Following the general elections in November 2023, Dutch political parties have finally formed a coalition agreement. But what does it have in store for internationals and expats?
Outlined in a 26-page document, the coalition has laid out its plans for the next four years.
Here’s what they have to say about international students, expats, and immigration.
Restricting highly skilled and study migrants
Unsurprisingly, the new Dutch coalition has called for a reduction of highly skilled migrants and study migrants (aka international students).
How exactly? They want the reduction to be proportionate to what municipalities, education institutions, healthcare, and housing can support — whatever that means.
Who counts as a highly skilled migrant? A highly skilled migrant (knowledge migrant or kennismigrant in Dutch) is a migrant from outside the EU who comes to work in the Netherlands because of their specific knowledge or skillset.
Only companies recognised as sponsors by the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service can apply for a highly skilled migrant visa on behalf of the migrant.
While expats can be from inside or outside the EU, highly skilled migrants are specifically from outside the EU.
However, if the new government has its way, the qualification requirements for highly skilled migrants will be tightened so that fewer people will qualify for such a visa.
There will also be a restriction on the number of international students accepted to bachelor programmes in the Netherlands. They will do this by:
- Having more courses in Dutch,
- Implementing a numerus fixus (fixed number of places) on foreign students,
- Restricting who receives a basic student grant from the Dutch government,
- Increasing tuition fees for non-EU students.
There is one silver lining, though: they won’t restrict international students if there is a labour market shortage in the particular field that they want to study.
READ MORE | What are the most in-demand jobs in the Netherlands in 2024?
More requirements for integration
If you were hoping to complete your integration soon, first off, congratulations!
However, the coalition plans to add a few more requirements to make integration more difficult:
- The standard period to naturalise will be extended to 10 years regardless of permanent or indefinite residence,
- Internationals who want to adopt the Dutch nationality must renounce their other nationality(-ies) when possible.
Now, here’s where you’ll want to pay attention.
In theory, the language requirement for the inburgeren (integration) exam, and therefore, naturalisation, will be increased from A2 to B1 for everyone.
This implies that this is regardless of when internationals began the integration process — however, we will have to wait and see how this looks in practice.
READ MORE | What language is the Dutch integration (inburgering) exam in 2024?
The new coalition will also crack down on “undesirable foreign influences” like weekend schools and regulate the volume of calls to prayer. Hmm, sound familiar?
— Nassreddin | نصر الدين (@Nassreddin2002) May 16, 2024This is the beginning of the PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB coalition agreement:
Titled: "Hope, courage and pride"
"The Netherlands is gorgeous country. A country to be proud of" pic.twitter.com/r0OP8LewN9
Reforming the system
The document also lays out their plans for asylum seekers, describing their approach as “the strictest admission regime for asylum seeks and the most comprehensive package for the control of migration ever.”
The coalition aims to reform the entire asylum and migration system, with policy plans to require work permits for non-EU labour migrants, impose employer responsibilities for the housing of migrant workers, and potentially restrict the free movement of people within the EU in the case of EU expansion.
If needed, they may also implement an Asylum Crisis Act for a maximum of two years, which means:
- People with asylum status will not get priority for social housing allocation
- Rejected asylum seekers are “deported as much as possible, forcibly if necessary”
The coalition also mentions the abolition of the indefinite asylum permit, however, whether this step would fall under the Asylum Crisis Act, or their general approach, is unclear.
Of course, these are only tentative plans and agreements made within the coalition.
What will become of them, we have yet to see.
Will you be affected by the new Dutch coalition’s plans? Tell us what you think in the comments!
Katrien Nivera 🇵🇭
Third culture kid Katrien has been working as a writer and editor at DutchReview for over two years, originally moving to the Netherlands as a tween. Equipped with a Bachelor’s in communication and media and a Master’s in political communication, she’s here to stay for her passion for writing, whether it’s current Dutch affairs, the energy market, or universities. Just like the Dutch, Katrien lives by her agenda and enjoys the occasional frietje met mayo — she just wishes she could grow tall, too.
