Starting work before IND appointment (highly skilled migrant visa)

Hi there,

I am a British national who is joining a Dutch company in Amsterdam on 25th July. My company is sponsoring for a Highly Skilled visa, however there is a very long wait time for appointments at IND to collect my work permit.

As I understand it, assuming my application is submitted today, I should receive approval from IND within~2/3 weeks. Once I have this approval, it is simply a case of making an appointment with IND to collect the permit which can be done at any point once you receive the approval.

Due to the long wait times to get an appointment, am I right in thinking that I cannot start working in Amsterdam for my Dutch employer until I physically have this permit in my hands? (regardless of the fact that my visa is approved).

As an alternative, once I receive IND approval (2/3 weeks after submission of docs), could I legally work remotelyfrom the UK for my Dutch employer ( on Dutch payroll) whilst I wait for the appointment in Amsterdam?

If the answer is no, is the only option to delay my contract start date? (and therefore effectively be unemployed until the 8 week lead time for an appointment is fulfilled)

Thanks,
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Hi and welcome to the Forum.

The IND normally take 90 days to turn around an individual residency/work permit - these are the published criteria after which you begin to ask questions/appeal; this is normally much reduced for the Highly Skilled visas as they cut out 2 of the Dutch Government departmental checks and we've heard of such visas getting turned around in days, not weeks.  So, something is not right in either the IND or the terminology you are using to describe your situation.  It could be delayed by the IND if they are short of staff - it's paperwork, but I hadn't heard of this up until now for the HSV.

I suspect you are talking about registering with the Gemeente and getting your BSN number; you can't do anything (open a bank account, register with a doctor, get health insurance, register a car etc) in the Netherlands without a BSN; I have heard of appointments at the Gemeente taking a long time (still badly affected by staff working at home ex Covid).

I suggest you discuss with your employer how they will take you on the payroll and pay your taxes and health insurance without a BSN number.  With regards to your alternative option, if you have never lived in the Netherlands and are living in the UK, you will not have been issued a BSN number as you will not be resident in the Netherlands.  I've heard that it can be arranged by your employer speaking to the Belastingdienst and with their agreement, they will put you on an emergency tax code - the downside of that is it won't get resolved until the end of the tax year when they do a reconciliation; I suspect this will get very messy if you were hoping to get the tax rebates sometimes associated with Highly Skilled migrant visas.

I hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team
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Hi Cynic,


Thank you for such a quick response! So I think it is likely my terminology that is confusing things...so my apologies.

The information I have been given from the immigration company helping with my visa is as follows:

Securing this type of residence permit with work authorisation requires the following steps:
1. Gathering documents and filing application
2. Once the required documents are received, we will file the application with the Dutch Immigration Authorities (“IND”).
3. Application processing and approval – approximately 4 - 6 weeks from date of filing.
Once the application has been filed, you can stay in the Netherlands pending the application.I am unsure if this means I can only live in Netherlands, or live AND work...
4. Visit immigration office to collect residence endorsement sticker or residence permit card.
If your employer makes use of the Expatcenters in the Netherlands, we will book the town hall appointment simultaneously.
5. Work lawfully in the Netherlands after the appointment with the Immigration office, and per the start date in your employment agreement.This is where I get confused, as this suggests I cannot work lawfully until I have had this appointment.
6. Collect the residence permit card approximately one week after submission of bio-metric data.
Schedule an appointment with town hall for your municipal registration. This I believe is the appointment you are referring to where I get my BSN etc. which seems to be different to the one above where I get my residence sticker or card.

I hope this helps clarify my situation.

Ultimately I am looking to understand at what point in the process I am able to work for a Dutch company, is it when my visa is approved (i.e. 2-4 weeks after submission of application)? or is it once I have collected my card/sticker? or is it once I have a BSN? and is the answer to this different if I choose to start remotely? (or does it not matter)

I am trying to avoid signing up for a flat for start of August, knowing I can live there but not being able to work until September.

Again, appreciate any help and thank you!

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Hi Welshie,

I just went through this exact process.

I was told my the lawyer working for my company that I could not start working until I had the residence permit in my hand. I actually had to get a temporary one (a sticker in my passport) because it takes a few weeks after it had been issued for them to make the physical card and then you have to book an appointment to collect it. Your first few weeks in NL will just be making appointments 🤣 but none of it is too complicated.

BUT when I actually did this I was told by the staff at the Expat Centre that I could have worked legally with just the visa approval letter, as this demonstrates it has been granted.

If you want to confirm I would call the expat centre (there is one in Amsterdam). The information online is patchy but on the phone they were super helpful (or at least the one in Rotterdam was).

P.S
To Cynic, that is just not the case. Probably because of Brexit but highly skilled migrant visas are not being turned around that quickly at the moment. Plus even at the Expat centre waits for appointments are very long.
Like
Hi again.

I agree with the Immigration Company in as much as I can follow what they are saying.  Where they often get it wrong is in their poor explanation to their clients of what that actually means to you, as appears to be the case here.

