Labour Migrants Arrangement (work permit required)

This arrangement will remain in force for the visiting academic researcher and the trainee with a non-EU nationality, associated with a foreign educational institute who is doing a work placement at the University of Twente. This means that an application for a work permit (TWV) is to be submitted for the person involved. Depending on the country of origin a temporary residence permit (MVV) is to be applied for, possibly simultaneously. After arrival the labour migrants are subject to the procedure ‘application for a residence permit’. For the work placement of a student with a non-EU nationality, in the possession of a valid residence permit for the purpose “study” and who is associated with a Dutch educational institute, a work permit is no longer necessary.

A separate group are the staff members originating from the "new EU-countries". Since 1 May 2004 they can apply for a work permit for the period of one year in combination with an EU residence card. At the moment the application for an EU residence card is submitted to the municipal personal records database (GBA), they are to be able to produce the work permit.

It is however also possible for them to use the ‘knowledge migrants arrangement’. Please note the difference in dues, because the dues for the knowledge migrants arrangement are approximately 300 euro higher.

Effective from 1 January 2007 Bulgaria and Romania are also members of the European Union. But, despite the fact that Romanians and Bulgarians are Citizens of the Union from 1 January 2007, special stipulations continue to apply for accessing the labour market. Within this frame work the Dutch government has decided to continue the obligation for employers to arrange for a work permit (tewerkstellingsvergunning, TWV) for work carried out by Romanians and Bulgarians. This measure will in any case apply for a two-year period from 1 January 2007.