How to apply for a work permit
If you want to employ a foreign employee, you sometimes need a work permit. A work permit (tewerkstellingsvergunning, TWV) or a Combined Residence and Work Permit (Gecombineerde Vergunning voor Verblijf en Arbeid, GVVA). To apply for a work permit, you and the employee must meet several conditions.
1. Which work permit do I need?
You want a foreign employee to work for you. Then you will need a work permit in the following situations:
- You hire someone from outside the EU/EEA or Switzerland.
- Your employee will be doing other work than for which they currently have a work permit.
- Your employee's work permit will expire soon.
Note: By employee, UWV means any person for whom you are applying for a work permit. This can also be an intern or freelancer.
What work permits are there?
There are 2 types of work permits:
- Work permit (TWV)
- Combined residence and work permit (GVVA)
Which work permit do you need to apply for and where? This depends, among other things, on how long the employee comes to work in the Netherlands.
The same conditions apply when applying for a TWV or GGVA. The Dutch Employee Insurance Agency (Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen, UWV) assesses if your application meets these conditions.
You can read below what exceptions there are. What you should do in that case is under: “When do I not have to apply for a work permit”?
Employee with work permit through the employment agency
Are you hiring a foreign employee through an employment agency? And has that agency already applied for a work permit? Then you no longer have to do this yourself. Always ask for a copy of the work permit for your own records.
When do I apply for a work permit (TWV)?
You apply for a TWV in one of the following situations:
You can apply for a TWV at the UWV. The employee cannot do this themselves. There are also other conditions when applying for a TWV. The conditions depend on the category (group) that your foreign employee falls under (see below under Special conditions per category).
When do I apply for a GVVA?
You apply for a GVVA if the employee comes to work in the Netherlands for longer than 3 months. And if one of the following situations applies to them:
You can apply for a GVVA at the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND). The employee can also do this themselves. The IND asks the UWV for advice. UWV then assesses if the employee meets the conditions for a GVVA. The conditions depend on the category (group) that your foreign employee falls under (see below under Special conditions per category).
When do I not need to apply for a work permit?
You do not need to apply for a work permit for several categories (groups) of employees and types of work. But other conditions do apply. Check which category your employee belongs to. When you click on the link you see information about what to do next.
These are the categories (in Dutch):
- Refugees from Ukraine
- Employees with the annotation 'freely permitted to work'
- Asylum seekers who do volunteer work
- Asylum seekers with a residence permit
- Independent entrepreneurs
- Employees who live abroad and sometimes work in the Netherlands
- Highly Skilled Migrants
- Workers under the International Trade Regulation
- Intra-corporate transferees
- Employees who perform work covered by an international agreement
- Cross-border service suppliers
- Architecture students
- Students with training and internship in the Netherlands
Employee with work permit through the employment agency
Are you hiring a foreign employee through an employment agency? And has that agency already applied for a work permit? Then you no longer have to do this yourself. Always ask for a copy of the work permit for your own records.
2. Applying for a work permit
When applying for a work permit, general and special conditions apply. Which special conditions depends on the category in which the foreign employee falls.
The general conditions are:
A valid residence permit
Your employee must have (or get) a valid residence permit that allows them to work. Does the work take less than 3 months? Then a short-stay visa is usually enough. You can find more information about applying for a visa at Rijksoverheid.nl.
You adhere to the terms of employment
Even when employing foreign employees, you must comply with the employment conditions that apply in the Netherlands. In any case, you pay the statutory minimum wage for an employee of 21 years and older. Even if that employee is younger than 21 or works part-time. You pay the salary into your employee's bank account every month. And you ensure a safe and healthy working environment.
You have not violated the labour law
In the five years before the application, you did not receive a fine for violation of labour legislation. For example, because you paid less than the minimum wage. Or you let foreign employees work without a work permit.
Specific conditions per category
The specific conditions for applying for a TWV differ per category (group). Check which category your employee belongs to. Click on the link at the top of the list. You will then find:
- Which special conditions apply.
- Which documents you must include in the application.
- How long the TWV is valid.
These are the categories (in Dutch):
- British
- Asylum seeker
- Clergyman, missionary, monk or nun
- Short stay highly skilled migrant and cross-border work
- Employee of a foreign company to which you deliver goods
- Employee of a foreign company that supplies machines, software, or equipment
- Musician/Artist – certain roles
- Staff transfer
- Practitioner
- Trainee
- Working student
- Sea fishing
- Regular workplace/other
- Professional athlete
- Seasonal employee in agriculture and horticulture
- International education (teacher)
The application form for a TWV contains a question about the European sanctions list. The UWV asks you: 'Is the foreign employee going to work for a company that is a subsidiary controlled or owned by a Belarusian or Russian parent company that is on the European sanctions list?' You also get this question when applying for admission to the International Trade Regulation (Regeling Internationaal Handelsverkeer).
