Lien

/

Hi!! Welcome!

lynehook wrote:

Hi!! Welcome!

LOL - hoi 'n hartilich welkom naar onse Forum.

I'll switch to English now before I get told off.

I assume you've made that series of posts in order to access the Message function of the forum?

As you're already living in Holland, I guess you don't need any help from us on how to do it, particularly as you came from Belgium, which is just a bus ride away.

Please feel free to contribute to any of the posts; lots of people need lots of help (even if it is only trying to navigate the MVV system).

Groetjes

Cynic
Expat Team

Hi All,

Thank you for the warm welcome!

I've been here in the Netherlands for 3 months with my husband, and so far it's the best decision I've made in my life.

As a young professional, I'm still trying to explore and expose myself with a different kind of fields. I am a graduate of Psychology and has 2 years experience in Human Resource Management. I have 2 years gap year as an aupair. And now, fortunately, recently found a job as Food and Beverage Employee at a 4-star hotel here in Rotterdam (and cleaning and babysitting jobs in between). It's a roller coaster ride, especially from the last 2 years, but I am learning a lot from it and would like to learn from you too to become professional and move forward to my career.

I am originally from the Philippines and when I arrived, everything was new and feels surreal. But everything went better at the end.

If you have questions about the process of MVV, I will try to answer you from me and my husband's experience.

I also have a question about Integration and NT2. If I should take both or I can choose 1?

And do you know a free dutch class around Rotterdam?

I'm also open to meet new fun and interesting people. I like traveling and exploring the Netherlands and other parts of Europe. Exchanging culture and foods is what I could offer. (As long as you are not picky though)

Looking forward to meeting you!

Pengola wrote:

Hi my name is Nava i'm 26 and was previously flying in and out of amsterdam for business since Jan. I've really fell in love with the city and the culture and have since relocated from Melbourne to Amsterdam. I work for an investment firm handling commercial developments. My role is strategic planning.

Since I been in Amsterdam I have made some friends but they kinda felt more like acquaintances. So I guess what id really like is to find people who I can actually connect with, chill have a laugh etc.

Anyone finds or have found themselves in a similar situation?

Hi Nava,

I feel the same as you I fell in love with the Netherlands too. And I'm always thinking "is it just me or this is the thing they called adulthood?".

Hope you find those people you're looking for.

I would invite you, but I'm from Rotterdam. If you lost your way here. Don't hesitate to let me know

lynehook wrote:

Heyyyy! I am Lien from Belgium and now living Rotterdam. I am looking to meet new, fun and interesting people in the area and would love to discover new places in the city as I know there is so much to offer.

I speak Dutch, English, French aaaand a little Spanish.

Anyway, if you feel like chilling, grabbing a drink/coffee, going to the movies/festivals/gym or something else,... please message me!

Have a nice day! 

Lien

Hi Lien,

I was an aupair in Brussels, and now living here in Rotterdam.
I like walking, biking and exploring different parts of Rotterdam. Maybe we could grab a drink/ watch movie some other time.