Recognised Sponsor of the IND

To hire a highly skilled migrant, it is required that the employer in question is a recognised sponsor of the IND. This recognition means that the company is considered by the IND as a reliable partner.

Advantages are:

• The recognised sponsor uses an accelerated admission procedure. The IND aims to make a decision within 2 weeks;
• The recognised sponsor is required to send fewer supporting documents to the IND;
• The recognised sponsor has a fixed point of contact at the IND.

A recognised sponsorship is not necessary when applying for an “EU Blue Card” residence permit or a residence permit in the context of an intra corporate transfer. If the company is not recognized as a sponsor, the processing time of the application takes between 8 and 12 weeks.

The IND fee for being a recognised sponsor in 2021 is € 4,125. For companies that have been in existence for less than 1.5 years and for companies that have fewer than 50 employees worldwide, there is a reduced IND fee of €2,062.

The application procedure for recognized sponsor can be divided into two groups: a relatively simple procedure for companies that have been in existence for more than 3 years and a difficult and lengthy procedure for companies that have been in existence for less than 1.5 years. For companies that have been in existence for more than 1.5 years but less than 3 years, the IND may decide that the company must also follow the difficult and lengthy procedure. This is the case if the IND has doubts about the continuity and solvency of the company.

Company has been in existence for more than 3 years
Companies that have been in existence for more than 3 years can be recognized as a sponsor by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) without assessment.

The most important conditions are:

• Registration with the Chamber of Commerce
• The company is not in arrears with the payment of social security contributions and payroll taxes
• The company has not been fined a tax offense in the past four years prior to the application for recognized sponsor, or a fine for violation of the Aliens Employment Act, Minimum Wage and Holiday Allowance Act, and the Aliens Act
• Drivers must be reliable. The IND can request a declaration of behavior in this regard
• The company may not have been declared bankrupt in the past three years
• The turnover and profitability of the company.
• The IND will decide on these applications in 4 weeks. The legal decision period is 3 months.

Company has been in existence for less than 1.5 years or between 1.5 years and 3 years
The application procedure for companies that have been in existence for less than 1.5 years consists of a lot of paperwork and has a fairly long lead time (count on 6 months). Advice on these applications is provided by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and not by the IND itself. The RVO will assess whether the continuity and solvency of the company are sufficiently guaranteed. This assessment is based on the points system described below. If RVO advises positively, the company is recognized as a sponsor. If the company achieves sufficient points, a positive recommendation from RVO follows. A total of 100 points can be achieved. 50 points are sufficient for a positive advice.

Before the RVO starts to substantively assess the application, the RVO first checks the following points:

• Is the company registered in the Chamber of Commerce?
• Has there been a change in the shareholder structure of the company?
• Has there been or has been a takeover, a moratorium or bankruptcy?
• If there has been a change in the shareholder structure or if there is (has been) a takeover, a moratorium or bankruptcy of the company, the company will have to explain this and make it clear on the basis of documents. If that does not happen, the RVO will not proceed with the substantive assessment.

In a substantive assessment, the RVO uses the documents to assess whether the continuity and solvency are sufficient.

As an employer, you are obliged to report changes to the IND if they affect the right of residence of the highly skilled migrant, the employee transferred within a company, or the employee for regular paid employment, seasonal work or learning to work.

For instance:

• If the employee no longer meets the wage requirement;
• If the employment contract has been terminated;
• If the employee receives a different position;
• If the employee returns to the country of origin; • if the employee moves;
• If you no longer have a view of the employee.

As an employer, you are required to collect and record relevant information about your employee.

For instance:

• The employment contract or the appointment decision;
• The work permit if required;
• Loon The wage specifications;
• A copy of the passport.

An IND recognition applies per legal person. If your company consists of several legal entities, then each legal entity must be a separate sponsor. Of course only if the legal entities concerned want to hire highly skilled migrants.

The IND can check at any time whether your organization complies with the rules, for example by requesting information from your organization. If you do not comply with the rules, the IND can take various measures.

Suspension or withdrawal of approval
The IND can suspend the recognized sponsor as a recognized sponsor. During the suspension, the IND will investigate whether the organization still meets the conditions for recognition. If the organization does not comply with the rules several times or no longer meets the conditions for recognition, the IND can withdraw the recognition. The IND can then refuse the organization as a recognized sponsor for 5 years.

Withdrawal of residence permits
In the event of suspension or withdrawal of recognition, the IND can withdraw the residence permit of the highly skilled migrants who are employed by you.

Warning and administrative fine
The first time that the recognized sponsor does not comply with the rules, a warning usually follows. The IND may impose a fine for a subsequent violation. The amount of the fine depends, among other things, on the seriousness of the violation and the number of violations. In the case of serious violations, the IND can also immediately impose a fine, without prior warning.

Declaration of a criminal offense
The IND is obliged to report if there is a reasonable suspicion of an offense. For example, if the organization has deliberately provided incorrect information. The Public Prosecution Service will then determine whether your organization will be prosecuted. In that case, the organization may be fined or the director sentenced to prison.

Expulsion costs
If the highly skilled migrant can no longer legally reside in the Netherlands, the Dutch government will check whether he is leaving the Netherlands. If he does not leave on his own initiative, the government can deport him. The IND can recover the costs incurred thereby from the recognized sponsor. This concerns the costs for transport to the airport or border, the flight ticket and the costs of travel documents, such as a replacement passport. The costs can be recovered from
1 year after your organization no longer acts as a sponsor for the knowledge migrant in question.