VisaMany foreign students in the Netherlands need a work permit for part-time jobs
Students and employers must check work authorisation, permitted hours, study progress and insurance before paid employment begins.
Official source date: 2026-11-02
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Read the employment conditions on the residence document
Students in the Netherlands who hold a residence document for study should check its employment conditions before starting a paid job. The IND employer guide confirms that an employer must obtain a work permit, known as a TWV, for students whose residence status carries limited employment rights. A job offer does not replace that authorisation.
The student must choose between no more than sixteen hours of work per week and full-time work in June, July and August. The hours arrangement belongs in the employer's application, and work is allowed during the permit's term. This is a current explanation of continuing rules, not a newly announced November reduction in working hours.
EEA and Swiss nationals have free movement rights. The Labour Authority also distinguishes non-European students whose residence document expressly allows unrestricted work without a TWV. Check the actual nationality and document endorsement rather than assume that every international student has the same position.
Keep study progress and residence eligibility in view
The Immigration and Naturalisation Service's higher-education student page, updated on 21 September 2026, requires full-time study at an accredited programme with a recognised educational sponsor. It normally requires at least half the study year's credits. The institution assesses progress and considers whether there are valid reasons for a shortfall before reporting an unsupported shortfall to the IND.
The IND then assesses whether study conditions remain satisfied. A student taking on substantial work should therefore discuss any academic difficulty promptly with the institution; a valid work permission does not erase the conditions attached to residence for study.
The same IND page permits self-employment while the student continues meeting residence requirements, without a TWV, but requires Chamber of Commerce registration and tax compliance. That is a different activity from employee work. It also allows a study-programme traineeship without a TWV. Students should identify which relationship they are actually entering before choosing the applicable permission route.
Ask the employer to use the correct work-permit route
UWV's employer guidance distinguishes a TWV from the combined residence and work permit, or GVVA. Its TWV explanation includes people already living in the Netherlands with a residence permit, such as international students. An employer should select the worker's actual category rather than begin a generic overseas-recruitment procedure without checking the student's existing status.
UWV also requires compliance with Dutch employment law, including the salary applicable to the worker's category. For working students, it notes that age and an applicable collective agreement can affect pay. Ask for the proposed hours and remuneration in writing and compare them with the authorisation being requested.
Use UWV's official employer page for the application route and category-specific conditions. The pages reviewed here do not establish a separate student TWV application charge or a guaranteed decision date; obtain current instructions directly from UWV rather than pay an intermediary on the assumption that a fee buys work permission. Confirm approval and the permitted start before performing the job.
Review insurance and distinguish a placement from ordinary work
The Labour Authority treats a work placement relevant to a Dutch study programme differently from other employment. It requires specific arrangements recorded between the employer, student and educational institution. Extra work for that employer is not automatically covered by the study-placement exception. Obtain the agreement before relying on that route.
The Social Insurance Bank, or SVB, separately explains that paid work, a paid internship or paid volunteer work can change a student's national-insurance position. Its student guidance says the person may become insured under the long-term-care scheme, Wlz, in which case Dutch health insurance is required. Do not assume an existing student insurance policy resolves that question.
Use the SVB guidance and its linked Wlz information to clarify the actual position, particularly where an allowance or cross-border arrangement complicates classification. Keep the employment or placement agreement, residence document and any work-permit decision together. Check insurance with the relevant authority before the new activity begins and tell the educational sponsor about changes affecting residence conditions.
