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When we first made the decision that it was time to immigrate, our biggest concern was our dogs, we have pitbulls which are banned in many countries. Due to myself having a German passport, we knew we would immigrate to Europe, as it would be the easiest.
Secondly we checked which countries allowed pitbulls to be imported / or in which countries they were not considered banned according to BSL (Breed Specific Law). This reduced the list of countries to Belgium, The Netherlands and Ireland. I started testing the waters in the job market by applying to a lot of jobs but only 1 recruitment agent reached out for a interview with a Belgium company but they required me to speak flemish or at least dutch which unfortunately I did not. We decided on Ireland due to it being english and I started applying for jobs. Unfortunately out of a number of applications I only heard back from 1 company.
At that time, a friend of mine was in The Netherlands and I reached out to her to ask her how it was living there, she gave me a lot of information and we then decided that while looking for work in Ireland, I would also look for work in The Netherlands. After applying for a number of positions, within 1 week I had 6 interviews with dutch companies lined up. Speaking dutch was not required for any of those positions and at that point we decided to only focus on immigrating to The Netherlands.
Some of the reasons we decided on The Netherlands:
Above 90% of the country speaks english
The employment conditions are very good and are well balanced between work and home life
Public transport is very efficient and covers most of the country
It was one of the top 5 best countries to live in and is considered very safe
When I had started looking for a job in Ireland, I had not updated my CV format and didn't get many responses. I had joined a SA in Ireland group and a lot of people advised to get my CV redone in an irish format. I can't recall which company I used but I did get it updated and paid for a cover letter as well. I used the same irish format when I applied for jobs in The Netherlands. I will add this template into this document as soon as possible.
I updated my LinkedIn CV according to the new one I had paid for and added the cover letter. I started looking for positions using primarily LinkedIn and then applying on the different companies internal career sites as well. I am an IT Business Analyst and there were a lot of open positions available. Luckily due to me having a German passport I could answer the "Are you allowed to work in The Netherlands" with a Yes.
I was also given 2 contacts by my friend (whose husband is also in IT) and I contacted those people as well and secured interviews.
The things that I looked for when applying for jobs:
Relocation was an option
Only english required
Travel / Relocation package was included
This was generally the interview process:
Phone call with HR / Talent Manager which is initially around who I am, my experience, why I wanted to immigrate and what I'm looking for and my family situation (i.e. Husband, Kids etc). At the end of the call the Talent Manager immediately said that I would be put forward for a 1st interview and I was surprised at how open she was and how quickly she had replied to me originally. This was also a phone call via my cellphone and not a online video call.
1st Interview with the hiring manager and a senior colleague, also about experience and cultural fit. This is like a typical interview in South Africa, however I did notice that during the interview, they focussed a lot on the cultural fit and a little less on experience as a Business Analyst. I do know that this is due to the fact that they pay for the relocation and they really want the person to fit in culturally due to the money they have to spend and the steps they have to follow to get your Visa. They really focussed on why I chose The Netherlands and if I saw myself living there permanently or only for a few years. Our intention was permanent and I explained about the dogs etc. Once again, at the end of the interview the hiring manager immediately said that they would like me to meet with the head of the department as they really enjoyed the discussion.
At this time, I did get an offer from a irish company and the 2nd interview was only set for a week later, so I explained this to the Talent Manager and she immediately got me an interview the next day with the head of the department.
2nd / Final Interview with the head of the department, once again this was focussed mainly on the cultural fit and a little bit about my experience as a Business Analyst. Some more of the company vision was covered and I had a few questions around stability of the company etc. At the end of the interview, he told me that they would make me an offer. I was surprised at the transparency within these interviews and I immediately knew that I wanted to join this company.
I received a call from the Talent Manager about 30 minutes after my 2nd interview and she gave me an offer over the phone, I agreed provisionally and she said she would send the offer letter about an hour later. In the meantime I had gone back to the irish company and declined their offer (which was about €4000 p/a less than the offer from the NL company). The irish company came back to me immediately with a counter offer than was about €12 000 p/a more than their original offer. I had a good feeling about the NL company so when I got the actual offer letter, I explained the offer I received from the irish company and I asked them to meet me halfway, which they agreed to immediately. I got the updated offer letter about an hour later and I signed it.
If I recall, I received the actual employment contract about a week later, I signed in May and I was asked to start on 1 August. I would have to be in NL already for my first day. A relocation agent was part of the package which I explain more about in the section below.