To answer, use the step-by-step plan below. Do you reply ‘yes’ to all 4 questions? In that case, also fill in 'yes' to the question about the European sanctions list on the form. If you reply 'no' to 1 or more questions, you can tick 'no' next to the question on the form.
- Is your company or the company where the foreign employee will work a subsidiary of a (parent) company? If you have a sole proprietorship, you always answer this question with 'no'.
- Is the parent company Russian or Belarusian?
- Is this parent company on the European sanctions list?
- Is your company or the company where the foreign employee will work controlled or owned by the Russian or Belarusian parent company?
Reason for the question about the European sanctions list
The European Union has taken measures against Russia and Belarus because of the war in Ukraine. Several Russian and Belarusian companies are on the European sanctions list. You may not do business with these companies and with subsidiaries of these companies. UWV needs to know if the foreign employee will work for such a company. More information about the measures against Russia and Belarus (in Dutch) is on the website of the Dutch government.
Applying for the TWV takes time. Please keep the following in mind:
- Take the time to collect all the information you need before applying.
- Apply for the TWV via the employer portal. For this, you need eHerkenning at confidence level EH3. And you need the correct authorisation for the 'Applications for a work permit' service. Do you not have an eHerkenning yet? Then you can request this from a supplier recognised by the government. For this, you need a KVK number.
- After the application it takes a maximum of 5 weeks before you receive the decision.
Note: You may not let a foreign employee work without a work permit. It is illegal employment. You can read more about this at the website of the Netherlands Labour Authority (Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie, NLA)
Click here to apply for a work permit (TWV) (in Dutch)
3. After the TWV application
After the UWV has received your application form and the additional documents, they will assess your TWV application. You will receive a decision from them within 5 weeks.
If your application is not complete
The UWV will call you or send you a letter if they are missing any information. Only after they have received all documents and information from you will they make a final decision.
I get a TWV
You will receive the work permit (TWV) via the employer portal. Use the TWV for your administration and give a copy to the employee. Is your employee a temporary worker? Then the employment agency will receive the TWV if it has applied for the TWV. You will receive a copy from the employment agency for your records.
The TWV contains the following information:
- the name of the employer
- the employer's place of business
- the employee's personal data
- how long the TWV is valid
- a description of the job activities
- the job location
- the category (group) to which the employee belongs (for example, a working student or regular workplace)
What to do after receiving the TWV?
Check all data at once after receiving the TWV. Do you see something that is incorrect (for example, a spelling mistake in a name)? Or has data changed during the application period? Please send a correction/change request to:
UWV
Bureau for Work Permits/AJD
PO Box 16140
2500 BC THE HAGUE
After UWV has received your letter, you will receive a confirmation letter from them.
Sometimes you have to submit a new application for a work permit due to a change. For example, if your employee is going to do other work. UWV will then check again whether your application meets the conditions.
If the work stops during the term of the TWV
Then send a letter to the UWV at once, at the address stated above. State in your letter why the work will stop and from which date.
Revoking a work permit
UWV can revoke the TWV in the following situations:
- You have provided incorrect information and this information was important for the decision on the application.
- The employee will not receive a residence permit.
- You are not paying the agreed monthly wages into your employee's bank account.
- You are a starting entrepreneur and you have not demonstrated that your business has actually opened.
- You have received a fine in the past five years for violation of labour legislation. For example, you did allow foreign employees to work illegally. Or you did not pay the statutory minimum wage.
I do not get a TWV
Has UWV rejected your application and do you have questions about this? Please contact the person who handled your application at the TWV/AJD agency via UWV Phone Employers (in Dutch). Have your application number ready, so that UWV can help you more efficiently.
I disagree with the decision
Do you still disagree after receiving the explanation in the phone call? Then it is best to object. You can do this by sending a letter.
If you wish to submit your objection by letter, please state at least the following information in the letter:
- the date
- your name, address and telephone number
- the words 'objection' or 'I object'
- the date and reference of the letter that contains the decision. These are at the top of the letter
- why you disagree with the decision and what you think the decision should have been
- your signature
Please enclose proof showing you may object on behalf of the company.
Do you have any other documents that are important for your objection? Then enclose these as well.
Send your objection to:
UWV
Headquarters AJD
PO Box 16140
2500 BC THE HAGUE
After your objection
UWV will send you a confirmation of receipt within 5 working days stating that they have received your objection. You will receive a decision within 6 weeks after you have lodged an objection.
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Questions relating to this article?
Please contact Employee Insurance Agency, UWV