After graduation at Erasmus School of Law, visa/residence permit required foreign students do have the possibility to extend their stay for a period of one year to search for a job as a highly skilled migrant. In order to make use of this so called ‘search period’ you need to apply for a change in the purpose of stay endorsed on your residence permit.With a residence permit for the purpose of ‘search year upon graduation’ you have free access to the Dutch labour market. This means that you can take up any paid or unpaid employment and your employer does not have to apply for a work permit.
During the one year ‘search period’ you are not allowed to ask for any State benefits. In order to pay your own way while searching for a job that allows you to stay on in the Netherlands you may work freely. No work permit is required. After the one year ‘search period’ you must either apply for a change of purpose or leave the country. For more information on this topic, please visit Holland Alumni.nl (NUFFIC).
Where to start ?
First learn about yourself and the world of work. Then identify and explore potentially satisfying occupations and develop an effective strategy to realize your goals. Courses offered by the University Language and Training Centre, such as:
CV & application letter
- Job interview preparation
- Dutch language courses
may be very useful. You can start browsing for jobs through one of the links below
Useful links
- Academic Transfer (vacancy database)
- Undutchables (recruitment agency)
- Unique Multilingual (recruitment agency)