How to Apply for an IND Visa: A Guide for Sponsoring Employers

What is an IND visa, and when does your employee need one?

"IND visa" is the term most people search for, but it is worth being precise, because the wording affects what you actually apply for.

The IND is the Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst, the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service, part of the Ministry of Justice and Security. It does not issue "visas" in the everyday sense. Instead, it grants residence permits that give someone the right to live in the Netherlands, and for many nationalities a separate provisional residence permit (mvv) that functions as the entry visa allowing them to travel here for a stay of more than 90 days. Depending on where your employee is from, you will need one or both.

Anyone who is a national of an EU or EEA country, or of Switzerland, does not need a residence permit at all. A valid passport or national ID is enough. Everyone else, third-country nationals from outside the EU, generally needs a residence permit that also carries work authorisation before they can lawfully start. Without one, they are simply unable to begin work.

For employers, the route that matters most is the highly skilled migrant scheme (kennismigrantenregeling). It is the fastest and most widely used option for hiring talent from abroad, and it comes with one significant benefit: there is no labour market test. You do not have to prove that no EU candidate was available, and you do not need a separate work permit (TWV). The work authorisation is built into the residence permit itself.

A few things worth knowing about this residence permit:

• It is a combined permit for residence and work, tied to the specific job and employment contract.
• It is granted for the duration of the contract, up to a maximum of five years, and the holder can apply to extend it before it expires, as long as the conditions keep being met.
• The migrant's family members can come too. A partner and any minor children can join under a dependent permit, and the partner is free to work without an additional permit.
• The residence permit is linked to the recognised sponsor. If the employee later moves to another sponsor, a fresh application is needed; the permit does not transfer.

The catch is in that last point. Because the residence permit is tied to a recognised sponsor, the application cannot be filed unless a recognised sponsor is involved. That is where most of the real work sits, and where you have a choice to make.

The recognised sponsor

Only an employer that the IND has approved as a recognised sponsor (erkend referent) can apply for a highly skilled migrant residence permit. The IND treats recognised sponsors as reliable partners and, in return, gives them a faster and lighter application process. It also holds them to account. Someone has to hold that status, but as you will see, it does not have to be your own company.

Becoming a recognised sponsor yourself

If you want to sponsor in your own name and your company is not yet recognised, this is the first step, and it takes time, so it is worth starting early. To be approved, your organisation generally needs to:

• be registered in the KVK Business Register;
• be financially healthy, with sufficient continuity and solvency, and not bankrupt or under suspension of payment;
• demonstrate that the company, its directors and the people involved in it are reliable.

You apply per category of sponsorship, so a company that hires both highly skilled migrants and foreign researchers applies for each separately. In 2026 the fee for recognition is €5,080, or a reduced €2,539 for smaller or younger organisations (broadly, companies with no more than 50 staff). Expect the recognition decision itself to take up to 90 days. For a business hiring one or two internationals, that is a lot of cost and lead time before the actual hire can even start.

What you sign up for

Recognition is not a one-time formality. As a recognised sponsor you carry three standing obligations, for as long as you employ the person:

• A duty to provide information - You must report any change that affects the residence permit or your sponsorship, such as the employee leaving or a change in salary, to the IND within four weeks.
• A duty of care - You are responsible for selecting the employee carefully and making sure they are properly informed about the conditions of their stay.
• A record-keeping duty - You must keep a complete, retrievable set of documents on the employee and be able to produce them if the IND audits you.

Since 1 January 2026, that record-keeping bar has been raised. Payslips alone are no longer enough to prove that salary obligations are met. You now also have to keep evidence that the salary was actually paid into a bank account in the employee's name, for example a statement from your business bank account or a batch payment overview.

The IND audits recognised sponsors, often in cooperation with the Netherlands Labour Authority. If a sponsor falls short, the consequences run from a written warning to a fine, and in serious cases to suspension or withdrawal of recognised status. That is a real risk: it can freeze or unravel the residence permits of the very people you hired.

You do not have to carry this yourself

Taken together, sponsorship is a real commitment: a four-figure fee, up to three months of lead time, and permanent reporting, record-keeping and audit exposure for as long as the person works for you. For a company making occasional international hires, that is often disproportionate, and it turns an HR team into part-time immigration case managers.

The important thing to know is that the recognised sponsor does not have to be your own company. You can bring your candidate in through a party that already holds recognised-sponsor status. That party acts as the formal employer for the residence permit and carries all the sponsor obligations, while your new colleague works for you day to day. It is the fastest way to get someone started without taking on the recognition process or the ongoing compliance. This is exactly the role Hilfort can play, and we come back to it below.

The salary requirement for highly skilled migrants (2026)

The highly skilled migrant scheme defines "highly skilled" mainly through salary. The gross salary has to meet a minimum treshhold hat the IND indexes every year on 1 January.

For applications submitted on or after 1 January 2026, the gross monthly thresholds (excluding the 8% holiday allowance) are:

• €5,942 for employees aged 30 and over;
• €4,357 for employees under 30;
• €3,122 under the reduced criterion, which applies to certain recent graduates, for example after an orientation year (zoekjaar) in the Netherlands.

Two practical notes: The figure is assessed on the SV-loon (the social security wage) and must be contractually fixed, guaranteed, and paid directly into the employee's own Dutch bank account. It also has to be in line with the market for a comparable role, so an artificially inflated job title with a matching salary will not automatically pass. Because the numbers are re-indexed annually, always check the current threshold on the IND website before you sign a contract.

Looking ahead, the government has signalled its intention to tighten the highly skilled migrant scheme further, with income thresholds expected to rise by more than the usual indexation from 2027. Those proposals had not yet been passed into law at the time of writing, so treat them as a planning signal rather than a rule.

