Formalities

If you are considering working in The Netherlands there are some formalities that you should consider before applying for jobs in the Netherlands. The Careers team can advise you on arrival but these are some of the formalities that you need to be aware of.

1. Residence and Work Permits

Permits Foundation is an international non-profit corporate initiative to promote access of accompanying spouses and partners of international staff to employment through an improvement of work permit regulations. Shell is a sponsor of the Permits Foundation. Their web site contains useful links as well as an overview of country spouse work regulations. For more information, please visit: www.permitsfoundation.com

Immigration laws are complex and the following is a brief summary. Where doubts exist, or special circumstances apply, you should seek advice from the Shell HR Service Centre (contact details known to Shell employees).

Note:
The Dutch word for Residence Permit is Verblijfsdocument and for Work Permit is Tewerkstellingsvergunning (TWV)

1.1 You are a EU/EER* Citizen

Residence permits are no longer issued to EU citizens (ceased in May 2006). Furthermore nationals from EU/EER and Switzerland do not require a work permit in The Netherlands.

On arrival in The Netherlands, however, you and your family must register with the Town Hall of the City in which you are living as soon as possible. The Shell Immigration Team has a list of Town Halls and you should contact them for this information. They will also inform you about the registration procedure.

After registering you should call the IND (Dutch Immigration Department) and arrange an appointment for a EU "sticker" to be placed in your passport. This is in place of the previously issued Residence Permit. The contact details for IND are:

IND
Sir Winston Churchilllaan 293, 2280 GE Rijswijk, The Netherlands
Tel: 0900 1234561
www.ind.nl

1.2. You are not a EU/EER Citizen but your spouse/partner is a EU/EER citizen

You are eligible to work without a work permit after you have submitted your application for a Residence Permit. This applies to both married and unmarried couples. Unmarried couples are required to submit a non-marriage certificate . The Shell Immigration team will help you with the application for the Residence Permit.

When you submit your application for your Residence Permit the authorities will issue a "sticker" in your passport to state that a Residence Permit has been applied for and that a work permit is not required. (In Dutch - " Arbeid vrij toegestaan. TWV is niet vereist"). Please note that it can take up to 6 months to receive your Residence Permit but during this time you can seek employment. The Residence Permit is valid for 5 years after which time you can apply for an Indefinite Residence Permit.

Furthermore, on arrival in The Netherlands you and your family must register with the Town Hall of the City in which you are living as soon as possible. You should contact the Shell Immigration team for a list of Town Halls.

1.3 You are not a EU/EER citizen and your spouse/partner* is not a EU/EER citizen

You are eligible to work without a work permit if your spouse/partner is employed by Shell under the new Residence Permit category of “Knowledge Worker” (Kennismigrant).

This new legislation came into effect in early 2005. A Knowledge Worker is "a migrant working as an employee in The Netherlands with a gross annual salary of at least €45,495 (for migrants aged under 30 the salary criteria is an annual salary of €33,395)".

If you have an MVV (entry visa) stamped in your passport and your partner qualifies as a Knowledge Migrant you can work if your application for a Residence Permit is submitted at the same time as your spouse/partner. When your application is submitted the authorities will issue a "sticker" in your passport to state that a Residence Permit has been applied for and that a work permit is not required (In Dutch "Arbeid vrij toegestaan. TWV is niet vereist")

When you have an MVV but you submit an application for a Residence Permit after your partner you are allowed to work without a work permit only when you receive your Residence Permit.

If you do not have a MVV stamped in your passport and your partner is a Knowledge Migrant you are allowed to work without a work permit when you receive your Residence Permit.

If your partner does not fall under the Knowledge Migrant category, you will not be allowed to work in The Netherlands without a work permit.

On arrival in The Netherlands, you and your family must register with the Town Hall of the City in which you are living as soon as possible. Please contact the Shell Immigration team for a list of Town Halls (See Section 3).

Important Note: If you are not married then both you and your partner will need to have your birth certificates “legalized” and obtain a Non-Marriage Certificate. Both must be obtained from your home country. You should contact your local HR representative to help you with this process.

*EU: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.

*EER: Lichtenstein, Norway & Iceland

2. Foreign diploma evaluation and translation

It is sometimes useful or necessary to have foreign qualifications/diplomas evaluated in terms of their Dutch equivalent particularly those obtained outside Europe. This procedure is called 'diploma vergelijking' or 'diploma waardering' (foreign credential or diploma evaluation).

