Moving to Holland

What are the prices for a shared accommodation?

Hi Carter,

Carter0011 wrote:

I'M in my 20's, an African and moving to Holland to start a new life.I'm a high school graduate and also having a certificate in systems engineering(I.T). Where will be the best city to live in and find work easily?

If you don't have an EU passport, you will need a Visa; there is plenty of advice on this forum regarding visa's.  Perhaps you should first visit Holland as a tourist and make sure you like it.  One word of warning, you will not be allowed to apply for a resident permit while in Holland, you will need to leave and apply from your home country.  There are some hurdles you'll need to get across as you will need to be able to support yourself on arrival and not hope to get social money.

With regards to working in Holland; the important thing is qualification and experience; at your age, you won't have much experience and will be competing with locals in the same situation who have the Dutch qualifications.  My advice would be to use the Internet to research what jobs may be available and then contact the companies who are advertising to see if they will recognise your qualification.  To enhance your chances of getting work, probably the most important thing is language, you really need to be able to speak Dutch and the ability to say hello, goodbye and order a meal is probably not good enough.

Somewhere to live - depends on what you want I guess; it's part of why I suggested you first visit as a tourist.  In general, the west of Holland is more expensive than the east.  I'd suggest you research the internet to see current prices.  To give you an idea, my daughter has just been offered a 2 bedroomed house in the east for €550 p/month, on top of that you'll have to pay local taxes etc.

Best of luck in your search for a new life.

As i commented in the previous post you will have to obtain an MVV before you can work in the Netherlands. You might be able to find a company who will employ you and will apply for an MVV (without one you will not be allowed to work in the Netherlands. Failing that you will need to follow the advice given by Cynic. It might be worth while  knowing that it can take up to 6 months to get an MVV. The www.ind.nl is good website to look at and look for the embassy who issues Schenghen visa in your country and contact them for advice,