Hiring staff from abroad: what is involved?

Step one: establish the nationality. According to the Dutch government, citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland may live and work in the Netherlands without a visa, residence permit or work permit. You hire them like any other employee.

Step two: if the candidate comes from outside the EU, check whether they fall under the highly skilled migrant scheme. For that, the IND, the Dutch immigration service, must recognise you as a sponsor, and the salary must be above the threshold. For 2026 the IND sets that at 5,942 euros gross per month for those aged 30 or over and 4,357 euros for younger candidates, both without holiday pay. A lower threshold of 3,122 euros applies to recent graduates.

Step three: if the scheme does not fit, you need a work permit from UWV, the Dutch employee insurance agency. You only get one if you reported the vacancy to UWV at least five weeks before applying, and for a hard-to-fill role you must show that you used every option in the three months before to find someone in the Netherlands and the EU. UWV decides within five weeks.

Step four: arrange the practical side. Housing, registration with the municipality, a bank account and a first week with someone who shows the way decide whether a new hire stays. None of that is in a permit, but it takes time.

When the role truly cannot be filled in the Netherlands, and you have the time. The fall in highly skilled migrants shows it is not a fast route. So always start by asking whether you have approached the role well here: a sharper profile, another channel or a better offer sometimes solves more than a permit. How to handle a vacancy that has been open for months is covered under hard-to-fill vacancies, and the wider picture is in the tight labour market of 2026.

Within the EU the threshold is low: no permit, but language, travel time and housing. For technical and care roles you could look in Belgium or Germany, where similar training exists. Do check whether a qualification needs recognition in the Netherlands, as it does in healthcare.

You can apply for the permits yourself; the IND and UWV use online forms. The recruiting itself is harder, because you are reaching candidates who do not know your company. If you choose an agency, ask how it finds candidates abroad and who handles the permit. What to look for is explained in choosing a recruitment agency.

Do I need a permit for a Polish or Belgian employee?

No. Poland and Belgium are EU countries, and citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland do not need a work or residence permit to work in the Netherlands. You hire them on a normal employment contract, with the same collective agreement and the same minimum wage as your other staff. They do need to register with the municipality where they will live.

How do I become a recognised sponsor with the IND?

You apply for recognition with the IND. According to the IND, the benefit is that residence permit applications are processed faster and you submit fewer documents. In return you must report changes, such as a highly skilled migrant leaving, to the IND on time. For a single hire it is a lot of work; for employers who hire abroad more often, it pays off.

Can an agency arrange the permit for me?

An agency can prepare the work, but the obligations lie with the employer that holds the recognition or the permit. So agree who does what. If you work with a partner that recruits under your name, as with white-label recruitment, you remain the employer. How steady support compares with paying per hire is explained in RPO versus no cure, no pay.

SocialFind wrote this article based on CBS figures of 30 June 2026 and the rules of the IND, UWV and the Dutch government, checked on 21 October 2026. This is not legal advice. If you would like articles like this in your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.