I can tell you why this is happening, but there is no official (in writing) reference I can point you to.  The issue will be around your lack of Gemeente registration.  It used to be that every Gemeente office had an IND desk co-located and you could walk from one to the other and get it all done in 30 minutes.  However, having a significant number of asylum seekers descend on mainland Europe a few years ago, meant they closed many of the IND desks in order to create IND application centres to help these people and then restructured what was left into regional "Expat Centres" and "Desks" offices; this link will tell you where they are and what services they provide.

To answer your specific question, yes you can live, no you can't work until you get your BSN, or at least that's how it used to be before Covid.  Now, anything that involves a piece of paper means a person needs to interface with you to check, and ask questions; staff shortages from Covid are still an everyday occurrence.  Staff working from home mean they can't check pieces of paper.  You see similar stories here in the UK at DVLA, the Passport Office etc, except here they try and blame Brexit.  Anyway, as I said, I've heard of people getting around this, but like all such arrangements, nothing is in writing, so get your new Employer to ask questions to this Immigration Company, they will be paying them a lot of money to come up with solutions to this.  Give them your situation, and ask them if it's legal, if it's not what can they do to facilitate you starting work on whatever date.

You mention you don't want to rent a flat without having a salary, well, tbh, I'll be surprised if anyone will give you a rental contract without BSN because, without it, you can't open a bank account and set up a direct debit for your landlord to help himself to his rent every month.

Hope this helps, although I suspect it hasn't.

Cynic
Expat Team
Like
Hi Welshie,

I just went through this exact process.

I was told my the lawyer working for my company that I could not start working until I had the residence permit in my hand. I actually had to get a temporary one (a sticker in my passport) because it takes a few weeks after it had been issued for them to make the physical card and then you have to book an appointment to collect it. Your first few weeks in NL will just be making appointments 🤣 but none of it is too complicated.

BUT when I actually did this I was told by the staff at the Expat Centre that I could have worked legally with just the visa approval letter, as this demonstrates it has been granted.

If you want to confirm I would call the expat centre (there is one in Amsterdam). The information online is patchy but on the phone they were super helpful (or at least the one in Rotterdam was).

P.S
To Cynic, that is just not the case. Probably because of Brexit but highly skilled migrant visas are not being turned around that quickly at the moment. Plus even at the Expat centre waits for appointments are very long.
- @ZachB

Your lawyer will have told you what the law/rules say; the fact that the IND told you differently is indicative that they are working around the rules is good news and I hope someone somewhere will publish something so that people know what can be done.  The rules still say you can't do what you said you did.
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@ZachB

Thanks for the info! Really helpful. Out of interest, how long did it take for your visa approval letter to come through? I am being told up to 4 weeks currently but my fear is it might be longer...
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@Welshie123
No worries, so many little bits that no one seemed to know the answer to.

I'm not sure the exact date as my company also had to apply the the accreditation to sponsor my visa and this part took the longest. But I think once this was done from application to approve letter wasn't too bad. Maybe 1-2 weeks, but then the appointments that you need for the next parts (first to give your biometrics, then collect residence permit) all take weeks.
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@Welshie123

Hi thank  i am waiting for a job in your company thank good luck.....

Like
Concerning the BSN number, it is possible to get a temporary, delays are very shorter and it is valable four months. That gives the time to get an appointment for the permanent BSN.
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@Welshie123

Hi thank  i am waiting for a job in your company thank good luck.....

- @damith Wanniarachchi
Hello,

What are you qualifications? You must be very high-skilled (minimum Master) or be in a very rare area which do not find employee.
Like
@ZachB

Thanks for the info! Really helpful. Out of interest, how long did it take for your visa approval letter to come through? I am being told up to 4 weeks currently but my fear is it might be longer...
- @Welshie123

Hi Welshie! Welcome to the Netherlands!

As soon as you receive the letter, you're good to go. If you've installed the BerichtenBox app, as soon as the generate the letter to mail it, you can read it online and print if need be. Your employer will also receive notification and I'm sure they'll get you working as soon as it's legit so follow their lead.

I was recently discussing a position with a Dutch company and one of the options was the HSMV and they said they're getting responses in 2-3 weeks at times and 2-3 days, it just depends on the work load backlog because of how the IND has structured the application process and seasonal staffing issues (holidays, etc.)
Like

@Welshie123


hi, just to check the latest status in order to get some info.


is your application got approved by IND? How long it look? HSM?


thanks

Like

@ZachB
Thanks for the info! Really helpful. Out of interest, how long did it take for your visa approval letter to come through? I am being told up to 4 weeks currently but my fear is it might be longer... - @Welshie123

Hi Welshie! Welcome to the Netherlands!
As soon as you receive the letter, you're good to go. If you've installed the BerichtenBox app, as soon as the generate the letter to mail it, you can read it online and print if need be. Your employer will also receive notification and I'm sure they'll get you working as soon as it's legit so follow their lead.
I was recently discussing a position with a Dutch company and one of the options was the HSMV and they said they're getting responses in 2-3 weeks at times and 2-3 days, it just depends on the work load backlog because of how the IND has structured the application process and seasonal staffing issues (holidays, etc.)
-@Guest7892


hi, do you know how long currently IND is taking for HSM decision?

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