Non-EU Spouse of British. Eligible to work in Netherlands?

Hi All,

I have a job offer to work in the Netherlands, with a start date of no later than 1st of Feb. I would like to know if I am eligible to work over there?

I am a Non-EU national married to a British Citizen and living in the UK with an ILR status. My naturalisation application is under process. I know I wouldn't have this problem if I become a British citizen. However if I go through this route, I am unlikely to meet the 1st Feb deadline. If I move to the Netherlands with my wife, am I eligible to work straight away. I have a sinking feeling that I am not eligible based on the info here: http://eumovement.wordpress.com/directive-200438ec as my wife never worked in the Netherlands. I would be grateful if members can confirm either way and give me any other options that I can explore.

Thanks in advance.

It's fine if your wife goes with you; you can't go without her.

Does that mean I should be able to work, irrespective of whether my wife has a job in the Netherlands. I presume I will need to apply long term schengen visa?

Your wife can be self-sufficient based on your income. You will both need to have comprehensive sickness insurance to qualify for a residence permit beyond the initial 3 months visa that will be granted free as the spouse of a EU national.

As long as your wife is there with you, then technically you can work.

Note that you will not have any proof of your ability to work until you apply for a Residence Card in the NL.

This may or may not be a problem for your employer.

Thanks for the info. I guess I need to apply for the EVV visa through the Dutch embassy offices in the UK and once I arrive in Netherlands with my wife, apply for a Residence card. Do you know how long it takes to get the residence card once an application is made? If it takes too long, I should probably arm myself with all documentary evidence to prove that my employer is not breaking any law by employing me.

What is an EVV visa? It may not be needed.

What is your citizenship?

You should also think carefully about how to maintain your citizenship application. Specifically which address will you use when you are in the NL, and how will you deal with naturalization ceremony.

Sorry meant to say MVV, not EVV.

My nationality is Indian. I know my British citizenship application (made couple of months back) makes things complicated and don't like jeopardising it given that it took a long time to reach this stage (Student+HSMP+Tier1+ILR). But if push comes to shove, I will have put that at risk as I don't want to miss the the opportunity in NL·

You do not need a MVV. Absolutely not required, as you will be with your EU spouse. You only require it if an Dutch citizen requires it, and they do not.


You can establish your residence in the NL at any time. You could go tonight, and register tomorrow at the city, and then apply for a Residence Card on Monday. To apply for an RC, your EU spouse must be either working or be considered self-sufficient (and have medical insurance).

If you and your spouse have (not a fixed amount) £10,000 in the bank, that would be considered self-sufficient.

Your wife can also work: part time work is fine.

I disagree: an MVV is required, but under the same conditions as an EEA Family Permit for the UK (issued free of charge under an accelerated procedure, etc.). The Dutch border control will probably let you enter the country without visa, if you are travelling together and have your marriage certificate, but boarding a plane or ferry might prove difficult or impossible.

Also, there is no issue about CSI. Everyone living in the Netherlands is required to have CSI, including the "natives". And therefore EEA Nationals also need to have it, irrespective of how they are exercising treaty rights.

Getting a Residence Card is straightforward: you have to apply in person at an IND office, and you will get the CoA (Certificate of Application) on the same day as a sticker in your passport confirming your right to work.
There is a fee for this application (about 50 euros I think), as Dutch nationals also have to pay something like that for their mandatory ID cards.

fysicus wrote:I disagree: an MVV is required, but under the same conditions as an EEA Family Permit for the UK (issued free of charge under an accelerated procedure, etc.). The Dutch border control will probably let you enter the country without visa, if you are travelling together and have your marriage certificate, but boarding a plane or ferry might prove difficult or impossible.

Can you provide a link to anything definitive that says this? When did this change? I think your wrong, but feel free to convince us.

If you use the residence wizard at IND

My situation: I want to come to the Netherlands.
What conditions must you meet? And what documents do you need? This depends on your specific situation.

Please note. If you are not an EU/EEA national but your family member is, please select the nationality of your partner under "Which nationality?"

