New members of the Netherlands forum, introduce yourselves here – June to December 2017

Hi

My name is Lucky I'm 21 years old and I'm from South Africa in Kwa Zulu Natal....I'm currently doing my second year of college, in Movie Technology....I'm planning to move to the Netherlands as soon as I graduate which is next year(2018). I have a partner she is from the Nerthelands and I'm gonna move in with her...I'd like somebody to help me as to how to go about applying for your visa and permits, I know you have to write an exam about the Netherlands in Pretoria, at least that's what I found out on the internet....but basically if there is anyone who has been through the similar process or who knows how to go about applying....your help would be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards
Lucky

Hello, Im Lei from Bacolod City Philippines.  I'm planning to move to Volendam someday.But I'm processing my tourist visa atm.After my tourest were planning to take MVV visa. I join here  to have more knowledge  and to make it easier for me  in the future to process my papers.  And also to find a friend who's leaving in Volendam. 
I'm so glad I join your expat group,  Just reading your experiences, it helps me more understand how does it goes. 
Good luck to us all for our new journey 😉

Greetings!

Hi,

I'm Diana from Cebu, Philippines and currently living here in Deventer for a year. It would be perfect to meet and find new comrades, specifically fellow Filipino women. Nonetheless, I would also be ecstatic to gain new friends aside from my countrymen. It's utterly hard to establish and discover new people since this is a different country, as well as the culture.

I find this group pretty much interesting and I do hope to meet great people here.

Have a great day, guys!

Tot ziens

Hi,

I'm (half) Dutch and reside in the Netherlands but have been living all across Europe for most of my life. Moving to so many locations and so often, I accrued a lot of experience in being an expat.

Rich of this experience, I founded Intercultural Business Solutions in 2015 aimed at helping individuals and businesses to bridge gaps across cultures.

I subscribed to Expat.com hoping to provide help and opportunities to fellow expats.

Hope to talk to you soon.

All the best,

Michele

Intercultural Business Solutions wrote:

Hi,

I'm (half) Dutch and reside in the Netherlands but have been living all across Europe for most of my life. Moving to so many locations and so often, I accrued a lot of experience in being an expat.

Rich of this experience, I founded Intercultural Business Solutions in 2015 aimed at helping individuals and businesses to bridge gaps across cultures.

I subscribed to Expat.com hoping to provide help and opportunities to fellow expats.

Hope to talk to you soon.

All the best,

Michele

Hi Michele and welcome to the Forum.

Some good posts, looking forward to seeing more.

Cynic
Expat Team

HI , I am Farabi, Indonesian National  just move from VAE to  Amersfoort .  Nice to meet  all of you  here in this forum.

Hi Everyone,

I'm Ali from Trinidad and Tobago, a twin island country located the Caribbean. I'll be moving to Breda, Netherlands at the end of August to start a Masters degree.

I'm really looking forward to it, as this would be the first time I'm living outside of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). Moving to the Netherlands would be a huge change in many ways – climate, time zone, population size (T&T only has about 1.35 million people), customs, etc.

I would like to learn as much as I can before my move – which is why I joined Expat.com – and it would be lovely to meet new friends in the process 

Wishing you all a wonderful day.

Ali

Greetings,
My name is Alberto,
I am living in the netherlands for quite a while now. I am Italian.
What I do? Well, since the birth of my first son I gave up work and stayed home for him.. and than I had a second one!I love my new job; is a 24/7/365 type of job with no breaks or lunch time as you know it (unless you do the same as me). I believe is the best job ever. And once you try it, you start asking too many questions why...
Originally I am in IT (and still like it). I love to scuba dive, travelling other continents, meeting new people and enjoy life.
What I am looking for here?
Well... My father-ship at 100% of my time will soon be over. I will soon need to find a job.
Mean while, I am renting my own place in the center of amsterdam and I am always looking for new tenants when one leaves.
In july 2017 my apartment will be free again and I would like to offer a rantable apartment in the amsterdam center for medium to long term.

I am also open to help you understand how is living in amsterdam.
Bye

Ciao Roberto, benvenuto 

You can post your house offer in the housing section above the page where you can provide more details and you'll get better views than here on the introduction thread😉

Hello!

My name is Mark.  I am in the process of working through a 12 month plan of moving to Amsterdam with my wife and husky. I'm a software engineer that primarily works remotely. Ideally, I'd like to find something steady in the tech space in or near Amsterdam as a safety net.  We're working through the process of launching a software development and cloud consulting business here in the US in hopes of accumulating clients before the move. 

The greatest obstacle standing between me and Amsterdam is my existing house and mortgage. My wife and I are trying to determine if we should simply sell the property, rent it out, or airbnb it.

We'll be on holiday in Amsterdam in September and plan to take that opportunity to determine an ideal area to rent an apartment.

