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Many expats live in the Netherlands with a permit that is linked to their job. The most common one is the highly skilled migrant permit (kennismigrant), and another is the EU Blue Card. If you have one of these and you lose your job, it's about more than money: your right to live here depends on your employer. The good news: you don't have to leave straight away. You get a set amount of time to find a new job, called a search period. You can usually get unemployment money (WW). And since 22 May 2026, many people get 6 months to search instead of 3. This guide explains, from the start, the immigration rules, your money, and what to check before you sign anything.
The idea in simple words
Your permit says: "this person may live here because this company employs them". If the job ends, the government gives you a few months to find a new company that is allowed to hire people like you.
During that time, you can usually get unemployment benefit (WW), an insurance paid for from your salary. It doesn't harm your permit. If your employer ends your job, they must also pay you an extra amount.
Be careful with the papers your employer asks you to sign. The words and the end date in them decide how much money you get and how long you can stay.
The most important facts
- Search period: up to 3 months to find a new employer, or up to 6 months if you have had your permit for 2 years or more. It never goes past the end date of your permit.
- It starts on the day your work contract ends, not on the day you hear the news.
- New employer: must be an approved sponsor, and must pay at least a minimum salary. In 2026 that's €5,942 a month before tax if you are 30 or older.
- Unemployment money (Werkloosheidswet: money from the UWV for a while after you lose your job, if you worked long enough.): 75% of your pay for the first 2 months, then 70%, up to about €5,055 a month before tax. Getting it doesn't harm your permit.
- Leaving payment: the legal In Dutch: transitievergoeding. Money your employer must pay you when they end or don't renew your contract. is a third of a month's salary for each year you worked there, up to €102,000 in 2026.
- 30% ruling: start your next job within 3 months, or you lose this tax benefit, even if your search period is longer.
Your search period: 3 or 6 months
When your job ends, the Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst: the Dutch immigration office. It decides on residence permits. (the immigration office) doesn't take away your residence permit straight away. You get a search period (zoekperiode) to find a new employer. On 22 May 2026, a new EU law started (the revised EU An EU law with rules for permits that let people both live and work in an EU country.). Since then, the search period is longer for people who have been here a while:
| How long you've had your permit | Longest search period |
|---|---|
| Less than 2 years | 3 months |
| 2 years or more | 6 months |
| Your permit ends sooner | Until the permit's end date |
This applies to highly skilled migrants, EU Blue Card holders, researchers, and people with a permit for paid work. Three details matter:
- The clock starts when your contract ends. Your notice period, and any paid time at home before the end (vrijstelling van werk, also called garden leave), come before that. So they don't use up your search period. A later contract end date gives you more time.
- Your permit's end date is a hard limit. If your card runs out 2 months after your contract ends, you have 2 months, however long you've been here. Check the date on your residence card now.
- Your employer must tell the IND that you've left. You must report changes in your situation within 4 weeks. Reporting is normal and doesn't end your permit by itself.
If you don't find a new employer in time, the IND can take away your permit. You'll first get a letter that says this, and you can reply before they decide.
Finding a new employer in time
Not every job lets you stay. To keep a highly skilled migrant permit, your new employer must:
- Be an approved sponsor (erkend referent). This is a company the IND has approved to hire people from abroad. You can check it in the IND's public list before you even apply. Big employers usually are. Start-ups and small companies often aren't.
- Pay at least the minimum salary for the permit, not counting the In Dutch: vakantiegeld. Extra pay of at least 8% of your yearly salary, usually paid in May.:
| Highly skilled migrant, 2026 | Monthly salary before tax |
|---|---|
| 30 or older | €5,942 |
| Younger than 30 | €4,357 |
| Lower amount (for example after the orientation year) | €3,122 |
| EU Blue Card | €5,942 |
Watch your birthday: if you turned 30 since your first permit, the new employer usually has to pay the higher amount. Use our salary calculator to compare offers on what you take home, not just the amount before tax.
The new employer tells the IND about the change. Since 22 May 2026, the IND has 45 days to check a change of employer (30 days for an EU Blue Card). In special cases it can take 15 days longer. If the IND doesn't decide in time, you may work for the new employer for the rest of your permit's time. Ask the new employer's HR or immigration adviser when you can start: don't assume you can begin on day one.
If the search period runs out
If no new job is coming, look at other ways to stay before your search period ends. If you apply for another permit while your current one is still valid, you avoid a gap in your right to live here (verblijfsgat). A gap can make you start counting from zero again for permanent residence and becoming Dutch.
- Permanent residence: after 5 years, you may be able to swap your permit for one that doesn't depend on a job at all. See our guide to permanent residence in the Netherlands.
- Orientation year: if you finished a degree at a Dutch university, or at one of the top 200 universities abroad, in the last 3 years. See the orientation year (zoekjaar).
- Partner permit: if your partner is Dutch, an EU citizen living here, or has their own residence permit with enough income.
- Working for yourself: Americans and Japanese people have an easier way. See DAFT for Americans.
Family members with a permit linked to yours are affected too. If none of these routes works, our leaving the Netherlands checklist explains deregistering, your tax return and cancelling contracts.
Your money: WW unemployment benefit
WW (Werkloosheidswet) is an insurance for employees, paid for with money taken from salaries. With a permit, you can get it like anyone else. For the IND, it doesn't count as living on government help ("public funds"), so getting it doesn't put your permit at risk.
Can you get it?
- You worked as an employee in at least 26 of the last 36 weeks.
- You lost at least 5 working hours a week (or half your hours, if you worked less than 10), and the pay that goes with them.
- You are available for work, and it's not your fault that you lost your job (see the section about the settlement agreement below).
