What are the requirements for a highly skilled migrant permit?
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Detailed explanation, checklist and sources
Your IND-recognised employer applies. Besides salary and contract, check permission to start work, employer changes and the job-search period after unemployment.
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1. Check employer and role
You need an employment contract with an IND-recognised sponsoring employer or research institution in the Netherlands. Check the public IND register and general residence conditions. A high qualification or salary alone is insufficient. Transfer from an employer outside the EU as manager, specialist or trainee may instead fall under the separate ICT rules. Different rules may apply to Turkish nationals and their families.
2. Assess the salary category
Salary must meet both the applicable IND threshold and the market rate. Check under-30/30-plus category, first application, extension or employer change and any reduced orientation-year criterion in the current table. On changing employers use the threshold at the new employment start; turning 30 and earlier changes can affect the category. Reduced salary may apply during an orientation year or under specific three-year conditions after a previous orientation year or without one if eligible. Fixed contractual allowances count only subject to conditions and monthly payment into your account; holiday pay, benefits in kind and uncertain overtime do not.
3. Check special professions
Researchers and doctors in training have a separate income category. Researchers need an appointment/contract stating the UFO title and code; doctors in training need recognised RGS training and BIG registration. Regulated healthcare work requires the appropriate BIG registration. A recognised foreign diploma with three months' supervision may require conditional registration. Merely acting under a BIG professional's instructions does not obtain this permit for reserved procedures without your own required registration.
4. Let the employer apply
The recognised employer applies through Portaal Zakelijk or paper form 7011 and pays current fees by direct debit. Use its document list; legalise/translate official foreign documents where required into Dutch, English, French or German. MVV requirement/exemption determines the route; if required the employer applies for MVV and residence together. For the applicable no-MVV route when already in the Netherlands, IND states application within three months after entry. If online purpose-change submission is unavailable, use paper and keep proof.
5. Track the decision period
Normally 90 days applies; a first work application may receive a reasoned 30-day extension. A complete change from employment, Blue Card, work experience, research under 2016/801 or non-privileged military/civilian service may have 45 days, exceptionally extended by 15. Notification of employer change with a valid highly skilled permit also has the special 45-day route. IND states work for the new employer for the remaining current permit validity only after no decision within the full applicable period; first verify completeness, extension and start rights. A simultaneous permit extension has a separate 90-day period. Follow the receipt and Mijn IND, not a generic timing promise.
6. Start only with work permission
A first application alone does not allow work. A positive decision explicitly allowing an early start permits work from its stated date before the card arrives; book biometrics/collection promptly and within two weeks after the employer receives it. For a filed extension, IND describes continued highly skilled work using the expired card; obtain an endorsement if needed. The permit allows highly skilled employment and additional self-employment; other paid employment requires TWV. Exclusively self-employed work needs another purpose. After five years' work, other employment without TWV requires the correct unrestricted-work endorsement first; arrange replacement or extension according to remaining validity.
7. Act promptly after job loss
Record the contract end and report the change. Job-search time starts when the contract stops: at most three months and never beyond card expiry. Current IND guidance provides up to six months if unemployment began on/after 22 May 2026 and you have held this permit at least two years, or have experienced labour exploitation. Before that date, at most three months applies. Have the category and end date confirmed. Without timely registration of a suitable new employer, IND may withdraw the permit; the search period is not unrestricted permission to work.
8. Arrange card, duties and next steps
The permit follows the contract/appointment duration, up to five years. For MVV make a sticker appointment within three months after the decision; passport valid six months at placement, MVV valid 90 days. Collect the card by appointment after notification and complete promised TB screening within three months after grant. You have an information duty; the employer also recordkeeping and care duties. Arrange extension through the employer before expiry. Following refusal/withdrawal check remedy and deadline immediately; five years does not automatically grant permanent residence.
Do I always get six months to find another job?
No. The six-month route depends on the unemployment date and IND conditions on two years with the permit or labour exploitation. It also ends no later than permit expiry. Have your own end date checked.
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IND · Kennismigrant ↗IND · Inkomenseisen normbedragen ↗IND · Beslistermijnen ↗Sources may be in Dutch. General information about Dutch law, not individual legal advice.