Through the government-sponsored organisations NUFFIC www.nuffic.nl, COLO www.colo.nl and the Informatie Beheer Groep (IBG) - united together in the ‘Information Centre for Credential Evaluation’ (IcDW) - a comparison will be made between Dutch educational programmes and those in other countries www.ib-groep.nl

The diploma evaluation centres issue written statements indicating what a certain foreign diploma or course of education might be compared to in the Netherlands. These statements have the status of advice only, and no rights can be derived from them. The centres of expertise cannot be held liable for any damages resulting from decisions made by third parties on the basis of a diploma evaluation.

There is usually no need to translate certificates from English to Dutch. Certificates written in other (non European) languages may need to be translated, but this is best assessed on an individual basis.
The process of diploma evaluation and professional registration usually requires you to provide original diplomas or certified original copies (not copies of copies). In addition, you may have to provide proof of professional registration in your home country. Try to arrange this before you leave your base country.

NUFFIC specializes in academic/higher education, whereas Informatie Beheer Groep specializes in secondary schooling and COLO in vocational/middle level education (so called MBO-opleidingen). You cannot visit them in person, but can telephone to ask for more information or registration forms tel: 079-321 7930).

The Informatie Beheer Groep also specializes in legalizing Dutch diplomas recognised by the Ministry of Education in the Netherlands, when needed for diploma recognition outside the Netherlands.

If you want to know more about the European directives and procedures regarding recognition of professional qualifications please look at this site www.beroepserkenning.nl. This site (in Dutch/English) will give you more information about the recognition of your professional qualifications, specifically in the Netherlands. Certain professions are regulated in the Netherlands, medicine, teaching and architecture for example. This means that law regulates access to these professions and that you need the approval of a designated authority to work in these professions. The European Union has established directives (laws) to facilitate international access to these regulated professions.

Information Centre for Credential Evaluation (IcDW) (Informatie Centrum voor Diploma Waardering)
Postbus 7338
2701 AH Zoetermeer Tel: 079-321 7930
Open: Monday to Friday 09.00-12.30 hrs Fax: 079-321 7929
www.idw.nl (Dutch/English site)

NUFFIC
Kortenaerkade 11
Postbus 29777 Tel: 070-426 0274
2518 AX Den Haag Fax: 070-426 0399
Open: Mon/Thurs 09.00-12.00 hrs.
www.nuffic.nl (Dutch/English site)

COLO
Bredewater 8
2517 CA Zoetermeer Tel: 079-352 3000
www.colo.nl (Dutch only)

Informatie Beheer Groep
Department of Diploma Evaluation
Kempensberg 21
9722 TB Groningen Tel: 050-599 9999
www.ib-groep.nl (Dutch/English/German/French site)

3. Tax and Burger Service number

Before you start employment, you need a Burger Service number. This citizen service number - in Dutch written as Burgerservicenummer or BSN - is a unique personal ID number of every citizen who is registered in the population register (Municipal Personal Records Database) at the municipal authorities. The citizen service number is the successor to the SoFi number. The citizen service number will be used by all government organisations.

On November 26, 2007 the SoFi number of everyone who is registered in the
population register (Municipal Personal Records Database) at the municipal
authorities has been automatically converted into a citizen service number. You
do not have to do anything. From now on, everyone registering with the municipal
authorities will be given a citizens service number. You will automatically obtain
a citizens service number, when you are coming to live in the Netherlands and
when you register yourself with the municipal authorities.

The Burger Service number is necessary for your employer to pay your salary and to ensure that contributions for your benefits are properly credited. You will also need this number when you register with temporary employment agencies.

For more details on the Burger Service number check the Belastingdienst, website www.belastingdienst.nl

Belastingdienst
Stationsplein 75
2515 BX Den Haag
Tel: + 31 (0) 800 0543

The Tax Information Line is the unit of the Tax and Customs Administration that private individuals and entrepreneurs can contact with questions about, for instance, tax returns, national insurance contributions and allowances. For this purpose, one central telephone number has been set up: +31 (0)800 0543. The staff members of the Tax Information Line receive around eight million phone calls a year.

The Tax and Information Line can be contacted:

• on Mondays to Thursdays between 08.00 and 20.00 hours
• on Fridays between 08.00 and 17.00 hours.

The Dutch Ministry of Finance also has an excellent website (with an English sub section): www.minfin.nl/nl/home

4. Social Security

What can I do to build up a pension independent of my partner while we are on an expatriate assignment?

At a basic level, if you live abroad as an accompanying partner, you normally stop building up rights to your home country’s State pension, if such a scheme exists. It is usually possible to avoid this loss by paying minimum level voluntary contributions to the State scheme in your home country, whether or not you work in the expatriate location.

