Please note: you cannot rely on the income of a part-time job to cover your study and living expenses.
As an international student, it might be more difficult than a Dutch student to find a part-time job. The most common reason is the language barrier, as in some positions you would really need to speak the Dutch language.
There are also different rules and regulations in play with regards to nationality:
- As an EU student you are able to work freely and there is no restriction on the number of hours that you are allowed to work.
- As a non-EU student with a valid study residence permit you are allowed to work for a maximum of 16 hours a week OR work full time during the months June, July and August.
- Besides the restriction in hours your employer is required to apply for a work permit (TWV) on your behalf. You cannot apply for the work permit yourself. Your employer can find all information about the procedure here (available in Dutch only). - Every international student (both EU and non-EU) who starts working is required to enroll him/herself into a Dutch basic health care insurance. The AON private student insurance that the Centre of International Affair arranges is not sufficient if you start to work. Compare Dutch health care insurance companies.
If you are an international non-EU student with a study residence permit seeking to work part-time alongside your studies, there is a simplified application procedure. In that case the UWV (Employee Insurance Agency) does not have to perform all the checks stipulated in the Foreign Nationals Employment Act (Wet arbeid vreemdelingen, Wav). This means only terms of employment with a competitive regular salary and a copy of your passport and/or residence permit are necessary to submit the application. Employers are not always aware of this simplified procedure and may therefore be wary about applying for a work permit. Also note: there a no costs involved to submit the application for a work permit.
Be aware that your employer has to give you a copy of your TWV (work permit).
- Health care benefit. You can only apply for health care benefit (in Dutch: zorgtoeslag) if you are eligible for a Dutch public health insurance. You can apply for the health care benefit via the Dutch Tax Office (in Dutch: Belastingdienst)
- Rent benefit. Do you live in a rented house in the Netherlands? If so, you may be entitled to the rent benefit. This is a contribution towards your rental costs.
Find an overview of websites with more information about working alongside your studies:
- College life and work
- Global Data Collection Company B.V.Opens external. This is a platform that offers jobs as a telephone interviewer/market researcher in different languages.
- Also just walk into clothing shops, restaurants or other shops to ask if they are still hiring. This might be even the fastest way in finding a part-time job and the approach of it is typically Dutch (direct). For more interesting tips/inqueries you can also send an email to our Student Ambassadors: coia-studentambassadors@hr.nl.
Are you an international student and are you wondering if you can derive any rights from being unemployed as a result of the corona situation? Please visit the UWV's step by step guideline to check whether or not you are eligible for unemployment benefit & how to apply for it.
Specifically for EU/EEA students who have study finance linked to their part-time job, DUO has decided to be more lenient and they can make arrangements concerning their study finance by contacting DUO.