Immigration & the IND: Your 2026 Guide to Working in the Netherlands
For most internationals, the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service, the **IND** (*Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst*), is the gateway to living and working in the Netherlands. Understanding how it works, and which route fits your situation, saves time, money and stress. Here is a clear overview for 2026.
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Do you even need a permit?
It depends on your nationality:
EU/EEA and Swiss nationals can live and work in the Netherlands freely. No work or residence permit is required, though you should still register with your municipality and obtain a BSN (citizen service number).
Non-EU/EEA nationals generally need both the right to reside and the right to work. The most common professional route is the highly skilled migrant permit.
The highly skilled migrant route (kennismigrant)
This is the workhorse permit for international professionals. Its defining feature is that there is no labour market test of your skills. Instead, eligibility is driven almost entirely by salary and by your employer being a recognised IND sponsor.
Your employer must pay you at least the minimum gross monthly salary for your category. For applications in 2026, the thresholds (gross per month, excluding the 8% holiday allowance) are:
Aged 30 and over: €5,942 per month
Under 30: €4,357 per month
Reduced rate (e.g. straight after the orientation year): €3,122 per month
These figures are a hard floor. The IND does not negotiate on salary, and there is no appeal on salary grounds — if the contract falls short, the application is refused. Thresholds are indexed every January, so always check the latest amount before accepting an offer or extending a permit.
A separate route, the EU Blue Card, has its own (higher) salary requirement and requires a recognised higher-education degree. It can be the better fit for some profiles, particularly if mobility across the EU matters to you.
The recognised sponsor requirement
To hire a highly skilled migrant, your employer must be a recognised sponsor (*erkend referent*) registered with the IND. This matters to you as an applicant: if a company is not a recognised sponsor, it cannot sponsor your permit directly. Many smaller companies work with an Employer of Record or a sponsorship partner to bridge this gap.
From 2026, the rules around sponsorship and salary verification have tightened. Sponsors must now keep additional proof that the salary was actually paid into an account in the employee's own name — payslips alone are no longer enough. Wider reforms are also under discussion that would raise salary requirements and apply stricter checks to companies seeking recognised-sponsor status.
The orientation year (zoekjaar)
If you graduated from a Dutch university (or a qualifying institution abroad), the orientation year for highly educated persons gives you up to a year to find a job, attend interviews and build a network — while being legally allowed to work for any employer without a separate work permit. Transitioning directly from the orientation year to a highly skilled migrant permit unlocks the lower salary threshold, making it one of the most valuable and underused routes into the Dutch market.
Costs and timelines for 2026
IND fees rose by roughly 4.4% for 2026. As a guide, the application fee for a highly skilled migrant or EU Blue Card residence permit is €423 in 2026. Processing is often faster than people expect when the employer is a recognised sponsor and the file is complete, but missing documents are the most common cause of delay. Build in time for document legalisation and credential evaluation where required.
Bringing your family
Highly skilled migrants can usually bring a partner and children through family reunification. Partners of highly skilled migrants are generally free to work in the Netherlands without a separate work permit, which is a significant advantage for dual-career couples.
A few practical tips
Mind the dates. When changing employers, the salary threshold that applies is the one in force on your new contract's start date, not on the date you give notice.
Keep your registration current. Update your municipality and the IND when you move house.
Don't let permits lapse. Track expiry dates and start extensions well in advance.
How BlueStone helps
Immigration paperwork is unforgiving of small mistakes. BlueStone guides internationals and employers through IND procedures — from the first application to extensions and family reunification — to ensure the process is smooth and compliant. Just a heads-up: we're not a recruitment agency.
Found a Job in the Netherlands, but Your Employer Is Not a Recognised Sponsor? Please contact us.
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This article is for general information only and reflects rules and figures applicable in 2026. IND amounts change at least annually; always verify current thresholds at ind.nl. This is not legal advice.