I had a very similar experience with a few other companies that I had subsequently applied for while in NL, some companies will ask you to do a assessment or case study, they really take the answers provided into consideration when deciding who to hire so make sure you spend an appropriate amount of time on it and make sure you put effort into it. It is easy to see when someone really put effort into an assessment of if they just did it as quickly as possible.
Key takeaways:
Get your CV updated to a NL format
Update your CV to have the most relevant information in it - I often get CV's that are not detailed enough or too detailed. My CV was 2 pages and I can confirm that people don't take the time to read a CV that is longer than 2 pages. (I've seen a lot of CV's in my current role)
Taylor your cover letter according to the company you are applying to
Make sure your CV and cover letter have the correct spelling and grammar
Mention if you have a European passport in bold so that its easy for recruiters to see
There is a shortage in candidates in NL and they are always looking for people who want to immigrate so depending on your position and industry it can be easy to find a job in NL.
Depending on the company, your contract should be in english however be prepared to get a dutch contract. The contracts in NL are referred to as temporary, fixed term or indefinite (same as permanent). It is common to receive a 1 year contract at first after which if that year was successful, they can extend a indefinite contract to you afterwards. The Visa that you get, will depend on the contract you secure.
It is important to sign the contract while you are in South Africa in order to qualify for the 30% ruling, this means for a specific amount of time you will only pay tax on 70% of your salary and the other 30% is tax free. There are a lot of criteria you have to pass to qualify for this ruling, including the minimum salary you need to earn, which you can find here.
It is important to understand the different types of contracts within NL as it will determine what you are and arn't allowed to do. Some contracts do not allow you to give notice within the period of the contract, normally these contracts do not have a notice period mentioned. In this case you need to work the entire length of the contract (usually 1 year) before you are allowed to resign. You can find more information here.
The trial period (probation) differs per type of contract. Most indefinite contracts have 2 months probation during which you need to prove yourself otherwise you or the company can give notice. 1 year contracts normally have a 1 month probation period. Make sure you understand what the employer expects from you during this trial period.
The notice period also differs per type of contract, most of the time, if your probation is 2 months, your notice would be 2 months but this really depends on the company itself. Make sure you read the contract around this and if there is no notice period mentioned in the contract, it normally means you have to work out the full term of the contract (in most cases this is for the 1 year / temporary contract).
Working hours can differ according to company as well, some companies offer 32 hour, 36 hour or 40 hour work weeks. This will be mentioned in the contract.
Also good to know, the amount that you are offered would be an annual amount and most of the time it already includes the 8% holiday pay. This pay is normally paid out with your May salary and is meant to be used for going on holiday. This is standard within NL and you need to take this into consideration when calculating your monthly net salary. You can read more about this in The budget. My first company paid the holiday pay each month as part of my salary, my second company pays this out in May, kind of like a 13th cheque.
Make sure you have a digital copy of your signed contract and it must be signed by both you and the company as you need it for your other applications you have to do (Visa, rental, bank account etc). You can find more information about the documentation below.
If you are looking for assistance you can contact Rob Ridout https://www.jobsearchinternational.com/.
He also offers CV services which is a must if you really want to be noticed by dutch companies.
You can find a list of his services here: https://www.jobsearchinternational.com/plans-pricing
Most companies will offer a relocation package or an amount of money for you to organise your relocation. The amount will depend on the company itself, my package was €2500 but I have heard of others getting up to €4000 for themselves and up to €7500 for you and your spouse.
You will either be given a relocation agent by the company or you will be given the money (with your first salary) and then you have to organise everything yourself.
In my case, I was given a relocation agent who assisted with the move. The services they offered me were as follows:
Finding a rental / accommodation
Setting up the utilities (water, gas, electricity and internet)
Applying for any visa's (I did not need one and they did not want to apply for my husbands visa seeing that I didn't need one)
Applying for the 30% ruling
Making the appointments for you to get your BSN (Burger Service Nummer / ID number)
Making the appointments for you to get your permit from the IND
Making the appointments for you to get your bank account
They also give you other information to assist with the move, i.e. I received a guide to NL which I will add under Other Services and Recommendations
Making use of a relocation agent, in my opinion, will make this journey much less daunting and frustrating for you and I highly recommend using one. I used 2 agents as the agent assigned by my company only did the items for myself but they did not assist with my husband so I had to use the 2nd one to assist with my husbands visa.