Note that the border guards are required to admit the family member of an EU citizen who has proof the of relationship (marriage certificate) and is travelling with the EU citizen. That applies also to NL!

emmigrator123 wrote: My nationality is Indian. I know my British citizenship application (made couple of months back) makes things complicated and don't like jeopardising it given that it took a long time to reach this stage (Student+HSMP+Tier1+ILR). But if push comes to shove, I will have put that at risk as I don't want to miss the the opportunity in NL·

If you are the spouse of a British citizen then the future intentions (to live in the U.K.) requirement does not apply to you and it may not affect your naturalisation application. You should be able to have your citizenship ceremony at the British Embassy in the Netherlands or elsewhere on the continent.

However, changing address/process always carries a risk that the process will go wrong, file lost, etc, and if for some reason your application was refused, it would not always be feasible to reapply if you had left the U.K.

Thanks All for the info so far. That's great to know JAJ, regards to the future intentions. A cursory googling suggests that you might well be right. I will look further in to this and might set up a royal mail redirection so that I won't have to inform change of address to UKBA.

I called the Dutch embassy and spoke to two people. Both of them think that the company in NL needs to apply for a work permit on my behalf and I will need an MVV visa. When I mentioned about "Directive/2004/38/EC" one of them asked me to email which I did. Now I am awaiting their reply. In the meantime I found this link http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/ ... 152_en.htm which according to me suggests that I am eligible to work in the NL without my company applying for a work permit

"Family members, irrespective of their nationality, will be entitled to engage in economic activity on an employed or self-employed basis."

Does any one have any other links which could be helpful for me.

Study this

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/Lex ... 123:en:PDF

It is never required for the employer to apply for any work permit: for either the EU citizen or for their accompanying married spouse.

I got the reply from the embassy and they say that I need a work permit. Also, the following link mentions that I am not eligible to work unless my employer gets a work permit. Now I am confused!

http://english.ind.nl/nieuws/2011/non-e ... ermit.aspx

The text from the link is:

"Non-EU family members of EU citizens who perform transfrontier work obliged to have a work permit

News item | 13-04-2011

Since 1 January 2011, non-EU family members of a citizen of the Union who, on the grounds of EU law, reside in a different Member State (which may or may not border the Netherlands) may only perform work in the Netherlands if the employer has a valid work permit, unless the Foreign Nationals (Employment) Act [Wet arbeid vreemdelingen] determines otherwise. For example, a Russian woman who lives in Antwerp with her German husband on the grounds of EU law may only work in the Netherlands if her employer has a work permit (TWV).

However, the same does not apply to family members who were resident in a different Member State immediately prior to 1 January 2011 on the grounds of EU law and who performed work in the Netherlands, with this situation continuing from 1 January 2011 onwards. These family members may continue their work until 1 January 2012 without their employer having to have a valid work permit. From 1 January 2012 onwards, however, the work permit obligation will also apply to them. If you would like more information on this issue, please call 0900-1234561 (€ 0.10 per minute plus the costs of using your mobile telephone). If you are calling from abroad, you should call +31 20 8893045."

emmigrator123 wrote:I got the reply from the embassy and they say that I need a work permit. Also, the following link mentions that I am not eligible to work unless my employer gets a work permit. Now I am confused!

What exactly did you say in your email to them?

If you and the EU citizen are moving together to the Netherlands, then none of what they sent you is correct or relevant. They are very ignorant or you did not describe your situation very clearly to them.

This is my email:

I am an Indian national living in the United Kingdom with Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), which gives me a permanent residency status in the UK. I am married to a British national and we both would like to move to the Netherlands so that I can take up a job offer with a Netherlands based company.

My questions are:

1) As I will be moving to the Netherlands with my British wife and we both will be living together (my wife doesn't intend to work initially), I understand that I or my employer DO NOT need to apply for a work-permit on my behalf. If this is not true, can you please let me know what process should I undergo.

2) Do I need to apply for any visa to travel with my wife to the Netherlands to take up my job?