Apply online at the The Dutch government office for unemployment and sickness benefits. with your DigiD as soon as you know your last working day, and at the latest 1 week after it. Work in another EU or EEA country or Switzerland can also count: ask the benefits office there for a A European form that shows your work and insurance history in another country, so it can count for Dutch unemployment benefit..
How much, and for how long
| Period | WW benefit | Maximum amount, before tax per month |
|---|---|---|
| Months 1 and 2 | 75% of your daily pay | about €5,055 |
| From month 3 | 70% of your daily pay | about €4,718 |
Your daily pay is based on your salary over the past year, up to a limit of €309.91 a day since 1 July 2026. On a normal expat salary you'll reach that limit, so your benefit is much less than 70% of what you earned.
How long you get it depends on how long you have worked. If you pass the 26-week test, you get 3 months. You only get longer if you also worked in at least 4 of the last 5 calendar years. Then you get 1 month for each year worked, for your first 10 years (and half a month per year after that, for years since 2016), up to 24 months. Many expats who arrived recently get the 3 months.
WW doesn't make your stay longer
WW and your search period run at the same time, but one doesn't make the other longer. If the IND takes away your permit, your right to WW also ends. If you move to another EU country to look for work, you can take WW with you for 3 months (sometimes 6) with a A European form that lets you keep your Dutch unemployment benefit while you look for work in another EU country.. Ask the UWV for it before you leave.
Severance: the transition payment
If your employer ends your contract, or doesn't renew a temporary contract, you have a right to a transition payment (transitievergoeding), from your first day of work:
- One third of a month's salary for each year you worked there, and a part of that for part of a year. Your monthly salary here includes holiday allowance and fixed bonuses.
- At most €102,000 in 2026, or one year's salary if that is more.
- Example: €6,000 a month after 3 years gives about €6,000, plus the holiday allowance part.
A Dutch employer can't just fire you. They need permission from the UWV (for example when your job disappears for business reasons), a decision from a judge at the local court (The kantonrechter: the local court for everyday cases such as work, rent and small debts.) for personal reasons, or your agreement. Employers often offer more money than the legal minimum to avoid going through the UWV or the court, especially when they reorganise. Your employer's notice period depends on how long you've worked there:
| How long you've worked there | Employer's notice period |
|---|---|
| Less than 5 years | 1 month |
| 5 to 10 years | 2 months |
| 10 to 15 years | 3 months |
| 15 years or more | 4 months |
Your contract or In Dutch: cao. An agreement between unions and employers for a whole sector, setting pay, holidays and other rules. (CAO) can set a longer period. And you can't be dismissed while you are ill in the first 2 years of illness, unless you agree.
Before you sign a settlement agreement
Most job endings are finished with a settlement agreement (vaststellingsovereenkomst): a written deal between you and your employer to end the contract. For an expat, it decides not only your leaving money, but also your WW, your search period and your 30% ruling. Check these points before you sign:
- The idea to end the contract must come from your employer, and the agreement must say it's not your fault. Words that suggest you quit, or did something seriously wrong, can cost you your WW.
- Keep to the notice period. If the end date is earlier than your normal notice period, the UWV starts your WW later (this is called the fictieve opzegtermijn).
- Choose the end date with your permit in mind. A later end date, with paid time at home until then, moves your search period back and keeps you employed for the 30% ruling.
- Ask about paying back moving and training costs. Many expat contracts say you must pay back moving or study costs if you leave early. Ask your employer to drop this in the agreement.
- Check the rest: unused holiday days paid out, your bonus and shares, your pension, dropping a rule that stops you working for competitors (non-compete), and a reference letter.
- Ask your employer to pay for your lawyer. It's normal for employers to help pay legal costs. A specialist employment lawyer will check the words that matter for your WW.
After you sign, you have 14 days to cancel the agreement in writing, without giving a reason. If the agreement doesn't mention this right, you have 3 weeks.
Keeping your 30% ruling
The 30% ruling is a tax benefit for some expats: part of their salary is tax-free. It can continue with a new employer, but only if you start the new job within 3 months after leaving the old one. The new salary must also be high enough for the 30% ruling (€48,013 taxed salary in 2026, or €36,497 if you are under 30 with a master's degree). The new employer must apply within 4 months of your start date.
This is the trap: with a 6-month search period, you can keep your residence permit but still lose the 30% ruling, which is often worth thousands of euros a year. Paid time at home before the end date counts as being employed, so a later end date helps here too.
Your checklist for the first two weeks
- Write down the end date on your residence card, and work out your search period: 3 or 6 months from the day your contract ends.
- Don't sign anything on the spot. Have a settlement agreement checked by an employment lawyer.
- Discuss the end date, paid time at home, and dropping any rules about paying back moving or training costs.
- Apply for WW at the UWV, at the latest 1 week after your last working day.
- Check possible employers in the IND's list of approved sponsors, and make sure job offers pay enough for the permit.
- Count 3 months from your last day for the 30% ruling.
- If you've lived here 5 years or more, look at permanent residence now.
Official sources and useful links
- IND: Business Newsletter 28 May 2026, the 6-month search period and changing employer (PDF)
- IND: required amounts and salary minimums
- IND: public list of approved sponsors
- IND: report changes in your situation
- UWV: about the unemployment benefit (English)
- UWV: taking your unemployment benefit abroad (English)
- Rijksoverheid: dismissal, notice periods and the transition payment (Dutch)
- Rendement: maximum transition payment in 2026 (Dutch)
This is general information based on the rules in October 2026. Salary minimums and the transition payment limit change every year on 1 January, and the maximum WW daily pay on 1 January and 1 July. The government plans to make WW shorter in the coming years, but not before 2029. For your own situation, talk to an employment lawyer or immigration adviser before you sign a settlement agreement.
