‘Multinationals and other companies and organizations that operate in international environments are in need of graduated foreign students’, the SER concludes in the advice. An online poll amongst 500 foreign students shows that they perceive current laws and regulations as hindering. Almost half of the respondents indicate that regulations regarding residence permits should be simplified.
Students from outside the European Union who would like to work in the Netherlands after their graduation, need to apply for a residence permit. They are allowed to search for a job for one year, based on the first permit. When they succeed, they are eligible for a permanent residence permit.
However, the costs for the permit in this so-called 'search-year' are €600, twice as much as the expenses for a regular student. Therefore, the SER suggests to lower those costs or even abolish them. In addition, the SER proposes to prolong the one-year search period because of signs that this period is 'absolutely insufficient'. Next to that, the SER recommends to end the work permit requirement for foreign graduated Master students and PhDs and to make it easier for foreign students to work next to their studies.