And their response

As you are not an EU-national your future employer might need to apply for a work permit.
Family members of an EU national residing/or moving to the Netherlands do not need to apply for an authorization for temporary stay (mvv) beforehand. They can apply for their residence permit in the Netherlands. However they do need to apply for a visa to enter the Netherlands. We assume these rules also apply when the EU-national is not taking up employment, but the non-EU national. However, to be on the safe side, please enquire at the IND.

Incidentally Directive/2004/38/EC, I came across one of your posts http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... d9bccce3db where you mentioned about http://english.ind.nl/nieuws/2011/non-e ... ermit.aspx Do you have any more info on that. I tried to call the number +31 20 8893045 from that link, but the automated voice is in Dutch which I don't understand.

In my earlier post I didn't copy the last line from the dutch embassy email which is "Another useful website is www.ind.nl"

As you are not an EU-national your future employer might need to apply for a work permit. [When?]

Family members of an EU national residing/or moving to the Netherlands do not need to apply for an authorization for temporary stay (mvv) beforehand. They can apply for their residence permit in the Netherlands. However they do need to apply for a visa to enter the Netherlands. [Since you are Indian, this is technically true, but in fact the visa is effectively optional]

We assume these rules also apply when the EU-national is not taking up employment, but the non-EU national. However, to be on the safe side, please enquire at the IND. [Nice that they are in fact being honest and not just making something up!]

This excerpt itself seems straight forward and technically correct, though a little naive on their part.

Interesting that they then sent the link to you. That link is of relevance only if you and your EU spouse move to, for example, Germany or Belgium, but you (the non-EU) want to then take a job in the Netherlands. Note that your EU spouse would not in this case be resident in the Netherlands, and so they will want you to get a work visa.

The link has no relevance if you both move to and live in the Netherlands

I came to this forum with two concerns. Thanks to all of your responses, now I am less concerned and I am certain that I am eligible to move and work in NL and at the same time would not be risking my British citizenship application much.

After speaking to IND (who confirmed what I have come to know from this forum), I emailed the dutch embassy so they are aware of Directive 2004/38/EC regarding Non-EU familiy members' employment rights.

I have decided to apply for a schengen visa and once in NL will apply for Residence Permit. Does anyone know if the RP allows me to travel to NL after the schenge visa expires and if it does, would I be restricted to travel with my wife.

emmigrator123 wrote:I came to this forum with two concerns. Thanks to all of your responses, now I am less concerned and I am certain that I am eligible to move and work in NL and at the same time would not be risking my British citizenship application much.

After speaking to IND (who confirmed what I have come to know from this forum), I emailed the dutch embassy so they are aware of Directive 2004/38/EC regarding Non-EU familiy members' employment rights.

I have decided to apply for a schengen visa and once in NL will apply for Residence Permit. Does anyone know if the RP allows me to travel to NL after the schenge visa expires and if it does, would I be restricted to travel with my wife.

If you mean the Dutch residence permit, that actually replaces your Schengen visa. I remember they used to be just like visa stickers in the passport. They might be a separate card now, but in any case they do allow you to enter/exit Schengen area for the period of RP validity.

Family members of EU citizens get a Residence Card. It is distinctly named because there is no permission involved.

Hi there,

I am the similar question, I am a non eu spouse of a British citizen, I recently have chance to work in netherlands, I thought I would have right to work in Netherlands with no restriction, however, I looked this post, and follow the link of ind.nl , it seems that theres income requirement that has to be met, my question is, does my british husband can work without resident card in three months? can i work without resident card? when we apply the resident card, can my job offer counts into the income threshold?


thanks

Elsa

elsasl wrote:I am the similar question, I am a non eu spouse of a British citizen, I recently have chance to work in netherlands, I thought I would have right to work in Netherlands with no restriction, however, I looked this post, and follow the link of ind.nl , it seems that theres income requirement that has to be met, my question is, does my british husband can work without resident card in three months? can i work without resident card? when we apply the resident card, can my job offer counts into the income threshold?

If your husband is with you in the Netherlands, and is either self sufficient or is working, then you can work without restriction. There is no minimum income requirement.

If you see different information, please include a full link to the material