Any advice, insights, or comments are greatly appreciated!

Hi, my name is Anna and I am from Moscow. Currently I live in Amsterdam which is a beautiful city. Luckily I live with the really nice view on the IJ-river. I am here to browse for information and maybe meet some new friends

I work in the painting industry for a large producer of paint related raw materials.

Hope to talk soon

Greetings all

Australian born lived in many cites across Europe, just arrived in Amsterdam 10days ago to start a new job, and going through the pains of setting up, finding my way around a new city, etc, etc.

Hoping to meet some like minded people I can call upon for a coffee, drink or whatever when the occasion rises :-)

Cheers
Dushi

Hi, I am from Viet Nam, used to work for a Reuters' news bureau. I am now holding a wish to move to the Netherlands to live, as my sister is going to live there in this October and she said the country is so great.
I am trying to find out more information about the procedures and requirements for a non-EU citizen to be allowed to settle down in the Netherlands legally. I am thinking of attending a master course in my or my spouse's specialization so that we can be qualified for a job there.
We certainly will have many questions to ask and hope that your kind answers will help us achieve our goal.
Thank you very much and wish you all a nice day (it's nearly midnight here).

Hi,
My name is Jan. We're in the middle of the relocation process from Cambodia to the Netherlands.
About three weeks back my wife came up with the idea to move to the Netherlands instead of Germany, so here we are!! First night in Vaals tonight - staying with friends until we've sorted out the housing.

Hi,
My name is George and i am a Romanian citizen working in Rotterdam.
I have worked in many places around the word and find that Netherlands it's an amazing country to live and work. In this moment i am looking for new friends, new experience.
I would like to join a expat group and spend some quality time talking, dancing and laughing.

Hi!

Just arrived also here alone some weeks ago and currently looking for new interesting people to meet with :-)

see you maybe soon!

Hi! My name is Stephanie, I am a wife and mother of 4 currently in the USA but will be relocating to Europe, very likely Amsterdam in Jan of this coming year. Im hoping to meet some fellow expats in the area and gather as much information as possible to make this transition as smooth and painless as possible!

Hi, I am planning to move to Rotterdam as soon as possible!

But most likely going to be November/December at the earliest, target is by March 2018 latest.

I want to learn Dutch (and have started already) and I am looking for a place to live in Leuvehaven, Coolhaven or in the Witte de Withstraat area.

I will split my work between London and Amsterdam initially.

I'm a massive Awakenings fan, go to ADE each year and visit Rotterdam at least twice a year already.

I am interested in finding out as much as possible about cultural formalities and the process of living/working in Holland - and anything else that is generally useful to know/learn and understand in advance.

stellaobe wrote:

Hi, I am planning to move to Rotterdam as soon as possible!

.....

I am interested in finding out as much as possible about cultural formalities and the process of living/working in Holland - and anything else that is generally useful to know/learn and understand in advance.

Hi Stella and welcome to the Forum.

At the top of the page is our Handy Tools link, this will give you access to our Expat Guides, they contain lots of information you may find useful in planning your journey.

Once you've read them and other posts in this Forum, if you have any further specific questions, please come back to us.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Fab I will do that, thank you

Hello everyone,

I'm Andrea and I am from Trinidad & Tobago, I'm 27 years old and my boyfriend and I have been discussing moving to Europe, particular the Netherlands since I've fallen in love with the culture and I think generally we'd adapt nicely to the customs and life here.

Honestly I am a bit overwhelmed by the idea of moving to a new country but I have been doing a lot of reading and researching. I currently work in HR (and hold a degree) but I'm unsure how possible it would be to get a job in this field given that European standards/laws are different but most principles of the field should remain the same. I don't speak Dutch but of course I'm looking forward to learning.

I'm open to tips and advice, and will be reading through the forum for info.

Hi from England,

I am a 23 year old male. I was born in the United Kingdom but wish for adventure and to broaden my CV. I do not have family or even friends in the Netherlands. However I do have acquaintances from work well not even acquaintances really.

Let me explain, for over 3 years now I have worked in the flower industry. Mainly in wholesale, so I have a wide range of knowledge on flowers, so Holland seemed like the best choice. I do not have a lot of other qualifications, I did get all my grades in school but did not attend university. However my passion to learn is huge and I would only be looking to spend a short time in holland at first like I said to broaden my CV and for new experience.

Can anybody tell me on how to go about this? I mean as I said I obviously speak to Dutch nationals already due to buying flowers from holland. But really I'd be on my own, I'm just seeing if there is that sort of work available and if accommodation would be available?

Sensible replies only please guys!
Thank you in advance

DreaKin wrote:

Hello everyone,

I'm Andrea and I am from Trinidad & Tobago, .... how possible it would be to get a job in this field given that European standards/laws are different but most principles of the field should remain the same. I don't speak Dutch but of course I'm looking forward to learning.

