Holland Family Visa for Foreign Workers
Planning to work in the Netherlands and want your spouse and children to live with you in Holland? Whether your family can stay with you and how to receive a Holland Family Visa depends on your specific circumstances.
Our Israeli law firm specializes in obtaining Netherlands passports and visas. In this article, attorney Joshua Pex will explain about the process of inviting family members of foreign workers to live in Holland.
Family members invited to Holland
Only the foreign workers spouse partner and minor children can be issued a family visa to the Netherlands. A partner or spouse is someone the foreign worker is married to is in a registered partnership an exclusive and sustainable relationship. The relationship is regarded as long-term and exclusive when both partners declare to have an exclusive relationship with each other. Both partners must be 21 years old or older.
The foreign worker’s children can be invited to the Netherlands if they are under 18 and the worker has legal custody over them.
How to issue a Holland Family Visa?
For any work other than the temporary employments mentioned below, you will be allowed to invite your family members to join you to the Netherlands. See this article on how to apply for a residence and work permit for different types of jobs in Holland.
Those who work in the Netherlands as seasonal workers in the agricultural sector or as trainees or apprentices in order to gain working experience, will not be allowed to invite family members to join them. These jobs are considered too temporary for partners and/or children to receive a Holland Family Visa.
Access to Residence – the process
For family members who want to enter the Netherlands for for longer 90 days, an entrance visa and residence permit are needed. The entrance visa is known as MMV, aka a Regular Provisional Residence Permit. An MMV combined with a residence permit is known as TEV, aka Access to Residence. If you request an MMV in combination with a residence permit (TEV) for your family members, they will be allowed to stay with you in Holland for as long as you have your work visa. Before you move to the Netherlands, your future employer can apply for TEVs for you and your family simultaneously. The Naturalisation and Immigration Service (IND) will handle your application. The visas can be received at the Dutch embassy in your country, before you enter the Netherlands.
Three conditions when applying for a TEV For Family Members:
- A job in the Netherlands that will provide a residence permit.
- A referent or sponsor for your family members. This person is responsible for providing the right information and taking care of documentation. Rather than the family members applying themselves, the sponsor will manage their application with the IND.
- Independent, sufficient, and sustainable income. This means that you pay taxes and social security contributions (independent), that your income equals the Dutch statutory minimum wage (sufficient) and that your work contract is valid for at least another 12 months. You can check whether your income equals the statutory minimum wage on this website. You may also want to read about exceptional cases, such as when you have a contract that is valid for only six months.
There are certain requirements for your family members as well. You can only apply for your family members if they meet the following three conditions:
- Before applying, any family member of above 18 years old should pass the basic civic integration exam. This is an exam which tests basic understanding of Dutch (written and spoken) and the Dutch society. Your family members can take the test at the Dutch embassy in your country.
- Your family members should not pose a danger to the Dutch national security, meaning that they should not have criminal records .
- Third, confirmation that your family members are going to live with you in the Netherlands in the same residence.
Access to residence – exceptions
In some cases, your family members do not need an entrance visa to the Netherlands. Instead of applying for a TEV which combines an entrance visa with an residence permit, you will follow a different procedure. See below for a list of exceptions:
- Your family member already has a residence permit in the Netherlands.
- Your family member is a citizen of a country in the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area, or one of the following countries: Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan, Monaco, New-Zealand, Vatican city, United States of America, or South Korea. Said family member only has to apply for a residence permit
- You are a citizen of country in the EU or EEA or Switzerland, but your family member has not. Your family member can apply for a certificate of lawful residence, which is also referred to as a verification against EU law.
- You have citizenship of country in the Schengen area, which is an area without border controls between countries, consisting of countries mostly belonging to the European Union. Your family member has permission to stay with you in this country. Said family member only has to apply for a residence permit
- You have long-term residence in a EU country, and your family member has lived with you in that country. Different countries within the European Union refer to such a long-term residence permit in different ways. No application for MVV is needed for your family member.
- You have held a European Blue Card for 1.5 years or longer, and you apply for a residence permit in the Netherlands as a European Blue Card holder. Your family members only have to apply for a residence permit.
Living in the Netherlands with your family member
Living with you in the Netherlands, your family member will have the right to work and study. After a residence permit is issued for your family member, your family member will have to get a tuberculosis test within three months and health insurance that covers healthcare in the Netherlands within four months. Be aware that a change in relationship status of your family member, may change his or her right to stay in the Netherlands. For instance, if you get divorced from your spouse or if your minor child turns 18, they are no longer allowed to stay with you in Holland. They may request an independent residence permit, provided they meet certain requirements.
Contact our experts on immigration to Holland
Our law office specializes in immigration and visas to the Netherlands. If you have any questions or require legal aid, contact us for information and legal aid.
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