On 16 July 2015 the Dutch government announced several legislative changes to the laws regarding labour migration. The legislative changes are inspired by a report of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands. The aim of the proposed changes is to create an attractive environment for highly skilled migrants.
The most important changes that are being considered are:
– The government fee for recognised sponsorship (currently € 5.116) will be diversified. This means that the fee will be raised for certain categories of companies and decreased for others.
– Government fees will be introduced for work permits per 1 January 2017. Whether or not these fees will be diversified per certain categories is not clear yet.
– Continuous work permits will be introduced for specific projects and activities (rather than a permit granted to an individual employee). After a labour market assessment is performed and the work permits have been granted, employers only need to notify the labour authorities when an employee comes to the Netherlands for this specific project. A work permit for a specific employee would in this case no longer be required.
– The government is planning to propose the following changes to the Posted Workers Directive (96/71/EU): a maximum duration in which an employee might be posted and measures to boost the protection of posted workers to avoid ‘social dumping’.
The most important announced changes for entrepreneurs are:
– The evaluation of the residence permit for start-up entrepreneurs is announced for early 2017.
– New regulations will state that self-employed persons will be allowed to work as highly skilled migrants simultaneously. Highly skilled migrants and scientific researchers will be allowed to start their own business next to their regular jobs. Students are welcome to join start-ups simultaneously.
Changes are to become effective in 2016.