By Tom Meevis, Managing Partner, Law & More. Updated: July 2026
You signed your relocation contract, moved to Eindhoven or Amsterdam, and settled in. Then something goes wrong. Your employer hands you a vaststellingsovereenkomst (settlement agreement) and asks you to sign within 48 hours. Your IND residence permit application is refused without explanation. Your marriage breaks down, and you and your spouse have different passports, children at a Dutch school, and no idea which country’s law applies.
These are not edge cases. They are among the Dutch legal problems expats run into most often, and among the most common situations Law & More handles for international clients every month. Dutch law offers strong protections — but only if you know how to use them.
The Dutch legal problems expats face most often
What happens when your employer offers you a settlement agreement?
A vaststellingsovereenkomst is a mutual termination agreement. When your employer offers you one, you are not obliged to sign it — and in most cases, you should not sign it without legal advice. Under Dutch employment law, an employee who signs a settlement agreement voluntarily typically loses entitlement to unemployment benefits (WW) from the UWV. To protect that entitlement, specific language must be included in the agreement confirming that the termination was at the employer’s initiative and that the employee did not seriously culpably cause it. Most settlement agreements circulated by employers do not include this language by default.
Beyond unemployment benefits, settlement agreements often include non-compete clauses (concurrentiebedingen), garden leave arrangements, and bonus or pension waiver provisions that can have lasting financial consequences. Dutch law gives employees a statutory cooling-off period of 14 days after signing a settlement agreement to revoke it, but that window closes fast. Law & More reviews settlement agreements in English for expat employees across the Netherlands, advises on the appropriate severance calculation (the transition vergoeding), and negotiates directly with employers when the terms are inadequate.
How does the IND residence permit process actually work — and what goes wrong?
The IND (Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst) operates under the Ministry of Justice and Security and handles all residence permit applications in the Netherlands. The permit categories most commonly relevant to expats include:
- Highly skilled migrant (kennismigrant): Requires the employer to be an IND-recognised sponsor and the employee to meet a minimum salary threshold, which the IND updates annually.
- EU Blue Card: For non-EU professionals in highly qualified employment; similar requirements to the kennismigrant route but with EU-wide portability.
- Family reunification (gezinshereniging): For partners and children joining a permit holder. Income requirements apply to the reference person in the Netherlands.
- Self-employment and startup visa (zelfstandige): Requires a points-based assessment by the RVO (Netherlands Enterprise Agency) evaluating business viability, personal experience, and contribution to the Dutch economy.
- Long-term residency and naturalisation: Available after five years of continuous legal residence, subject to integration requirements and absence rules.
Each category has distinct documentation requirements, processing timelines, and grounds for refusal. The most common reason applications stall or fail is not a fundamental ineligibility issue — it is missing or incorrectly formatted documentation that could have been caught before submission.
When the IND refuses an application, expats have the right to file a bezwaar (administrative objection) within four weeks of the decision, followed if necessary by beroep (appeal to an administrative court). These deadlines are absolute. Missing them forfeits the right to challenge the refusal in that procedure. Law & More prepares and submits IND applications for individuals and corporate clients, including employers managing a workforce of kennismigranten. When an application is refused, the firm handles the full bezwaar and beroep procedure.
How does child custody work in the Netherlands when parents are from different countries?
Dutch law does not use the term “custody” in the way many other legal systems do. The Dutch concept is ouderlijk gezag (parental authority), which is the legal right and obligation to make decisions about a child’s upbringing, education, healthcare, and financial support. Since January 2023, both parents in the Netherlands automatically receive joint parental authority for children born after that date, provided the father has legally recognised the child. Where legal recognition has not occurred, only the mother holds parental authority by default.
For expats and international families, the cross-border dimension adds significant complexity. If a divorce or separation involves parents from different countries, questions arise about which country’s law governs parental authority, which court has jurisdiction, and whether foreign court decisions are recognised in the Netherlands. Over 80% of Dutch custody cases are now resolved through mediation rather than court proceedings — but mediation only works when both parties have accurate legal information about their position under Dutch law.
