The companies, organizations, and institutions in the Netherlands can be recognized as sponsors for people who want to work as au pair, who want to study or who are interested in making research in different domains.
A sponsor can be classified in the Netherlands under four general categories:
- Study: a university or secondary education centers, higher education or professional education centers.
- Exchange: the enterprise or institution offers exchange programs for foreign nationals (for au pairs or others).
- Research: the research institution is a private or public one included in the relevant documents and has an R&D statement, as required by law.
- Labor: a company can qualify as a sponsor when it offers different types of jobs, seasonal labor, intra-corporate transfers, etc.
The company that applies for this status needs to comply with a number of conditions, detailed below in this article.
Our immigration lawyer in the Netherlands can provide you with comprehensive information and details about the types of visas to enter the country and about the recognized sponsors you should consider when deciding to relocate in the Netherlands.
Having a recognized sponsor is mandatory for certain applications for a residence permit in Netherlands. Our team will give you complete details on these requirements, as well as information about the other applicable conditions, according to the type of permit you are applying for. We offer complete guidance and assistance throughout all of the relevant phases, both pre-application and post-application.
Those who are already living in the country based on employment with a sponsor can reach out to us for information about obtaining Dutch citizenship.
What is a sponsor in the Netherlands?
The enterprises, the educational centers and all kinds of institutions inthe Netherlands are responsible for your financial matters while living, working and studying in the country. The authorities have established specific rules to all companies or institutions that want to become recognized sponsors, and here we remind the following:
• a university needs to offer accredited education according to the Higher Education and Scientific Research Act in the Netherlands;
• a company needs to be registered and to have financial stability;
• a research institution needs to be accredited to the NARCIS (National Academic Research and Collaboration System).
One of our immigration lawyers in the Netherlands can provide companies with more information about the general conditions for recognized sponsors, should they wish to become one. Likewise, we can provide relevant details for individuals who wish to check if a certain sponsor is compliant with the ongoing legislation.
A recognized sponsor has the advantage of having access to an accelerated application procedure for the temporary regular residence permit in Netherlands. This means that the Immigration and Naturalization Department will generally issue a response within two weeks, when, according to law, the legal period for an answer can be three months.
In order to be recognized, the company that wishes to become a sponsor is required to follow a number of steps, we well as pay the corresponding fee, according to the type of residence. A reduced fee can apply to companies with less than fifty employees.
Some of the rules with which the company that applies for sponsor recognition has to comply with include the following:
- it should be registered with the Commercial Register.
- the company should have continuity and solvency, as asses with the help of a points-system by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency.
- the business cannot be bankrupt.
- the company must have reliable directors and all of the natural or legal persons involved with the organization need to be reliable.
- the company complies with the Code of Conduct in its business field; one of our Dutch immigration lawyers can provide more information with the conditions for companies (for example the regulations for registration with the relevant associations).
If you want to immigrate to the Netherlands it is recommended to consider the legitimacy of the sponsors you wish to choose. Our immigration lawyer in the Netherlands can provide you with suitable information and assistance in this matter and can help you obtain the needed visa or the residence permit in Netherlands.
What are the rules for au pair agencies in the Netherlands?
Au pair agencies are valid sponsors in charge of selecting the individuals interested in immigrating in the Netherlands as personal or domestic assistants. Such agencies must attentively select the personnel and need to provide the IND (Immigration and Naturalization in the Netherlands) complete information about the host family, the period for which the individual will work as an au pair, the voluntary work and details about the financial status of the family, in order for the authorities to issue the residence permits. An au pair agency in the Netherlands will be recognized as a sponsor if it has a solid background, financial stability and no bankruptcy involved in the last years.
How are employers in the Netherlands recognized as sponsors?
The companies established in the Netherlands can hire staff from abroad, in a strong collaboration with the IND in visa, work and residence permits matters. The employer needs to provide the necessary documents and also details about the work contract, position, salary, and employment period.
The companies that are included on the Immigration and Naturalization Department’s lists of recognized sponsors are also listed with their registration number, the one issued by the Chamber of Commerce.
Companies can also apply for recognition as a sponsor when the business has already been registered as such but has merged with another recognized sponsor in the Netherlands. The registration costs less when the company is already registered but it changed the business form. A condition for this is for the business activities to remain the same and for the control of the company to remain unchanged – as reflected in the Articles of Association.
The registration of a company is complete when it is entered in the Public Register of Recognised Sponsors. Individuals who wish to know if a company is recognized can check the register.
According to the Immigration and Naturalization Department, there are a number of recognized sponsors in each category:
- more than 80 sponsors that are recognized as registered educational institutions
- more than 30 companies that are recognized as sponsors for au pairs.
- more than 9,000 companies of different types that are recognized as sponsors for regular labor and highly skilled migrants. In case you need a highly-skilled migrant visa in Netherlands, our team can help you.
- more than 130 recognized sponsors for research purposes under the Public Register Researcher Directive EU 2016/801.
The lists of recognized sponsors as per the applicable residence purpose are constantly being updated as new ones are being registered. The numbers presented in this article reflect the approximate number in June 2019.
Sponsors do not need to be recognized when they hire employees for general work employment other than the categories mentioned above (au pair, highly skilled migrants, for example) or when they hire workers who have a European Blue Card. One of our Netherlands immigration specialists can help companies better understand the conditions under which they can act as non-recognised sponsors as well as the conditions the company needs to comply with in order to become a recognized one. We can provide relevant information both to companies interested in the topic and also to immigrants looking to work in the Netherlands who need to find a sponsor or simply wish to know more about this particular requirement.
We kindly invite you to contact our team of immigration lawyers in the Netherlands for additional information about the recognized sponsors in the country. Those who are already living in the country can also reach out to us for details on how to apply for Dutch citizenship.