You make international recruitment part of your growth strategy by treating it as a predictable talent supply chain: you identify which roles are scarce, build consistent sourcing channels, design your process for speed and candidate experience, and ensure compliance for Highly Skilled Migrants through the Dutch highly skilled migrant scheme. This allows you to scale teams without putting quality or continuity under pressure.
This works especially well for organizations with structural shortages in technical profiles, where local hiring delivers too little volume or lead times that are too long. It does require clear role choices, a tight process, and strong alignment between recruitment, hiring managers, HR, payroll, and immigration.
Below you’ll find the key questions that help you use international hiring in a structured way and reduce risks.
What does international recruitment mean within a growth strategy?
International recruitment within a growth strategy means structurally hiring talent from outside the Netherlands to achieve growth, with clear goals, channels, and processes. You manage for time to hire, quality of hire, and retention, and you put the prerequisites for Highly Skilled Migrants in place from the start—such as immigration, onboarding, and relocation.
Instead of ad hoc “trying international search once,” you make choices you can repeat and improve every quarter. Think of defining target roles upfront, building talent pools by country or region, and standardizing interviews and offer processes.
- Strategic: what growth are you aiming for, and which skills are missing locally?
- Operational: which sourcing channels consistently deliver candidates?
- Compliant: how do you arrange the highly skilled migrant route, salary thresholds, and employer obligations?
- People-focused: how do you support candidates with housing, registration, and getting started in the Netherlands?
How do you decide which roles to fill internationally?
You decide which roles to fill internationally by combining scarcity and impact: roles that directly block growth and that you can’t fill locally fast enough are the best candidates. Use data from your recruitment funnel and input from hiring managers to determine which profiles to open up first to Highly Skilled Migrants.
Make the decision concrete with a short scorecard per role. This helps you build internal buy-in and prevents you from using international recruitment for roles you can also fill quickly locally.
- Time to fill: which vacancies remain open for too long on a structural basis?
- Business impact: which role slows down product, projects, or revenue the most?
- Local availability: how many suitable candidates do you get from Dutch channels?
- Onboarding complexity: how quickly can someone become productive?
- Compensation and level: does the role fit your salary structure and IND thresholds?
Tip: start with 1 to 3 “anchor roles” such as software engineers, data engineers, or embedded specialists. Once your process is running smoothly, expand to adjacent profiles.
What steps do you take to hire Highly Skilled Migrants compliantly in the Netherlands?
To hire Highly Skilled Migrants compliantly in the Netherlands, set up a fixed sequence: determine whether the employer is a recognized sponsor or works through a recognized sponsor, verify that the role and contract fit within the highly skilled migrant scheme, and then submit the residence permit application to the IND. After that, arrange onboarding, registration, and insurance without missing deadlines.
For 2026, it’s important to apply the correct salary threshold, because there are three separate IND thresholds. As of January 1, 2026, the thresholds are: highly skilled migrant ≥ 30 years: € 5,942, highly skilled migrant < 30 years: € 4,357, orientation year scheme: € 3,122. Which threshold applies depends on the candidate’s category.
- Determine the route: your own recognized sponsorship or working through a recognized sponsor.
- Contract and salary check: correct threshold, correct salary components, and contract duration aligned with the application period.
- IND application: apply for the residence permit via the highly skilled migrant route.
- Travel planning: whether someone can enter earlier depends on nationality and MVV requirements.
- After arrival: collect the residence document from the IND and arrange municipal registration as soon as possible; the order differs by situation.
- Ongoing compliance: as a recognized sponsor, you must comply with the notification duty, information duty, record-keeping duty, and duty of care.
Also pay attention to practical compliance: anyone who lives or works in the Netherlands must generally take out Dutch health insurance within four months. And for registration and the BSN, municipal options can vary significantly by location.
How do you set up your recruitment process for international candidates?
You set up your recruitment process for international candidates by removing friction: clear job descriptions in English, fast screening, predictable interview rounds, and an offer that includes immigration and relocation. For Highly Skilled Migrants, a tight process with clear timelines works better than extra rounds, because candidates often compare multiple countries.
Make the process measurable and repeatable. That helps you scale faster and enables hiring managers to assess candidates consistently.
- Job posting and EVP: specify the tech stack, team context, salary range, hybrid policy, and start date.
- Screening: immediately check must-haves, time zone, notice period, and willingness to relocate.
- Interviews: 2 to 3 rounds with fixed scorecards and a fast feedback loop.
- Offer: explain what you arrange regarding the residence permit, starting in the Netherlands, and onboarding.
- Preboarding: plan tasks such as documents, IND and municipality scheduling, and the first working day.
Practical tip: assign one owner for the end-to-end candidate journey. International candidates often drop out when responsibilities are fragmented across recruitment, HR, and external parties.
What are the biggest risks and cost drivers in international recruitment?
The biggest risks and cost drivers in international recruitment are delays due to unclear processes, compliance errors in the contract or salary threshold, and drop-off after acceptance due to housing or onboarding issues. Costs also increase due to additional sourcing, relocation, temporary housing, and productivity loss when start dates shift.
You reduce risks by working out scenarios in advance and assigning clear ownership. Don’t think only about “the hire,” but about the first 90 days in the Netherlands.
- Compliance risk: an incorrect salary threshold or incomplete records can lead to delays or rework.
- Planning risk: IND processing times vary; recognized sponsor applications are often handled within a few weeks, but plan buffers.
- Travel risk: MVV requirements and nationality determine if and when someone can travel.
- Housing: scarcity can affect start dates and create additional costs.
- Retention: without proper support with registration, health insurance, and settling in, attrition increases.
Make costs transparent by splitting them into one-off costs (sourcing, immigration, relocation) and recurring costs (payroll, benefits, support). This helps you manage international recruitment as an investment rather than a surprise on the P&L.
How All About Expats helps with international recruitment as a growth strategy
We help you make international recruitment predictable by organizing immigration, employment, and practical relocation for Highly Skilled Migrants in one approach. You stay focused on selection and team growth, while we ensure the highly skilled migrant route—and the associated compliance and execution—are tightly managed, from application through to starting in the Netherlands.
Specifically, we support you with:
- Immigration via the highly skilled migrant scheme: residence permit application with the IND and guidance through the process as a recognized sponsor.
- Compliance and back office: setting up administration, obligations, and practical checks on salary thresholds and contract arrangements.
- Relocation and settling in: support with arrival steps such as the IND residence document, municipal registration, and practical onboarding.
Want to align on which roles you should fill internationally first, and how to set up this process optimally in 2026? Then use contact us or view our approach to immigration for employers.
