12/15/2006

On October 1, 2004, the Dutch government introduced a highly skilled foreign worker program ("Knowledge Migrants" or "Kennismigranten") for foreign nationals who are not citizens of Switzerland or the European Economic Area. This program was introduced to attract young, highly skilled professionals to the Netherlands by setting forth relatively simple qualification requirements and allowing for the expedited processing of work permit applications via a "one-stop" shop with the Dutch Immigration Department's (IND) Desk for Knowledge and Labor Migration.

Effective January 1, 2007, new regulations will raise the current gross income level requirements for those applying for the Knowledge Migrant work permit. The new salary requirements are as follows:

· Applicants under 30 years of age must evidence a valid offer of employment and a gross annual starting salary of at least EUR 34,130
· Applicants over 30 years of age must evidence a valid offer of employment and a gross annual starting salary of at least EUR 46,541

Salaries must be administered through the payroll of a Dutch company or, in the case of an intra-company transfer, by the overseas entity responsible for the assignment in the Netherlands. Holiday pay and guaranteed bonuses may be counted toward the salary requirements, but relocation benefits such as a housing bonus or car lease may not be.

Please note that the IND's internal policy for processing Knowledge Migrant work permit applications is subject to change with little or no advance public notice. Therefore, FRAGOMEN strongly recommends that those filing for the Knowledge Migrant work permit review the new minimum salary requirements, along with the application requirements and related timing expectations, with their Dutch immigration suppliers prior to filing. FRAGOMEN will continue to issue updates regarding any changes to this program.

In preparing this article, Fragomen has worked closely with the firm of Everaert Advocaten Immigration Lawyers (Amsterdam). The content of this alert is provided for informational purposes only.
 

Source: http://pubweb.fdbl.com/news1.nsf/c8abb103352ef95a86256e3100809438/ecfda574d702db66852572450065276d?OpenDocument