Want to return to Netherlands with my family. Husband is Canadian

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

I'm puzzled by your question; what exactly would end your dream of a "move to the Netherlands"?

Cynic
Expat Team

If I would be the only to ever be able to work as we wouldn't be able to survive on one income.

Hi again,

I still don't see the problem, your husband can work with a residency permit; Holland has minimum salary levels and plenty of people live on that, it's probably more a case of how well you would survive.

I guess the real question is will he get a job?  I always put it like this, to get a decent job anywhere in the world, you need 4 things:

Relevant experience
Relevant qualifications
Speak the local language
Luck

The more of those he ticks off, the more chance he has of finding that decent job.

You haven't told us what you or your husband do for work, but you will know that the Dutch are very big on qualifications, for example,  your husband may be a manager in Canada, but in Holland, he won't even be considered for any manager role unless he has a minimum of MBO, so it starts a process of getting diplomas recognised in Holland; it's all doable, but takes time and costs money.  The most important thing is how are his Dutch language skills; unless he has a very special skill that they are crying out for, if he can't speak Dutch, he will struggle to find decent work.

The other problem he will face is that assuming he has qualifications etc, long-distance job hunting proves problematic for expats.  Most roles are now filled by uitzendbureaus on temporary 12-month contracts.  It's not unusual for them to hang up on you once they realise you can't start work tomorrow and don't speak Dutch.  Speculative CV's don't work for the same reason, they tend to end up in the trash for the same reason.

I hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thank you. I understand those issues you mentioned. I didn't know you could apply for jobs on a residency permit. I'm a well experienced as I. Assistant and could probably get my old job bank and my husband is a sale professional and various experience.

The moment your husband gets his BSN, he can pay taxes and work for a living.

You know a lot about this. Sorry what is a bsn? Are you Dutch or Canadian or other nationality? Did you go through this experience? Thanks.

Hi again - I'm a US/Brit citizen who just happens to have lived all over the world (including Holland), currently live in the UK, but will be returning to Holland for good in the next few years when I retire; my wife is Dutch, I speak the language (well, double-dutch).  BSN is your burgerservicenummer, you may have known it as your SOFI number when you lived in Holland.  It's how all people who live in Holland connect to the state, you pay your taxes, register with your doctor, register with the Gemeente, register your car - all these are linked to your BSN number - no BSN number, then you can't do any of the above.  I have a BSN number, but it was a SOFI number when I first registered to live in Holland back in 1994.

Have you ever thought to get him neutralized as a Dutch citizen?

Cynic is right on many things, specially about the Dutch language unless he can manage to find a job in an English speaking environment.

Before you hit on me with the misspelling: I mean naturalisation instead of neutralizing