Most Indians come to the Netherlands through one of a few work routes. Which one fits depends on your employer, your salary and how long you're staying. Here's the plain-English version.
Highly Skilled Migrant (kennismigrant)
The most common route. Your employer must be an IND-recognised sponsor and pay you above a salary threshold. In 2026 the gross monthly minimums (excluding the 8% holiday allowance) are:
| Category | 2026 gross / month |
|---|---|
| Highly skilled migrant, 30+ | €5,942 |
| Highly skilled migrant, under 30 | €4,357 |
| Reduced (recent graduate / search year) | €3,122 |
| EU Blue Card | €5,942 |
Here's the full breakdown of the highly skilled migrant vs ICT choice, from our channel:
ICT (intra-corporate transfer)
- For employees transferred within the same company from India to a Dutch branch.
- Tied to that employer and role, with its own conditions.
- Often used by large IT and consulting firms moving staff over.
EU Blue Card
- An EU-wide highly-skilled route that needs a recognised higher-education degree.
- Similar salary level to the highly skilled migrant route, with more mobility across EU countries over time.
Seasonal work permit
- For short, seasonal jobs (think agriculture and horticulture), capped at up to 24 weeks in a year.
- Your employer arranges a work permit (TWV) through the Dutch authorities; it isn't a long-term settlement route.
- Very different from the skilled-migrant path, and a common target for scams, so verify the employer carefully (see our scam guide).
Rules, thresholds and categories change every year and depend on your exact situation. Always confirm the current requirements on the IND site before acting.
Official sources
Questions & answers
- I work in embedded systems / semiconductors. Can I get hired in the Netherlands directly from India?
- Yes, and this is one of the strongest fields for it. The Eindhoven region (Brainport) is one of Europe's biggest semiconductor and embedded hubs: ASML, NXP, Philips, Thermo Fisher, VDL and more, plus ASM in Almere and Nexperia in Nijmegen. Engineering teams work in English, so you do not need Dutch to start. These companies are IND recognised sponsors and genuinely recruit from India with relocation support on the highly skilled migrant visa, but only through direct applications on their career pages or LinkedIn, never through paid agents. A quick correction we hear a lot: TSMC is not in the Netherlands (their new EU fab is in Dresden, Germany); people usually mean ASML. If your heart is set on automotive embedded specifically, Germany has more of it (Bosch, Continental, ZF), but German language matters there. Another proven route: a master's at TU Eindhoven or TU Delft, then the zoekjaar (orientation year) visa into ASML or NXP.
- Can my spouse work if I'm the highly skilled migrant?
- Yes, and it's one of the best parts. Your dependent partner gets a residence permit with free access to the labour market, no separate work permit, no employer sponsorship needed. They can take any job, freelance, or start a business. Worth telling their prospective employers this, as some don't realise partners of a kennismigrant can simply work.