Howzit bru! South African Family considering Living in Rotterdam

darreng247 wrote:

Thanks again, not really concerned about travel distance as it will have to be via car given the area where the office is. Public transport would not be an option.

It's more about where there are dutch international schools.

Have you heard or know about the school called De Bligberg  besides the travel distance? I can always use google maps for that,

Sorry mate - never heard of that school; a quick Google search will reveal what others think about it; from what I picked up, others think it's a Montessori school, although there web-site doesn't claim to be so.  One other thing, the web-site states that they don't take children who are permanent Dutch residents, so if you're thinking of staying in Holland, you may need to think of something else.

CandiceSA wrote:

Are the any recommendations for Immigration specialists? We are from Cape Town, and we would love to immigrate to NL. However we do not have EU passports. Any recommendations on very good immigration attorneys?
Would love to relocate

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

I'll answer your direct question at the end.

At the top of this page is a link to our Discover section, if you mouse over that, you'll get a drop-down menu with an option to select our Netherlands Guide; my first piece of advice is to read that and all the links it may contain.

Next, to live and work in the Netherlands, you will need a work/residence permit, the Dutch Government have a department set up to deal with this, they are called the IND and this link will take you straight to the relevant part of their website.

Next, work - currently in turmoil because of the Coronavirus, but assuming it goes away, it depends on what you do; if you work in a regulated profession, then you need to check that your qualifications are accepted and current in the Netherlands.  If you're not sure, then the Dutch have an organisation (NUFFIC) that can help you; this link will take you straight to their website.  Whatever, the Dutch are big in qualifications and experience, my advice is assuming you have a trade/skill, to reach out on something like LinkedIn, find your peers and speak to them.

Next, language - you say you speak Afrikaans, that may be useful in learning Dutch, but you should realise that as a language, Afrikaans is a 200-year-old language that is a mixture of old English, Dutch, German and African tribal languages that has never developed; the only people in the Netherlands that speak it are other South Africans; the thing that kills it for most of you guys is your accent, it's hard work understanding you.  Where is this going?  Learn Dutch - all of you, start now, life in the Netherlands is all in Dutch, the timetable at the bus-stop, the health advice notices in the doctor's surgery - all in Dutch.  Search on YouTube for "Naar Nederland" - it will give you all a start.

Next - the cost of living - the Numbeo website has a wealth of information that may help you along the way; this link will take you straight to a comparison I just created between Cape Town and Den Haag.  The prices are a couple of months behind, but it should be enough to give you an idea.  I will just add that unless you have a particular reason for choosing it, Den Haag is extremely expensive, you can get a lot more bang for your Euro the further east you go.

Now to answer your question - we have a Service section at the top of the page; it's a place where guys like immigration lawyers can advertise their services; I just checked and there isn't any.  Of course, it doesn't mean they don't exist, they must do, in fact, here's a link to a Google search I just did for them; but I suspect the reason that they don't get much work out of us because it really isn't that hard and the people who use such services have a lot of money.  So, my advice is, if you're rich, then Google is your friend, but if you don't mind doing a little bit of leg work yourself, then follow our Guide and the links I've given and you will already be ahead of most.

2 more points:

1.  There is a couple of FaceBook groups that may help you - link.

2.  Watch out for scammers - do not pay anyone any money or give any personal finance information to anybody.

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

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team