Small mistake by employer could mean revoked residency permit for expats

Expats in the Netherlands can lose their residency permits too easily due to trivial mistakes by their employer, Tesseltje de Lange, professor of European migration law at Radboud University in Nijmegen, concluded in a recently published study. An employer forgetting to report a wage increase or parental leave can quickly result in the IND withdrawing an expat’s residency permit, NRC reports.

The study is part of more extensive research into labor migration funded by the Gak Institute. De Lange focused on the knowledge migrant scheme, which allows companies to recruit staff from outside the European Union. De Lange studied 50 legal cases and 30 appeals in which knowledge migrants lost their residency permit due to an employer’s mistake. She concluded that expats’ legal position in the Netherlands is weak because they are too dependent on their employers.

Companies who want to recruit outside the EU can apply to the IND immigration service to become a “recognized sponsor.” With the sponsorship in hand, they can recruit international staff. Knowledge migrants over 30 must earn at least 5,000 euros gross per month. The company guarantees the employee and checks whether they qualify to be an expat in the Netherlands.

But minor mistakes by the employer can be disastrous for the expat, De Lange said. If the employer forgets to inform the IND that the expat has changed jobs, received a wage increase, or went on parental leave, for example, the IND could revoke their residency permit. Expats sometimes manage to reverse the IND’s decision through court, Del Lange said without mentioning figures.

When a highly-skilled migrant living in the Netherlands works for the same employer for five consecutive years, they qualify for permanent residency and Dutch citizenship. However, a knowledge migrant who is laid off just a few months shy of that five-year period may be faced with a situation where they have to start all over again, De Lange said.

When this happens, De Lange said the migrant will have three months to find a new job that meets specific requirements, or correct the earlier mistake. If they fail to meet that deadline, they might find that they either cannot get approved for a new residence permit on time. When someone uses incorrect information to get a residence permit before a previous permit expires, IND can later rule that to be invalid.

In either case, the knowledge migrant may find that their residence time reverts back to zero, and they and their family may face expulsion from the Netherlands.

With regard to highly-skilled migrants, IND states, "As an employee you always have an obligation to provide information. So, besides your employer (recognised sponsor) you are also required to notify the IND of major changes. You must in any case inform the IND if you are changing employer." Employers have four weeks to notify the service if an employee has been terminated, if their wage falls below income requirement for any reason, when they have lost contact with the worker, or when the worker leaves the Netherlands.

The immigration office clearly states that residence permits may be withdrawn when an employer provides incorrect information at the time of application, or if an employee no longer meets salary requirements. Additionally, an employer who continuously breaks rules can lose their ability to act as a sponsor for highly-skilled migrants, in which case the worker can suffer by losing their residency. "What if you are not to blame for anything? Then you will be given a period of 3 months to find another employer who can act as a recognised sponsor for you. If your residence permit is valid for less than 3 months, you have until the date that your residence permit is still valid."