My very first employer in the Netherlands was Expatrix. They’re a big deal in the local payroll game (before moving here, I mostly just heard the word “outstaffing”). Great guys, I absolutely love them.
The founder had this neat side project called rabotaem.nl — basically a survival guide with use cases for expats moving to Holland. Sure, I saw it as a good marketing opportunity, but its true superpower? The ability to just drop a link instead of explaining the exact same FAQs for the hundredth time. Saved time is saved money. So, the team (myself included, doing what little I could) poured a ton of energy into writing detailed, foolproof solutions to classic expat problems.
Sadly, an English version never happened. English-speaking expats are a different breed with their own specific quirks, so just shoving articles into ChatGPT isn’t really an option.
Fast forward a few years, and now I’m the one constantly fielding questions from my English-speaking buddies. Hence, this new “Tips” section on this site. It’s bare-bones, but I’m sure it’ll save someone’s day.
To save us all some time, here’s the TL;DR: Yes, moving to the Netherlands is fast and easy. There’s just one tiny catch — you need a gross salary of about €6k.
If you have that, give it a month or so, and you’ll be strolling around Amsterdam with a shiny new residence permit. If you settle outside of Amsterdam, that kind of cash might even comfortably cover a mortgage (depending on your appetite, of course). Oh, and this golden ticket covers your partner and the whole herd of kids, too.
That’s the gist of it. But if you want the specifics, don’t interrogate me — go ask the guys at Expatrix. They actually know what they’re doing.