If you do work, check whether the Netherlands and your home country have reciprocal social security/pensions agreements. In these countries, compulsory contributions, which you pay in the Dutch State scheme, also count towards your old age pension.

Before you leave, you can ask the Dutch social security authorities for a record of contributions made. When you eventually retire and apply for a pension in your home country, you complete a form in which you include periods of work in the relevant countries. Your base country authorities advise you how to claim a proportionate pension from the countries in which you have worked.

Social Security agreements exist within the European Economic Area (EER) for Europeans. Other countries with which both the UK and the Netherlands have reciprocal agreements include Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Turkey and USA.

If you need further information or have questions about individual contribution records, contact the authorities in your home or host country. Useful web sites and telephone numbers are:

The UK:
The Contributions Agency (part of the Inland revenue)
www.hmrc.gov.uk/nic

The Benefits Agency (part of the Department for Work and Pensions)
www.dwp.gov.uk

The Netherlands:
De Sociale Verzekeringsbank (the Social Insurance Bank)
Kantoor Verzekeringen
Afdeling Beperkte Registratie
Postbus 1100
1180 BH, Amstelveen
www.svb.org (a useful site with sections in several languages if you are planning to work in the Netherlands.)

The Dutch Sociale Verzekeringsbank also has an international number for persons who live outside the Netherlands +31 20 540 04 00.

Other countries
The Careers & Development team has a file of contact addresses in other countries.

5. Health Insurance

With effect from 1st January 2006, each individual in The Netherlands is required to take out a Basis Policy. Following the changes, Shell had to review the way health coverage was provided to the expatriate employees, on full IBAS terms, and their families, in line with the new Dutch law and global Shell healthcare policy.

Current Options:
The options are:
• Reject the ZKA offer and leave the Basis dormant at no cost to the employee. Expatriates in the Netherlands will continue to be covered under GEMS.
• Accept the ZKA offer to activate Basis. This opens the choice to take out any of the ZKA top ups that are offered, all for the expatriate’s own account. They will also be covered by GEMS.
• Supplementary dental insurance cover can be taken out, for the employee’s own account, with another insurer, such as Kroller.

Working Partner:
If the partner of the Shell employee works in The Netherlands as well, it is necessary to inform ZKA about the preferences (dormant or active Basis policy). It is recommended to inform the employer about the Basis policy arrangements, to avoid duplication.

Non-working partner:
Partners need to confirm whether or not they wish to activate their Basis policy or leave it dormant.

Unaccompanied employee:
Family members who do not live in The Netherlands are not affected by the provision of Basis, and they are covered by GEMS. Eligible family members are covered up to their 22nd Birthday.

Specific questions:
For any specific questions about:
• Basis and ZKA top up policies, please contact ZKA on +31 71 364 0488
• GEMS, please contact BUPA International team on + 44 1273 718383 or by email on shell@bupa-intl.com
• Kroller dental insurance, please send an email to expats@kroller.nl .
• Other questions, please send an email to mailto:Central HR SPS Expatriate Medical Insurance SI-HRI.

6. Teaching Professionals and Teaching Support Staff

Certificate of Good Behaviour (Bewijs van Goed Gedrag)

Some of the international schools (e.g. British School in the Netherlands) require all teaching and support staff to have a ‘Certificate of good Behaviour’ as part of the employment procedure. This certificate is issued by the town hall in your municipality of residence in the Netherlands (there is no maximum or minimum length of residence required to obtain this certificate). If you have been resident in The Netherlands for less than 3 years, The British School in addition to the ‘Certificate of good behaviour’ from The Netherlands would require a similar certificate from your previous place of residence.

7. Registration of Medical Professionals

Individuals who wish to work in the health care sector in the Netherlands are expected to meet the requirements set by the Dutch government and others. The Individual Health Care Professions Act (BIG Act) requires health professionals to be registered in the BIG register.

The web site www.ribiz.nl gives more detailed information on registration but is only available in Dutch. An English version should be available shortly. For queries on medical registration you can contact 0900-8998225 and ask to speak to someone in English. Alternatively, contact the Careers Team for assistance.

Medical specialists should be aware of the fact that registration as a medical doctor in the BIG register is only the first step. They also have to be admitted to the Specialist Register, which is managed by the Medical Specialist Registration Committee (MSRC).

Medical Specialist Registration Committee
PO BOX 20065,
3502 LB Utrecht,
The Netherlands

We strongly recommend that medical professionals contact the Careers & Development team at Outpost The Hague for advice before applying to the BIG register or Specialist Register.