I can highly recomment Elizette and Janine from Expact Relocations. https://www.expatrelocations.nl/
They are extremely knowledgeable and can assist with almost every aspect of the move.
Due to having a German Passport I did not need a visa and my husband had to follow the Verification against EU Law procedure being a Non EU spouse of a EU national. You can find the information about the different types of permits here.
In this section I will cover what we needed to do for my husband in terms of Verification against EU Law. If you need more information about the Highly Skilled Migrant you can read up about it here and here however I will also recommend contacting Elizette and Janine from Expat Relocations to assist (https://www.expatrelocations.nl/).
In this section I will provide context to our situation so that you can see how this will affect the steps you need to follow, which could differ slightly from the ones we followed.
In South Africa I had a permanent job and my husband worked for himself. He was in an industry that isn't really popular in NL so we knew that potentially he would be unemployed for a while. I have a German passport so I did not need any visa's to get to NL however my husband is a SA Citizen and therefore he would need a visa in order to come over.
Due to us having the 3 dogs and needing to fly them separately, we decided that I would fly over first (in June of 2021) as I had to start working in August and the last flight I could take was in June in order to take our 1 dog with me.
Originally my husband was going to fly over in August but due to the plane types, we had to postpone a number of times. We also waited for the house to be sold so that he could finalise everything else in SA while I got us settled in NL.
He eventually got a flight in October. He had to book a Facilitation (Type C Visit) visa appointment with VFS which had to be done approximately 4 weeks before his flight. We decided to fly business class and had the added option of changing flights with no penalities (in case anything was delayed).
VFS Global Registration: https://visa.vfsglobal.com/zaf/en/nld/register
You can find more information about the Visa you need here and here.
My husband needed the following documents for the facilitation visa, you can also find the checklist here:
Application Form
You can complete the online form here or use this PDF.
Apostilled Birth Certificate s (for both of us)
Must not be older than 12 months and must be apostilled by DIRCO (not the high court).
Apostilled Marriage Certificate
Must not be older than 12 months and must be apostilled by DIRCO (not the high court).
Passports (for both of us)
We had PDF copies that we uploaded.
Flight Ticket
It does mention that you should not book your actual flights yet and that they just need an itinerary however because we bought a business class ticket, we had the flexibility to change the dates if needed. Both tickets should be submitted, the ticket for the EU member as well as your ticket.
My BSN registration
This is the document that I got from the Gemeente when registering.
My Employment Contract
This is to prove that I could sponsor to support him while he is in NL.
My Rental Agreement
This is to prove where he would be staying while in NL.
All documents must either be in english, dutch, german or french, if they are not, you will need to get them translated.
You can find more information about translations and legalisations here.
Once the appointment is booked, you can follow the progress of it by logging in.
We decided to purchase the premium lounge, document service and photo package so that, if anything was wrong or we needed additional copies, we had the service to do it there and then instead of trying to find another appointment slot.
This was the process that my husband went through at his appointment (the order of these steps might differ slightly):
Take a number and wait for them to call you
Give them your documents, including passport - they check it and ask a few questions about why you are going to NL
Get the photos taken
Get biometrics taken
Pay & get receipt
Once that was done, it took just over a week (9 days) to get his passport back.
Q23: Select Other and add in that you are a family member of a EU Citizen applying for visa facilitation.
Q24: Mention that you would like to travel to The Netherlands with your EU Spouse as you are relocating.
Q27: Select single entry and add more than 90 days to the number of days, you can also add your actual arrival date.
Complete the application form, print it, sign it and take it with you to your appointment.
Take a copy of the personal details page of your passport with and take your original passport with as well.
We opted to have the photos taken at VFS and it was just easier. Otherwise ensure you get photos taken according to the spec sheet provided in the checklist.
Not applicable to us.
This is your apostilled marriage certificate, take a copy with you.
This is the employment contract, rental contract or BSN registration. If you do not have this yet, Elizette from Expat Relocations can assist you with a letter.
Flight tickets in both your names, preferably itineraries however tickets are also accepted.
You also purchase travel insurance at this time. We used a broker via referral from one of the Facebook pages:
TIC (Travel Insurance Consultants) - wybrandt@brokerssa.co.za
I do recommend to use Elizette's services as the really take the time to explain how the process works and they give excellent guidance on documents needed, next steps and general information as well. https://www.expatrelocations.nl/
Finding a rental can be difficult, especially if you have pets. Due to having the relocation agent, her help was really needed. Once again, there are a number of agents you can use, and I really recommend using one to make the process less stressful.
