Kennismigrant (Highly-Skilled Migrant) Residence Permit in the Netherlands

Step-by-Step

1. 1

   Confirm that your employer is an IND-recognised sponsor (erkend referent)

   1. Ask your employer to confirm they hold IND recognition as a sponsor for the kennismigrant scheme.
   2. If recognition is not yet in place, the employer applies via the IND Business Portal and pays €5.080,00, or €2.539,00 for a small business with no more than 50 persons.
   3. The recognition-as-sponsor application carries a three-month decision period and tests Commercial-Register registration, continuity and solvency, and reliability (three insolvencies in the preceding year disqualify).

   💡 Tip: If the employer is already a recognised sponsor, this whole step is skipped — they go straight to filing your TEV application.

   ⚠️ Watch out: If recognition is refused, the employer cannot file a kennismigrant application on your behalf. The IND signposts alternative tracks — orientation-year permit (zoekjaar), self-employed permit (zelfstandige), and the EU Blue Card — for migrants without a recognised sponsor.

2. 2

   Employer logs into the IND Business Portal with eHerkenning

   1. Your employer accesses ediensten.ind.nl/group/zakelijk.
   2. Login requires eHerkenning level 3 (EH3) or higher; only recognised sponsors and their authorised intermediaries can use the Business Portal.
   3. Authorised intermediaries (immigration-services consultancies acting for the employer) need chain authorisation.

   💡 Tip: If your employer is small and has not yet provisioned eHerkenning level 3, this is the procedural bottleneck — without EH3 access, the application falls back to a paper submission.

3. 3

   Hand your personal documents to your employer for upload

   1. Provide a passport copy and, if needed, a signed Appendix 7601 (Antecedents Certificate).
   2. If a partner or children join you, provide their passport copies and the relationship documents listed in the documents section above.
   3. Your employer may ask for a signed employment contract, a current salary statement, and your diploma for their recognised-sponsor records — these are administered employer-side and are not uploaded to the IND online checklist.

   ⚠️ Watch out: If a document is missing once the application is filed, the IND extends the decision period and writes to you. Verbatim from the IND: 'In that case, the IND will send you a letter.'

4. 4

   Employer submits the joint TEV application (MVV + residence permit) via the Business Portal

   1. If you are outside the Netherlands and not on the MVV-exempt list, your employer files the TEV joint procedure — the MVV (entry visa, Type D sticker) and the residence permit are applied for together.
   2. The IND states: 'apply for the MVV and the residence permit at the same time' and 'your sponsor in the Netherlands usually submits the application.'
   3. MVV-exempt applicants (Australia, Canada, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, Vatican City, United Kingdom, United States, South Korea, Switzerland, EU/EEA) skip the MVV leg and apply for the residence permit only.

   💡 Tip: There is no separate MVV fee on the kennismigrant track — a single €423,00 first-application leges covers both the MVV and the residence permit under TEV.

5. 5

   Employer pays the leges by direct debit

   1. When the Business Portal submission is filed, the IND triggers a direct debit from the employer's account.
   2. First application: €423,00 (covers TEV joint MVV-plus-residence-permit when applicable).
   3. Family-member residence permit (partner or child of kennismigrant): €254,00.

   💡 Tip: The IND states: 'Your employer pays automatically by direct debit.' You are not asked to pay the leges yourself on the kennismigrant track; if a sponsor asks you to reimburse the leges, this is a separate private-contract matter between you and the employer, not an IND requirement.

6. 6

   Wait for the IND decision within 90 days

   1. The IND states: 'The IND must take a decision within 90 days. This is called the decision period.'
   2. If outside the Netherlands, you collect the MVV sticker at a Dutch embassy or consulate after a positive decision, then travel to the Netherlands.

   ⚠️ Watch out: If the application is incomplete the IND extends the decision period; if the salary threshold is not met the application is refused. Salary band thresholds for 1 January – 30 June 2026: €5,942.00 (≥30), €4,357.00 (<30), €3,122.00 (reduced rate).

7. 7

   Book your biometrics appointment with the IND after arrival

   1. Once you are in the Netherlands, book an IND appointment for fingerprints, photograph, and signature.
   2. The IND states: 'make an appointment for your biometrics.'

   💡 Tip: Although the IND lets you start work as a kennismigrant up to four months without the residence document in hand, banks, HR systems, and gemeente registration desks routinely ask to see the physical card before they progress your case. Treat the two-week pickup window after the positive decision as the operationally-binding deadline, not the four-month legal tolerance.

   ⚠️ Watch out: Without biometrics on file, the IND cannot produce the residence document — the four-month work tolerance does not extend the pickup deadline.

8. 8

   Collect your residence document (verblijfsdocument) within two weeks of the positive decision

   1. The IND states: 'pick up your residence permit … At least within 2 weeks after your employer has received the positive decision.'
   2. Bring identification to the IND collection desk.

   💡 Tip: Once you have the verblijfsdocument, register at the gemeente for a BSN if you have not already, open a Dutch bank account, and arrange Dutch health insurance — all three counterparties typically ask to see the residence document.

9. 9

   Optional — apply jointly with your employer for the 30%-facility tax benefit

   1. Your employer and you complete the application form together and submit it to the Belastingdienst.
   2. 2026 salary norm: €48,013 general or €36,497 for an under-30 holder of a master's degree.
   3. The Belastingdienst states: 'We will inform you within 8 weeks.' Duration is up to five years.

   💡 Tip: The 30%-facility is a separate Belastingdienst track, not an IND step — the kennismigrant permit does not depend on it.