Hi everybody,
I'm a South African national who's been working for a Dutch company for abut two years now. I work from my home in SA, mostly doing online help desk duties, and I get paid through an intermediary.
I am desperate to move out of my local area, and the company I work for has had a vacancy open up which they would love to give to me. I'd be employed full time but not as a skilled migrant (kennis migrant?) as the salary would be below the minimum for that (but still pretty decent). They have also offered to house me until I find my feet.
However they and I can't seem to figure out which legal hoops to jump through. I know I will need a MVV and my employer needs a TWV (work permit) but we just don't know whether these will be granted on this basis. My employer has been looking for a local to fill the vacancy but given that they know me and have worked with me for years, and that I really am desperate to emigrate, they would really love to give me the job.
Can anyone shed some light on my chances here?? Will it help the applications if we mention I've already been employed at this co for several years? Sadly I haven't got any links to the Netherlands, like family ties. Many thanks for any help!
Umm I think this will be difficult for you.
If you are holding a South African passport the only way a Dutch company can hire you locally is if they can get you a KM permit (Kennis Migrant). However they changed the rules recently so that the company has to pay you X amount to qualify for the KM permit.
I think it's like 27k if you are younger than 30 and 52k if you are 30 or older. Without this KM permit you cannot work/live here.
An alternate path (if it is stilll available) is to try to get a Work Permit to work here. This was the only way of working and living here years ago when I moved here - and though the KM is mostly being used these days - I think the Work Permit path might still be around.
There is (de facto) no salary requirment attached to this kind of permit ... as they only have to pay you minimum wage - so surely your salary is higher than this.
The company has to contact the CWI and get this started and basically they have to prove they could not find anyone within the EU to fill this job. Thew CWI will (if they agree) allow them to open this job to everyone - meaning non-eu candidates .. and that's how they can hire you.
Again, I am not sure if this Work Permit is still in place .. as I think most companys go for the KM permit - but it's worth looking into. Either way YOU cannot initate the processing of either permit - the company has to do this.
Thanks - I know the company has to initiate the work permit part, but they're a bit lazy when it comes to looking into how to apply. I think the CWI is the UWV nowadays right? We're trying to find out what the chances are of the UWV actually accepting a non-EU candidate. We were hoping it would count for something that I've already been working for them, rather than them having to hire someone new who still has to learn the ropes etc.
Following are some related links from IND website:
Regards...
Undisclosed said:
Thanks - I know the company has to initiate the work permit part, but they're a bit lazy when it comes to looking into how to apply. I think the CWI is the UWV nowadays right? We're trying to find out what the chances are of the UWV actually accepting a non-EU candidate. We were hoping it would count for something that I've already been working for them, rather than them having to hire someone new who still has to learn the ropes etc.
Your experience counts but only for a little bit. It's a requirement for getting a work permit that the employer actively recruit the position throughout the EU for at least a few months, and then prove that no suitable EU candidate is available. If someone could be trained for this position, then it's not likely that a work permit would be granted for you.
Getting a Dutch residence permit is much easier if your employer will hire you as a highly skilled migrant.
Christian Barth, Attorney
Thanks for the replies. We've scrutinized the IND, UWV, etc websites already so we know that the company needs to have tried filling the vacancy within the EU first. So the company has tried to do that, as a matter of fact, but they feel it's ridiculous to have to train someone new when they're perfectly happy with my work. Also, the work does require some fairly specific expertise that may be hard to find elsewhere - we're just not sure whether that argument will fly.
It's perhaps left deliberately vague what constitutes 'trying to find a suitable person within the EU' for five weeks (it is five weeks right? Not a few months?) and how often a company succeeds in 'proving' they have unsuccessfully tried to find a EU citizen for a position. Argh, I wish they would just hire me as a skilled migrant, but the salary would be too high.
I would still give the Work Permit thing a shot. I came here on a Work Permit because I had specific skills that were hard to find in The NlL .. so this has nothing to do with.. 'training'.
The company cannot filll these 'scarce resource' type of positions by .. training a person. 
Oh no... typically, you have to have the education along with X years of experience in the field - Period.
So if you have this... I don't see why your company cannot get you the work permit.
Sure they have to open the the job to the EU and NL community for several weeks (it used to be months back when I moved here 12 years ago). (shrugs) so that just means you will have to wait a few weeks .. but then they can interview you for the position and hire you.
That waiting business would just be a formality. Hang in there.