Firstly figure out in which area you want to live, we knew nothing about the different areas and really took the advise from our relocation agent here however I do recommend doing some research and if you feel a area that is being suggested to you by the relocation agent is too expensive, then insist on looking in other areas or use an agent that is willing to cover those areas. The agent I had would only cover Amsterdam and no other areas so we got stuck with a very expensive rental (just a note here, I have not added that relocation agent as a recommendation here and it was NOT Elizette).
Most areas in NL are safe perhaps with a few exceptions, generally speaking the Limburg and Rotterdam areas are a bit more dangerous than others (this is probably still mild compared to South Africa though). I have not been to those areas and so I cannot comment. Look for areas that some of the Saffas suggest in the Facebook group and your relocation agent can give you a lot of advise here. We originally rented in an area called Nieuw Sloten in Amsterdam (about 10 minutes from my work) but it was small and quite expensive. We decided that we would rather buy due to us having dogs so we settled in Lelystad (about 70kms outside of Amsterdam).
Next look on these sites for rentals that match what you are looking for and your budget.
You need to move fast due to the housing shortage in NL, make sure you set up notifications for new rentals coming on so that you can get an appointment. The rental agents only take a specific number of viewings for a place so you need to be fast when emailing them so that you are shortlisted for a viewing. They might ask you to complete a questionaire immediately or if you mention you are interested in putting in a bid. Properties are not like it is in South Africa, so be prepared to find a lot of row houses with tiny gardens. Houses generally don't have 2 bathrooms, but rather a toilet downstairs and a full bathroom upstairs.
I did a few viewings via Whatsapp video call with the agents who were willing to do it, but a lot of them are not and this is where your relocation/housing agent will come in. They will do the viewings for you and tell you more about the area that the rental is in.
In NL, you need to bid on a place in order to secure it. If you view a place and you are happy with putting in a bid, you can tell the agent immediately, then will send you a questionaire and if the owner likes your answers, they will consider your bid. Take the advise from your relocation/housing agent on what price to bid for and what type of contract you have. If there are many bidders, if you bid the price asked, you probably won't get it. The advert for our rental was €1800 and our agent advised us to offer €1850 and we got it. It was the only place that accepted dogs.
It also important to understand the type rental contract you get, if its a 1 year contract, you cannot give notice early. You are liable for the full year's rental. It does depend on the rental company and owner on whether they are willing to let you give notice but most of the time you are limited. If you have a 2 year contract, most of the time you can give 1 months notice and its completely acceptable. Make sure you read your contract properly and ask your agent to explain anything that doesn't make sense. I put our proposal in on the 28th of May and we got confirmation that we got the place on the 9th of June.
We got the invoice for the deposit on the 9th of June as well which we had to pay immediately to secure the rental. The deposit was 2 months of rent and we had to pay the 1st months rent as well so in total we had to pay 3 months immediately. This was a bit of a shock as I was budgeting for 1 month deposit and 1 month rent. I also had to pay this without actually having a contract, which they only do once you pay the deposit. This was what happened in my case with the rental company however this could differ between rental companies.
I only received the contract once my deposit was cleared into the rental companies bank account. Even though I paid the deposit on the 9th, it took about a week to clear it as I had to submit a lot of documents to FNB in order for them to approve the payment. I eventually got my contract on the 18th of June. I was flying out of South Africa on the 23rd of June so this was indeed a very stressful time as I was going to be landing with my dog and technically no place to stay. I also needed the rental agreement at the airport to show that I did in fact secure a rental.
Finding a rental is can be very stressful so I would really recommend using an agent. Here are some services that I've heard good things about but please note, I did not use them for my own rental as I was given a specific relocation agent from my work.
Elizette Nel - https://www.expatrelocations.nl/
Cherene Kruger - https://homesforexpats.nl/ (we used Cherene to buy our house in Lelystad)
Vanessa Marks - https://www.dutchhomehunters.com/ (Vanessa gave me some good advise while still in SA)
Bridgette Ball - http://www.jbmakelaars.nl/
We decided to ship over some small stuff (no furniture) and we went with Seven Seas as I had used them before. We hired a large move cube (max weight 1250kg, 226x146x187cm).