The application process, step by step

Once a recognised sponsor is in place and the salary is right, the process is relatively quick. The steps are the same whether you sponsor in-house or hire through a recognised-sponsor partner; in the second case, that partner runs them for you as the sponsor. It also runs the same way whether your future employee is already in the country or still abroad; only the entry step differs.

1. Confirm recognition -  If a recognised sponsor is already in place, you can go straight to the application. If you intend to sponsor yourself and are not yet recognised, factor in the recognition step first.
2. Gather the documents -  A valid passport (generally with at least six months' validity and two blank pages), the signed employment contract, proof that the salary meets the threshold, and a signed declaration from the employee, among other supporting documents.
3. Submit through the IND Business Portal - The recognised sponsor files on the employee's behalf. If your employee needs an entry visa, the mvv and the residence permit are applied for together in a single combined procedure (the TEV procedure). Nationals of countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia are exempt from the mvv; the current exemption list is published on the IND website. Once filed, the status of the application can be tracked and followed online in My IND, where the IND also posts messages about the case.
4. The IND decides - For a complete application from a recognised sponsor, the IND aims to decide within about two weeks, though the legal maximum decision period is 90 days. The application fee in 2026 is €423. The IND then sends a decision letter; actual processing times can vary depending on the route and on whether the file was complete when submitted.
5. Entry and collection - If an mvv was required, your employee collects it at a Dutch embassy or consulate and travels to the Netherlands. Once the residence permit is approved and the work authorisation is in place, they can start work; they then book an appointment at an IND desk to give biometrics and collect the residence document. If anything is unclear, they can contact the IND directly.
6. Register with the Dutch municipality - After arrival your employee registers in the BRP at their municipality to obtain a BSN, which they need for salary, tax and healthcare.

On paper it is a clean sequence. In practice, a single missing document, a mismatched salary figure, or an audit-triggering gap in the records can turn two weeks into two months, which is one more reason many companies would rather not run it themselves.

How Hilfort can be your IND sponsor

At Hilfort, our aim is to make hiring international talent in the Netherlands as straightforward as possible, for both your company and the people you bring in. The simplest way we do that is by acting as the recognised sponsor ourselves.

Because Hilfort combines legal, tax and payroll expertise, we can take on the recognised-sponsor role and the formal employment for the residence permit, while your new hire works for you exactly as any other team member would. You skip the €5,080 recognition fee and the up-to-90-day recognition process, and you never take on the four-week reporting duty, the record-keeping, the audits, or the 2026 proof-of-payment rules. Those stay with us.

From there we prepare and file the highly skilled migrant residence permit application, keep the sponsor administration compliant, handle extensions before the permit expires, and make sure your new hire, and their family members, land smoothly, from the mvv at the embassy to the BSN at the municipality.

Prefer to hold sponsorship in your own name? We also guide companies through becoming a recognised sponsor themselves and keep their administration audit-proof. Either way, you have a single contact person who already knows the file, and someone to contact the IND on your behalf when a case needs clarifying.

If you are planning to hire from outside the Netherlands and want the residence permit side handled properly the first time, we are happy to walk you through both options for your specific situation.

FAQ

Is an "IND visa" the same as a residence permit?

Not exactly. "IND visa" is a common search term, but the IND grants a residence permit that gives the right to live and work here, plus, for some nationalities, a provisional residence permit (mvv) that acts as the entry visa. Many employers apply for both together in one procedure. Short-stay visas for visits under 90 days are handled separately by embassies and consulates; this guide covers the longer-stay residence permit route via the IND.

Do we have to become a recognised sponsor to hire a highly skilled migrant?

Someone has to be a recognised sponsor, but it does not have to be your own company. You can either apply for recognition yourself or hire through a party that already holds recognised-sponsor status, such as Hilfort, which then acts as the sponsor for you. For Turkish nationals, recognised sponsorship is not mandatory, though the process still runs faster with one.

Can we hire a highly skilled migrant without becoming a recognised sponsor ourselves?

Yes. If you hire through a recognised-sponsor partner, that partner acts as the formal employer for the residence permit and carries the sponsor obligations, while the employee works for you day to day. It removes the recognition fee, the up-to-90-day lead time and the ongoing compliance from your side, which is why many companies making occasional international hires choose this route.

How long does the process take?

For a complete application from a recognised sponsor, the IND aims to decide within roughly two weeks, with a legal maximum decision period of 90 days. If you still have to become a recognised sponsor first, add up to 90 days for that step, which is avoided entirely if you hire through an existing sponsor. Actual timing can vary by route and by whether the file is complete when submitted.

What does it cost in 2026?

The highly skilled migrant residence permit application fee is €423. Becoming a recognised sponsor yourself costs €5,080, or €2,539 for smaller or younger companies. These are Dutch government fees only and are re-indexed each year. Hiring through an existing recognised sponsor avoids the recognition fee.

What is the 2026 salary threshold?

Gross per month, excluding the 8% holiday allowance: €5,942 for employees aged 30 and over, €4,357 for those under 30, and €3,122 under the reduced criterion for certain recent graduates.

Can our employee's family members come to the Netherlands? Yes. A partner and minor children can join the permit holder under a dependent permit, and the partner can work in the Netherlands without needing a separate permit.

How does the employee extend the residence permit?

The permit holder can apply to extend the residence permit before it expires, with the sponsor's support, as long as they still meet the salary and other conditions. It is worth starting around three months ahead so there is no gap in lawful residence. If Hilfort is your sponsor, we handle this for you.

What changed for sponsors in 2026?

From 1 January 2026, recognised sponsors must keep proof that salary was actually paid into the employee's own bank account, such as a bank statement or batch payment overview. Payslips on their own are no longer sufficient.