I'm open to tips and advice, and will be reading through the forum for info.

Hi Andrea and welcome to the Forum.

At the top of the page is our Handy Tools link, if you select that, you can choose our Expat Guides, these contain information you may find useful in planning your journey.

With regards to working.  As non-EU citizen's, you don't have the right to live and work in Holland, so your ability to get a visa to will be very much linked to your ability find a job.  You basically need to find a job that will sponsor your move to Holland, you then get the visa as part of that process; this link will take you straight to the Dutch Government website that goes through the process.

To find a well-paid job anywhere, I always put it like this, you need 4 things:

  Relevant experience
  Relevant qualifications
  Speak the local language
  Luck

The more of those you can tick off, the more chance you have.  I don't think HR is a regulated profession in Holland, so your degree may be of some value.  My advice is to speak to NUFFIC, they are the Dutch organisation that deals with the recognition of foreign qualifications; this link will take you to their website.  Alternatively, you could simply use Google to find the Agencies (Uitzendbureau's) that are looking for people in your line of work; who knows, you may strike it lucky and find an English speaking company (there are multi-nationals in Holland that work in English).

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

Cynic
Expat Team

Matthew2311 wrote:

Hi from England,

I am a 23 year old male. I was born in the United Kingdom but wish for adventure and to broaden my CV. I do not have family or even friends in the Netherlands. However I do have acquaintances from work well not even acquaintances really.

....

I would only be looking to spend a short time in holland at first like I said to broaden my CV and for new experience.

Can anybody tell me on how to go about this? I mean as I said I obviously speak to Dutch nationals already due to buying flowers from holland. But really I'd be on my own, I'm just seeing if there is that sort of work available and if accommodation would be available?

Sensible replies only please guys!
Thank you in advance

Hi Matthew and welcome to the Forum.

My advice (based on my daughters experience of trying to do exactly what you're asking about), is to ask your Dutch colleagues for the contact details of their HR department and ask them - they will tell you if they are hiring and whether they'll take an Englishman that can't speak Dutch.  I don't know about the accommodation, my daughters enquiry never got that far.

Word of warning, Brexit is really causing issues here and 12-months ago, they weren't hiring - they had plenty of cheap labour to choose from, to the extent that my daughter ended up working in a completely different market sector; all other things being equal, the significant difference between you and her is that she speaks Dutch fluently, albeit with a funny Yorkshire accent).

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Hi

My husband and I have just moved to The Hague from South Africa with our 2 year old son. We are settling in well and everyone seems very helpful.

It would be great to meet other moms and families with children, and find out more about their experience in the Netherlands, and possibly some tips and advice about play schools etc.

Liza

Hi All,

I've recently moved to Rotterdam from UK on work assignment. Originally from India and travellor/explorer by nature. Like to meet new people and share life experiences, learn new skills, cherish new cultures & love adventure sports/activities.

Welcoming like minded people to reach out, meet up & celebrate the expat community.

cheers !!
Pushpak

Hi everybody,

I'm a 23 years old french guy who moved to Hilversum, between Amsterdam and Utrecht, alone 2 months ago. Now that I am settled, I want to discover this country, have fun and share this with new interesting people.

Don't hesitate to contact me with any project/idea or just to grab a drink.

Ben

Hi guys,

I'm a 25 years old UX Designer and frontend developer portuguese girl! I moved to the Netherlands last year and now I'm living in Amsterdam.

With a lot of struggles in the meantime but I'm enjoying it so far.

Having a dutch boyfriend helps with a lot of things but I would like to meet new friends to share great moments with and create a good circle of awesome people to feel at home

I love to talk about interesting topics, you get my attention with a lot of different subjects! 

Coffee and wine lover
Gym freak
Surfing noob
Like to watch a good football game (BENFICA!)
Curious about new places, food...
Goofy dance expert
And... a bit geek 

Nice to meet you all,
Cheers!

Hi everybody,

We are a French couple living in Singapore (since 2009) and we are moving to Haarlem with our 2 boys (18 months and 4 years) in October.
We love traveling and have explored many places in Asia, now it is time to discover Europe a bit more... We would love to meet other families with young children once we settle in the Netherlands!

Cheers

Hi,

I lived in Central Asia for a long time, originally from the former Soviet Union.
Now I am a Dutch citizen living in Rotterdam looking for friends.

I speak Dutch, English (broken), Russian, a bit French.
I am 56 years old, well-educated, very friendly and sociable.

I would like to meet like minded and middle aged new interesting people. 

