You can best support international employees during their first year in the Netherlands with a tight plan before the start date, a practical onboarding in the first 30 days, and a fixed annual administrative calendar for immigration, registration, payroll, and compliance. This prevents delays, stress, and misunderstandings and helps Highly Skilled Migrants feel productive and at home more quickly.
The biggest gains usually come from clear ownership per task, realistic lead times, and arranging early the items that depend on appointments with the IND, the municipality, and the housing market. This is especially true for highly skilled migrants from outside the EU who come to the Netherlands via the highly skilled migrant scheme.
Below you’ll find the most frequently asked questions by phase, with concrete steps, checklists, and key points for 2026.
What do you need to arrange before an international employee’s start date?
Before the start date, arrange the residence permit via the highly skilled migrant scheme, a feasible relocation and arrival plan, and the basics for payroll and compliance. Organizing this early prevents Highly Skilled Migrants from starting in the Netherlands without the right documents, salary agreements, or a practical landing.
Work from a short preboarding checklist with clear deadlines and owners:
- Contract and salary agreements: check whether the role and salary meet IND standards. As of 1 January 2026, three separate thresholds apply: highly skilled migrant ≥ 30 years: € 5,942, highly skilled migrant < 30 years: € 4,357, orientation year scheme: € 3,122. Record which category applies.
- Immigration planning: align on whether the employee requires an MVV. Whether someone can already enter during the procedure depends on nationality. If an MVV is required, the employee travels within the MVV’s validity period and then collects the residence document from the IND.
- Onboarding preparation: create accounts, plan the first work week, assign a buddy, and prepare a 30-60-90 day plan.
- Housing and arrival: start early with temporary accommodation and explain which documents are needed for renting, registration, and banking.
- Compliance roles: determine who is the recognized sponsor. Depending on the setup, this is the employer or an external party. Immediately link an internal owner to the four obligations: notification obligation, information obligation, record-keeping obligation, and duty of care.
What does a good onboarding in the first 30 days look like?
A good onboarding in the first 30 days combines starting work, practical settling in, and clear expectations. You help Highly Skilled Migrants most by arranging the basics in week 1, building routines in weeks 2 and 3, and setting goals and feedback moments in week 4.
Make it concrete with a weekly structure you can repeat each time:
- Week 1: welcome and team introductions, workstation and tooling, explanation of working hours and communication, buddy check-in, confirm the first IND and municipality appointments.
- Week 2: clarify role and deliverables, deliver the first small deliverables, explain leave, sick reporting, and expense claims, start Dutch essentials such as banking and a phone plan.
- Week 3: review workload and collaboration, additional explanation of decision-making and escalations, check whether registration and documents are on track.
- Week 4: 30-day conversation, goals for 60 and 90 days, development plan and any training, check on well-being and housing.
Also schedule fixed touchpoints. A short check-in after 3 days and after 2 weeks prevents small issues from becoming big.
Which administration and registrations recur in the first year?
In the first year, the main recurring items are: residence documents and changes reported to the IND, registration with the municipality, BSN-related processes, health insurance, and ongoing payroll and HR administration. By bundling this into an annual calendar, you keep compliance in order and give Highly Skilled Migrants predictability.
Use a recurring checklist with moments when you actively verify:
- After arrival: arrange both registration in the BRP and collection of the residence document as soon as possible. Which step can be done first differs by municipality and situation.
- Within 4 months: anyone living or working in the Netherlands must generally take out Dutch health insurance within four months. Explain what this means for the payslip and premium.
- Ongoing: address changes, contract changes, role changes, or termination may require notifications to the IND or internal file documentation. Link this to a fixed HR workflow.
- Periodic: check that the file remains complete for the recognized sponsor’s record-keeping obligation and information obligation.
Also pay attention to temporary registration. Options vary widely by municipality, and not every business address qualifies. Always check this with the municipality in advance to avoid disappointment.
How do you help international employees with housing and day-to-day matters?
You help international employees with housing and day-to-day matters by arranging temporary accommodation, managing expectations about the housing market, and providing a practical starter set for banking, phone, transport, and healthcare. This reduces stress and ensures Highly Skilled Migrants can function independently outside of work more quickly.
Make it practical with a settling-in pack you share in advance:
- Housing: start with temporary accommodation and, in parallel, plan the search for longer-term housing. Provide a realistic timeline and a checklist of documents landlords often request.
- Finances: explain bank accounts, salary payments, and fixed monthly costs. Link this to what someone needs for rent and subscriptions.
- Mobility: how paying for public transport works, buying a bike, parking, and possibly a lease or mobility budget.
- Healthcare: explain that Dutch health insurance is generally required within four months if someone lives or works in the Netherlands, and which steps the employee needs to take themselves.
A short FAQ with local customs such as waste separation, opening hours, and the appointment culture at public bodies prevents many ad hoc questions in the first weeks.
How do you prevent misunderstandings caused by cultural and work-style differences?
You prevent misunderstandings caused by cultural and work-style differences by making expectations explicit around communication, feedback, and decision-making, and by training teams to make clear agreements. Highly Skilled Migrants perform better when your norms don’t remain implicit but are translated into concrete behaviors and routines.
This helps in practice:
- Make unwritten rules visible: how direct is feedback, when do you escalate, what does ownership mean, and what does a good status update look like.
- Use fixed formats: agendas and minutes, definition of done, and a standard for chat and email. This reduces differences in interpretation.
- Check understanding: don’t just ask whether something is clear—have someone summarize the next step and when it will be done.
- Buddy and manager cadence: schedule weekly 1:1s in the first 8 weeks and then biweekly. This helps you catch friction early.
Keep nuance in mind: differences aren’t only about nationality, but also seniority, previous company cultures, and personal preferences. So actively ask what someone needs to work well.
How All About Expats helps support international employees in their first year in the Netherlands
We help you by bundling immigration, employment, payroll, and relocation around the highly skilled migrant route into one approach, so Highly Skilled Migrants can start compliantly faster and your HR team has fewer loose ends. We work exclusively with the highly skilled migrant route via a residence permit with the IND and align planning, documents, and obligations to your situation.
- Immigration and compliance: support with the residence permit and setting up processes around the notification obligation, information obligation, record-keeping obligation, and duty of care.
- Practical landing: support with arrival steps such as IND and municipality appointments, plus guidance on common settling-in questions.
- Employment and payroll: one workflow for contract, salary thresholds per category, and ongoing HR administration.
Want to align on what the fastest and most predictable route is in your case? Get in touch via contact us or view our approach to immigration for employers.