Where mediation fails or is not appropriate, the Dutch family court applies the best interests of the child as the primary standard. Sole parental authority is granted only in exceptional circumstances involving serious safety or well-being concerns. Law & More’s family law team handles divorce, custody, and parental authority for international families, including cases involving international asset structures, relocation disputes, and children with residence ties in multiple countries.
What is the best way to resolve a business dispute under Dutch corporate law?
Dutch law offers several routes for resolving commercial disputes, and the right one depends on the contract, the relationship, and the speed required. For contract disputes with a Dutch counterpart, the standard civil court route (dagvaardingsprocedure) is available but slow — procedures in first instance typically take 12 to 18 months. Where the contract specifies arbitration or a particular court, those provisions are binding.
When urgent interim relief is needed, the kort geding (summary proceedings before the civil court) can produce a binding decision within days or weeks. For disputes between shareholders or involving the governance of a Dutch entity, the Ondernemingskamer (Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal) has specific jurisdiction and can impose immediate management interventions.
For expats and international companies entering the Dutch market, contract review before signing is usually the highest-value legal intervention — disputes are far easier to prevent than to resolve. Law & More advises international entrepreneurs and companies on entity formation, shareholder agreements, commercial contracts, and dispute resolution across the Netherlands.
A team that actually speaks your language
Not fluent in Dutch? For most legal matters in the Netherlands, that is not a problem — provided you have a legal team that can navigate the system in Dutch while advising you in a language you fully understand. Law & More’s attorneys advise clients in English as a standard. Beyond English, the team also works in Spanish, Italian, Russian, Turkish, and Polish, which means many international clients can discuss their matter in their own language from the first call.
The firm is registered with the Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten (NOvA) and has offices in both Eindhoven and Amsterdam. Consultations are available at short notice, including outside standard office hours, which matters when you have a 48-hour deadline on a settlement agreement or an IND decision to respond to.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to sign a settlement agreement (vaststellingsovereenkomst) if my Dutch employer sends one?
No. A settlement agreement is a voluntary mutual termination. You are entitled to take time to review it, seek legal advice, and negotiate the terms. You also have a 14-day statutory cooling-off period after signing to revoke it. Do not sign without first confirming the unemployment benefit protection language is included.
How long does an IND residence permit application take?
Processing times vary by permit type. The IND aims to decide on most applications within 90 days, but knowledge migrant (kennismigrant) applications by recognised sponsors are typically processed faster — sometimes within two weeks. Delays are common when documentation is incomplete or when the application enters a bezwaar or beroep procedure.
Which country’s law applies to a divorce between two expats living in the Netherlands?
This depends on the couple’s nationalities, their habitual residence at the time of marriage, and applicable EU regulations on jurisdiction and applicable law (Brussels IIa, Rome III). Dutch courts generally have jurisdiction when both parties habitually reside in the Netherlands. The applicable law for the divorce itself may differ from the applicable law for asset division. An international family law lawyer should assess this before any procedure begins.
What is the difference between a kennismigrant and an EU Blue Card?
Both are routes for highly skilled non-EU professionals. The kennismigrant permit is Dutch-only and requires the employer to be an IND-recognised sponsor. The EU Blue Card is a European permit that offers portability across EU member states after 12 months and applies to professionals in highly qualified employment meeting an EU-wide salary threshold. The best route depends on the employer’s sponsor status, the employee’s salary, and long-term plans.
Can Law & More help with both individual and corporate immigration matters?
Yes. Law & More handles individual applications (family reunification, self-employment, long-term residency, naturalisation) and corporate immigration (kennismigrant registrations, IND sponsor licence applications, intra-company transfers, ongoing compliance for companies with international workforces).
Get clear legal advice in English
Law & More offers legal advice in English across employment law, immigration, family law, and corporate law, with offices in Eindhoven and Amsterdam.
- Offices: Eindhoven and Amsterdam
- Languages: English, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Turkish, Polish
Consultations available at short notice. Contact Law & More directly to discuss your situation.
