Thinking of moving to the Netherlands from South Africa

Hi Hendrine,

I think it's possible.  At the top of this page is a link to our Handy Tools section, within which are Expat Guides that will help you plan your journey.

To answer your specific question, try this link to see if it helps you.

Once you've read our guides and checked out the link I've supplied, if you have any further specific questions, please come back to us.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thank you for your reply. I will certainly  start reading all I can lay my hands/eyes on.

Hi, sorry to hijack this thread. Do you have any information on possibly moving to the Netherlands without having any family in the EU? My husband is in his early 30s, a professional basketball player and physical education teacher and a Lebanese citizen. I am in my late 20s, have a Communication Science degree, experience in teaching English and I am a South African citizen. We have a 7 month old son with both Lebanese and South African citizenship. What are the chances that we would be able to relocate to the Netherlands?

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

No need to apologise; at the top of this page are links to various things, one of which is our "Discover" link, if you mouse over that, you get access to our Netherlands Guide; read that first, it contains a lot of information that may help you plan your journey.

In general, you'll both need a visa to live and work in Holland; almost certainly an MVV visa which is both a resident and work permit combined; among other things, it involves taking a Dutch language exam!  You also need to consider whether any qualifications you and your husband have are acceptable in Holland; the NUFFIC organisation can help you there and this link will take you their website.  Unless you have an unusual skill set that is in great demand, most people find it extremely difficult to get a job from South Africa; it's not unusual for the agencies that deal with this to hang up on you the moment you don't speak Dutch and can't start work tomorrow morning; for the same reason, speculative CV's don't work.

There is something called "Highly Skilled Migrant" which will make it relatively simple to move as it lines up a job and visas relatively easily; this link will take you to the IND website that explains the process.

If you don't qualify for Highly Skilled Migrant, then you need to decide upon the likelihood of finding work and then ensure you have enough money to set yourself up and then make the jump; of which, the Numbeo website provides lots of relevant information that will help you out; this link will take you there.

Lastly - language; it's important to help you integrate into life in Holland; as part of your initial MVV process, you'll take a basic exam, then when you arrive in Holland you'll have some more work to do and pass the next level.

Once you've read our guides and checked out any links, if you have any further specific questions, please come back to us.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Hi Cynic,

Thank you so much for replying so quickly!

It seems like it will be incredibly difficult for us to get into the Netherlands, some of the links were a bit difficult to read as the information was a bit all over but from what I can gather we're not on the skilled migrants list.

Is there any other way for us to possibly be able to get into the Netherlands? I've heard you can also invest - how does that usually work?

Hi and welcome back.

There are a few of options I can think of; I'll include links in the names as well:

Investing in the Netherlands

Self Employed Person

Business Start-up

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Hi,

I have a question.

I am looking to move to The Netherlands (Amsterdam preferrably) with my daughter who is 7 years old currently.

I have lived there previously (2008 - 2009) as a nanny.


I am a freelancer - fashion blogger. I have been doing it for 4 years. I used to have a lot of work coming from that side - I am South African - unfortunately, it became less as  the they have decided to focus on the people living in The Netherlands and Belgium and Germany. I am offered to work with them on collaborations again if I move there. The door is always open, but I need to reside there or in one of the other countries to work with them again.

My daughter is half Dutch, but without citizenship as her father has been here in South Africa. He is moving back home in March after 9 years of living in South Africa as he couldn't grow in his career here and we both know that moving there it will be better.

We are not together and if I should move with my daughter I will have to live alone with her. Hence me asking if I can move there as a freelancer.

She does not have a Dutch passport either (only SA one) due to personal issues.

I am aware of the schooling system as well. She does understand Dutch well, however, does not speak it 100%. For that I will get a tutor while we are still here as I know she will be tested should she attend one of the Dutch schools.

I would like some advice on what I can do to get us there - given our situation. Any would be highly appreciated.


Thank you.

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

With regards to your daughter, I don't understand the bit about her not being Dutch because her father was a Dutch citizen in South Africa, this doesn't sound right to me.  Have you applied for a Dutch passport for her?

As for yourself, given your personal circumstances, then all you can do is consider applying for one of the work-visas and if your husband won't help in getting your daughter her Dutch passport, then you have to consider applying for both of you at the same time.  This link will take you to the relevant part of the Dutch Government department that deals with this.

I assume that you know that freelancers in the Netherlands are known as "ZZP"; there is a website that may help you further; this link will take you there.

I wish you and your daughter the best of luck in your future in the Netherlands.

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

Cynic
Expat Team

Hi,

Thank you for getting back to me.

She does not have a Dutch passport and we were never married. We were in a relationship, but after her birth (after she turned 1) I broke the relationship. The reason for her still not having a Dutch passport is that there were some personal issues which I will not mention here.


Like I said, he is moving back home. And due to us not being in a good situation with each other would I be able to apply for a Dutch passport without him if he hassles? And if she gets one would both of us (maybe) have an easier move there seeing that she is half Dutch?


Thanks once again.

Hi there and welcome back.

There is absolutely no reason why you should disclose anything that you don't want to on this Forum.  There are 2 sides to every relationship and sometimes they just don't work out; we all have to move on.  If you still have any relationship between your daughter and her father, it may be worthwhile to speak to him to see if he is willing to co-operate in helping your daughter to gain her Dutch citizenship.

If his name is on her birth documents, then he can hardly deny her the right to Dutch citizenship and to be frank, it shouldn't bother him and perhaps his own family in Holland may be interested in seeing your daughter - they are part of her extended family.  He may make a fuss, but if he does, he needs to grow up and not be so selfish.

As for making it easier, there is a specific visa category for the parent of a minor Dutch child; this link will take you to the Dutch Government (IND) website that has the details.

Have a read through that and see what you think.

Again, if you have any more specific questions, please come back to us.

Cynic
Expat Team

Dear Cynic

Would you be able to recommend a list of reputable recruitment agencies in the Netherlands that would be willing to consider South African applications? I am a qualified Chemical Engineer and, as far as I understand, am classified as a highly skilled worker. Based on my experience of 'cold-calling' Dutch Companies to respond to their employment opportunities I would prefer to build a rapport with reliable recruiters open to working with South Africans. Any recommendations in this regard would be so appreciated.

Kind Regards,
Justine

justinezp7 wrote:

Dear Cynic

Would you be able to recommend a list of reputable recruitment agencies in the Netherlands that would be willing to consider South African applications? I am a qualified Chemical Engineer and, as far as I understand, am classified as a highly skilled worker. Based on my experience of 'cold-calling' Dutch Companies to respond to their employment opportunities I would prefer to build a rapport with reliable recruiters open to working with South Africans. Any recommendations in this regard would be so appreciated.

Kind Regards,
Justine

To be honest, I can't answer your question, there are no agencies as you describe them; they will all just want to find the best person for the job that can start when they want them to, it's how they get their money.  Long-distance job searching is always problematic and the agencies lose interest the moment they discover you can't start tomorrow and don't speak Dutch.  There are plenty of South Africans that already work in the Netherlands, so it's doable, although Covid is causing chaos with the job market and it may well be that they just aren't recruiting anybody at the moment.

My advice would be to join LinkedIn, set up your profile and CV and then start looking for your peers and recruiters and speak to them, find out if there are any reasonable chances of you getting work.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Hmmm, a little unhelpful as I already knew all of that and am now still looking for a list of reputable recruitment agencies, but thank you for taking the time to reply nonetheless.

Enjoy your day further.