Different terminology status holders and asylum seekers
Status holders are officially recognized as refugees by the IND and usually have a temporary residence permit of 5 years. Legally, status holders have the same rights and obligations as Dutch job seekers during this time. Asylum seekers do not yet have a residence permit and are not allowed to work in the Netherlands during the first 6 months. After this period, asylum seekers are allowed to work with a work permit (TWV) following these conditions. Doing volunteer work is allowed immediately upon arrival in the Netherlands without a work permit, but with a volunteer statement. Refugees from Ukraine fall under the Temporary Protection Directive and have other conditions to meet.
Applying for a work permit (TWV)
As an employer, you are responsible for applying for a work permit (TWV), you can do this through the UWV (only in Dutch). Applying for a TWV is free of charge. The conditions asylum seekers must meet to apply for the permit are:
- The asylum seeker is over 18 years of age
- The application for asylum has been pending with the IND for at least 6 months
- The asylum seeker has a valid W-document
To apply for the work permit (TWV) you need a copy of the (draft) employment contract with a signature. You can apply for the work permit here. It can take up to 5 weeks for the UWV to process the application. You can read more information on the TWV here.
(!) Asylum seekers with a residence permit or volunteering do not need to apply for a work permit.
Information legal case 24 weeks regulation
Formerly, asylum seekers were allowed to work a maximum of 24 weeks per year. The Council of State on 29 november 2023 ruled that this requirement is in violation of the European law. Because of this decision, asylum seekers are now allowed to work without restriction upon 6 months after arriving and staying legitimately in the Netherlands. If you currently hold a work permit (TWV) with a validity of 24 weeks and you want to keep the asylum seeker employed for longer, you can apply for a new work permit through the UWV's digital portal (in Dutch). Read more about the consequences of this ruling.
More information on rules and regulations
You can find relevant information on the following websites:
Sociaal Economische Raad (SER) - Employment Pointer (only available in Dutch)
Dutch Council for Refugees - VluchtelingenWerk (only available in Dutch)
General information refugees in the Netherlands - Refugeehelp
More information about financial support