Once the quote is accepted, you have to pay the deposit and schedule the cube to be dropped off for packing, they leave it in the truck and you have about 2 hours to pack it. They do not help you to pack it, they just raise and lower the lift for you to pack it. Make sure you distribute the weight evenly otherwise its at risk of tipping when they load it from the truck to the container.
Once the appointment has been scheduled, they will send you the document pack which includes the inventory list. I learnt a very hard lesson here as I summarised all the items, i.e. a box of screwdrivers. This was not good enough, I had to unpack everything and count the number of screwdrivers I had. So when you are preparing your inventory list you have to itemise the boxes and put numbers on the boxes and you need to account for each and every item. I even had to put how many screws were in the toolbox.
A second lesson I learnt which they did not tell me up front was that when the container lands in Belgium, you need to send them values for everything so that customs can clear it. I would suggest adding a cost to each and every item you have while you are packing to make it easier. I created a spreadsheet from the inventory sheets afterwards with everything on it and then added the cost next to it for customs. The cost that you add is not replacement cost, but rather the value of the item in the current state so for example if you had to sell it second hand, what would you get for it.
17th June 2021 - Cube delivered to be packed - you have 2 hours to pack it.
27th July I received and email to say the shipment was delayed due to a cyber attack at Transnet.
20th September I received another email to say the shipment was delayed due to a vessel change.
28th October the vessel finally arrived in Belgium.
9th November Customs cleared the shipment and it could be delivered.
26th November it was finally delivered.
So in total, it took 5 and a half months to get our personal items. We were lucky that our rental was fully furnished but when we moved into our house in January, we needed the things we had packed.
For the large move cube from Cape Town to the depot in Belgium R25 132
Clearing fee in Belgium €260
Delivery to Amsterdam €445
While the service and communication was ok, I wasn't overly happy. Between all the different dates mentioned above, there wasn't really other communication and it was very difficult to get answers from their customer service department. It was in the middle of Covid so perhaps that is why. They also didn't give important information or gave it too late (i.e. the inventory list was wrong, I needed values for custom clearance). If that information had been shared up front, it would've saved me a lot of time and headaches.
I would suggest not bringing a lot of furniture, the houses in NL are small compared to SA and most of the time, that couch won't fit or the double check can't go up the stairs or through the windows. Its better to just buy the furniture here after you know where you are going to live.
This is a list of some of the documents you may need, please note that each situation would require different documents.
Visa Application
Unabridged Birth Certificates (Apostilled)
Unabridged Marriage Certificate (Apostilled)
Police Clearance Certificate (Apostilled)
Proof of address in South Africa for last 24 months
Proof of relationship if not married (i.e. documents in both names)
Letters of no impediment if you are single
Signed Contract of Employment (Must be signed while you are in South Africa and the contract must state that the company is offering you the 30% ruling)
Signed Rental Agreement
Passports valid for at least another 12 months
Drivers License valid for at least another 12 months
Medical Records
I asked my doctor to email my records to my new doctor for some follow up scans that I needed to do. Documents should be in english.
Proof of claim free years for insurance
I did not get this and in turn I pay a high insurance premium for my car.
Signed Employers Declaration
CV
Academic Certificates & full transcripts
Documents can't be older than 12 months so its advisable to get new ones printed and apostilled before you leave SA and they should be in english, if they are in afrikaans, you will need to get them translated. A lot of gemeentes and companies in NL do not accept high court apostilles but rather only from DIRCO.
This section contains some general items as well as links to companies that assisted me with our move.
Residence Permit Application
School Search
Settling In
Accompanied Visits
Contact Elizette Nel: https://www.expatrelocations.nl/
Certificate Assist: admin@certificateassistsa.co.za - I dealt with Caroline
Postnet Pretoria: embassy@postnet.co.za - I dealt with Janell
These are really good books to buy beforehand if you can as they really give you a lot of information about what to expect when you land in NL.
The Holland Handbook
This is a brilliant book that has a lot of information about NL and I think every topic is covered.
InAmsterdam My First Month
https://www.iamsterdam.com/en/live-work-study/in-amsterdam/my-first-month-booklet
You can also download the PDF here.
Expat Survival Guide
https://issuu.com/iamnotatourist/docs/sg_nl_2023
Very helpful with a short summary, there are lots of ads for companies that provide services across the different topics.