The search year for work upon graduation
Making use of the one year search period upon completion of your study to find employment as a knowledge migrant
Students that have graduated from Maastricht University with a bachelor’s or master’s degree are allowed to search for a job in the Netherlands for a maximum period of one year. Unfortunately, the university is not allowed to do this for you so you will have to do it yourself.
In order to do so, you should change the purpose of your stay by completing and submitting the appropriate IND form. (The application form is called: "application residence permit without MVV or change the purpose of stay)
On page 7, please indicate the option “to search for a job as a highly skilled migrant or to start an innovative business after having finsihed your study, and to make use of the orientation year." Then on page 13 indicate the option "orientation year for graduates".
Legal fees for this application are € 600.
Please note the following on the time to file the application:
The application must be sent in no later than one week before your current residence permit expires to prevent the creation of a “residence gap” (a period in which you have no legal residence). As your final diploma will almost certainly not be available at that time, you should include a declaration of intent from your program, stating:
- when you have graduated
- for which program you have graduated
- when the final diploma will be issued.
As soon as your diploma is available, you will have to send a certified copy to Dutch Immigration (IND).
The consequences of your application:
Upon graduation, Maastricht University will inform Dutch Immigration that your residence permit for study purposes can be terminated.
Regardless of the date of application, the expiration date of a residence permit for the search year will never be later than one year after your graduation date. During its validity you are allowed to accept all sorts of work without the need for a work permit.
However, as soon as you accept a job, you will have to take out a basic health insurance. More information on this subject can be found here.
Within this year you must have found a job as a knowledge migrant to be able to continue your residence with this purpose. The requirements of a job as knowledge migrant are the following:
- the company you work for has to be accepted as a company that is allowed to employ knowledge migrants. Check the IND website for more information on this topic.
- your annual income has to be at least € 25,000
Although every effort has been made, no rights can be derived from this information. When in doubt, please double check the information at Dutch Immigration at telephone number 0900-1234561 or at their webiste at www.IND.nl/english
