Moving to the Netherlands involves moving your personal belongings
But does it stop there?
If you’re a Non- EU residence (since 1st of January also UK,) a working permit is needed to live in The Netherlands. The processing time is between 6 and 12 weeks. When relocating to the Netherlands, many expats need to make additional costs, due to double housing, medical examinations, or visits to their home country, amongst other things. To offer some financial relief, the Dutch government has introduced the 30 % tax ruling, allowing tax exemption for up to 30 % of an expat’s salary. This makes the Netherlands for an expat a very attractive place to live.
Upon the arrival, the expat often will be offered a temporary accommodation and he/she needs to be registered at the city hall asap to obtain a Social Security Number (BSN). Without a BSN in the Netherlands, no health insurance can be taken, no application for the 30% tax ruling and kids are not allowed to attend a public school… At the bigger cities there might be a waiting time to register at the municipality. Salaries need to be paid out into a local bank account, which one to choose from?
Housing in the major cities is hard to find due to the high demand. The renting process in the Netherlands might be different than in other countries, local expertise is highly recommended. Another challenge might be schooling. Although most expats might look for (private) international education, there is a trend that more expats are considering the local public education system that the Netherlands has to offer. In some area’s the choice of a public school depends on where you live.
When the family moves into the new house, other challenges will arrive. Registration of utilities, which TV/Internet provider to choose from, registration at doctors and dentists. After some time when the family has settled in, the travelling partner might want to integrate in the local workforce. Language barriers, local customs and procedures could be overcome working with partner support programs.
A lot of research has been conducted to the success factors of an international move. If a travelling partner/family is not happy in the new country, there is a big chance the employee contract will be early terminated. Opportunity costs could go up to 500’000 USD.
Benefits of working with a Destination Service Provider
All these challenges could be overcome working with a Destination Service Provider (DSP). Local relocation companies have the knowledge and networks to assist in all the above areas:
- The Employer/HR could (partly) outsource the time-consuming relocation services to a DSP and will focus on strategic key competencies like Talent Recruiting.
- The Employee does not have to take care of the time-consuming administration/registration requirements (often during working time) and can focus on his/her new job and be dedicated to the employer and their clients.
- The travelling partner/family will be assisted during the settling in and will feel at ease asap.
In this way all stakeholders will be relieved from the often stress-full things that comes with an international move, which will be instrumental in making the integration of the foreign employee and his/her family in their new home country a success.
Read more about our relocation services.