Many companies in the Netherlands work with Highly Skilled Migrants. Not many companies know that hiring Highly Skilled Migrants under 30 can bring significant advantages. I’ll make myself clear in the below article.
Hiring Highly Skilled Migrants below 30 years; what happens when they turn 30?
First of all, in order to hire a Highly Skilled Migrant, you have to be a recognized sponsor at the IND, but let’s say that you are, for the sake of argument. Secondly, when you’ve hired an employee under the Highly Skilled Migrant procedure, the salary requirement of that year needs to be met.
If you hire a Highly Skilled Migrant while they are under 30 years old, they can remain under the under 30 age category concerning their salary for as long as they stay employed by your company/the entity – even after they turn 30!
Renewal for Highly Skilled Migrants that were hired < 30 years
If your employee was under 30 when you hired him/her, but turns 30 while still under your entity, you do not need to make any adjustments – just make sure that, at the time that your employee’s permit is up for a renewal, that his/her salary meets at least the under 30 salary requirements of the year that the renewal will be filed.
If the employee changes entity or employer after obtaining the age of 30, the over 30 salary requirements will be applicable.
Let me explain:
Let’s say you hired me in 2025 as Highly Skilled Migrant per April 1. And let’s say I was 29 at that time. My birthday is on April 13 -true story (though I am actually a 1993 ”kid” 😊).
That means that you hired me while I was under 30, so the under 30 salary criteria will apply for as long I remain under the same entity.
Now, I have a permanent contract, which means that I received a residence permit valid for 5 years. During the 5 year period, my salary does not need to be adjusted. Not when I turn 30, not in general.
I stay with you until my residence permit is up for renewal, in 2030.
My salary will then have to be adjusted in 2030, per the under 30 salary criteria of that year.
Reduced Salary Criteria
Apart from the Highly Skilled Migrant procedure, there are other routes you can consider when hiring new talent. For example, in the Netherlands we have a permit called zoekjaar vergunning (search year permit). With this permit, employees can be employed (or work as intern) with your company, no salary requirements are required.
Persons with a zoekjaar vergunning (search year permit) can work with all companies in the Netherlands, recognized sponsor or not.
After the search year, if you still want to work with your search year employee, you will have to submit a Change of Purpose to a Highly Skilled Migrant. However, for this a recognized sponsorship is required. The reduced salary criteria will automatically apply for him/her. What is even better is that the reduced salary level of that year will always stay intact. Even when the employee changes employer or entity!
Note! Your employee does not need to have the zoekjaar visa in order to qualify for the reduced salary criteria. He/she just needs to qualify for one. Feel free to ask me more about it!
More info?
Do you want to know more about our immigration assistance? We are gladly there for you! Just send a mail to info.nl@anywr-group.com.