Klusha

Hoi  Breda , thanks for the add ,
Moved here 4 months ago to stay with my Dutch fiancee in Brabant , was committing to work in UK each week but company decided that I either had a Dutch wife or an UK job so here to stay my own brexit is sealed .(lol)
Been struggling to job hunt for 2 months and had the usual  , currently learning Dutch at A2 and progressing to B2 so i can actually get a job, though when you get answers like ;

"we don't like dutch spoken with an english accent it doesn't help much :-))"

Anyway we move on , i used to tech martial arts and archery post military service  and have 2 kids .
hope that helps
Dooi daag
AdeT

Hi people,

My name is Kandia and from London. Relocating to Rotterdam in October with my job.

I am keen to find 1 other person to live with as it's quite expensive living in Central Rotterdam by yourself! It's more expensive than living in London. I am planning a trip to Rotterdam in September to find a new place with an aim to move the first weekend in October. I don't know if Rotterdam is the house-sharing kind of place, but let me know if you're interested!

In London there are nights to find potential people to live with....does Rotterdam have anything similar? It's called speed flat-mating, like speed dating but to find people to live with.

Would be cool to have a group of people to explore Rotterdam with. I like doing all sorts of things, from listening to live music (massive MJ fan), bouldering, comedy nights, dancing, eating good food. Plus I love exploring new areas!

Really excited about moving and meeting new people!

Peace out,
Kandia

Adet66 wrote:

Hoi  Breda , thanks for the add ,
Moved here 4 months ago to stay with my Dutch fiancee in Brabant , was committing to work in UK each week but company decided that I either had a Dutch wife or an UK job so here to stay my own brexit is sealed .(lol)
Been struggling to job hunt for 2 months and had the usual  , currently learning Dutch at A2 and progressing to B2 so i can actually get a job, though when you get answers like ;

"we don't like dutch spoken with an english accent it doesn't help much :-))"

Anyway we move on , i used to tech martial arts and archery post military service  and have 2 kids .
hope that helps
Dooi daag
AdeT

Hi Ade and welcome to the Forum.

As I come from a similar background to yourself, I thought I'd say hi and agree with most of what you've said above and also warn you that if you are getting a Service Pension, to watch out for having to pay the Social Taxes in Holland on all of that income.  When we first moved here, we weren't aware and 15 months later I got hammered for it.

We moved here when I came out in 94 and I got the same results as you in looking for work in Holland and eventually got a job back in the UK.  I did the commute from Enschede to Leeds; after 2 years I'd had enough of it and handed in my notice, only to be offered another job with the same company for silly money, so silly it made us consider moving back to the UK; 20 years later, the job has evolved to the state where I currently work from home in the UK and can do it equally as well sat at home in Holland as I can in the UK, so we're moving back to Holland in the future - so it can be done, but might take you a bit of time to work through.

Best of luck in your journey.

Cynic
Expat Team

Hi Expat.com community,

I am Pia from Argentina but living in Qatar, Middle East for the las 15 years.

My husband is Dutch and this year we are moving to the NL to start a new chapter in our  life. My family is already there and I am still in Qatar waiting and praying to get my MVV very soon so I can join them.

I am really looking forward to live in the NL as I visit Holland yearly for vacation and I love it.

Have a great day 

Hi thanks for the reply , i get no pensions so not an issue really . Been hard so far here as no one will touch you at a senior level unless you speak read and write dutch fluently , i too did the committee but my fiancee and I decided enough is enough as i was in 5 cities a week in three countries and it was killing me .
Any ways just sat here job seeking and waiting for the teacher to rock up as i invested 4000 euro in a dutch course so fingers crossed .
Look me up when your back here i live in breda
Ade tomo tomlinson

Hi everyone!
I am from Mauritius and currently living in China. I am planning to move to the Netherlands and I am very excited about it for a variety of reasons: travelling around Europe, learning a new language (Dutch), experiencing new cultures and foods! This is going to be a thrilling adventure!

Bisous <3
Cindy

Hi Cindy,

I had to message you as my parents are from Mauritius! Where abouts are you from? In fact my profile picture on here was taken last year in Mauritius. I'm moving to Rotterdam in October and would love to meet up!

Hopefully see you soon,
Kandia

Myriam Khoury wrote:

Hello all!

I am Lebanese, living in Beirut with my partner of 7 years, Sandra.
I am currently working in the Communications department in an NGO fighting child abuse (handling everything from communications strategy to Social Media), and she is studying Philosophy in the American University of Beirut, with the intent of continuing her studies in the Netherlands. We intend to live there, work, study and raise a family if possible.

We don't know where to start!

Any same sex couple from a middle eastern country here? Would love to chat!

Any help would be much appreciated.

Have a great day!

Hi Myriam and partner; welcome to the Forum.

A good start is the Handy Tools link at the top of this page; if you select that, it will give you access to our Expat Guide section, which contains several articles written to help people like yourself in planning their journey.  If you read through those and have any further specific questions, please come back to us and just ask.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team