Netherlands-Australia Working Holiday Scheme

The Working Holiday Scheme (WHS) offers an opportunity to young Australians to visit the Netherlands for a period of up to twelve months with the objective of combining a holiday with work experience, thus supplementing their financial resources during their stay. If Australians intend to spend a maximum of 90 days in the Netherlands for tourist purposes only, they do not require a visa.

Please note: you can only make use of this scheme once. You are also not eligible if you have previously been granted a working holiday visa for the Netherlands.

To qualify for a WHS-visa, applicants must comply with the following conditions:

• be an Australian citizen;
• be aged 18 to 30 inclusive (you must enter the Netherlands and register at the Immigration and Naturalisation Service     before you turn 31);
• possess a return air ticket or have proven funds to finance your return fare;

Medical insurance
The Netherlands has signed a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement with Australia. If you live in Australia and you are insured with Medicare, you are entitled to (a reimbursement of costs resulting from) emergency medical care while staying in the Netherlands. A certificate of eligibility needs to be obtained to enable free access to the public health care system. This can be done before leaving Australia or following arrival in the Netherlands. This certificate entitles you to the reimbursement of medical expenses for emergency medical care. More information can be found on the website  www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/yourhealth/going_overseas/netherlands.htm. We do advise you however, to take out travel insurance covering you for a minimum of €30.000 for emergency medical expenses and repatriation.

Although you are no longer required to provide sufficient means of support, the Embassy strongly recommends you to have at least $3000.00 available (plus return ticket) in the Netherlands, as employment is not assured and due to the workload of the foreign police and Town Hall in your area, you might experience delays in the processing of your permit.

Lodgement of your application
Your application should either be lodged in person at the Embassy or one of the other consular missions in your state, or, if you are unable to lodge your application in person, you can forward your application to the Embassy or Consulate-General by post, provided you have your identity confirmed.

Confirmation of identity
You can have your identity confirmed a Dutch mission in your area. A list of missions is available on our website (see the first topic in the column, on the left-hand side of the screen for the list of Dutch missions in Australia). Alternatively, you can obtain signed confirmation of your identity from a Justice of the Peace. The confirmation of your identity should contain the following text (or similar to the proposed text that follows):

“I confirm that (applicant’s full name) was in my presence and I sighted the original (passport / drivers licence; choose according to the document you present). Sufficient documentation has been presented to be able to establish his / her identity”.

You need to provide the Justice of the Peace with your passport and drivers licence and photocopies thereof for confirmation of your identity. The Justice of the Peace needs to write the above text on the photocopy of the passport, sign and stamp it. The signed and stamped copy should be send to the Embassy together with your application.

Please lodge your application at least four weeks prior to your date of departure, together with the following documents:

• application form (download on right hand side), completed, dated and signed;
• confirmation of your identity – see note above
• one passport photograph;
• your valid passport;
• copy of one other photographic identity document: ie. your drivers licence;
• photocopy of air ticket or confirmed itinerary;
• self-addressed registered envelope or Platinum Express envelope if passport is to be posted back to you. Don’t forget to fill in the back of the envelope and please do NOT remove any tags from your return envelope as Australia Post will not be able to track the envelope if you do so.

If you are not attending in person at our of the nearest consular missions, your application should be send to:

for the A.C.T. and Queanbeyan:
Royal Netherlands Embassy
120 Empire Circuit
Yarralumla ACT 2600
Tel: 02-6220 9400
Email: can-ca@minbuza.nl

for NSW, QLD, VIC, SA, WA & TAS:
Netherlands-Consulate-General
P.O. Box 261
Bondi Junction NSW 1355
Tel: 02-9387 6644
Email: syd-ca@minbuza.nl

For queries regarding the procedure, please contact the Embassy or Consulate-General at the abovementioned address.

Successful applicants will be issued a visa (MVV) free of charge valid for 90 days, which is the period you have to enter the Netherlands and activate your Working Holiday Permit, allowing you to stay in the Netherlands for 12 months.

If you are travelling for more than 3 months between leaving Australia and entering the Netherlands, for example: you also have a Working Holiday Visa for a year for the UK; then you will have to apply for your Working Holiday Visa in the country you are residing in at that time. For a full list of Dutch diplomatic missions world wide see:  www.minbuza.nl under missions.

Birth certificate
In order to lodge your application for a residence permit in the Netherlands, you are required to provide a legalised original version of your birth certificate. If you were born in Australia, your original certificate must be legalised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia. The legalisation is done by means of an Apostille stamp on the reverse of the certificate. This legalisation must not be more than six months old at the time of application in The Netherlands. If you were not born in Australia please contact the Embassy or Consulate-General for further requirements regarding legalisation of the certificates.

Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, phone number: 1300 655 236 or  www.bdm.gov.au

Department of Foreign affairs and Trade, website:  www.dfat.gov.au

What to do once you have entered the Netherlands:
Within 3 days of your arrival in The Netherlands you have to report to city hall (afdeling Burgerzaken) in the place where you will be staying for registering in the municipal administration (Gemeentelijke Basis Administratie).

You will also need to make an appointment within 8 days of arrival for your application of a residence permit at the Immigration and Naturalisation office (Immigratie-en Naturalisatiedienst) in the resort under which the city hall resides. This can be done by calling 0900-1234561.

A fee of 30 EURO will be charged by the IND in the Netherlands.
(The sticker in your passport allows you to apply for a tax file number (BSN-nummer) from the Tax Office in the Netherlands. Application forms concerning the “BSN-nummer” can only be obtained from the Tax Office once you have the sticker in your passport.)

In case of difficulties with your application in the Netherlands you can contact the IND (Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst) on tel.: 0900 - 1234561.

In short the following steps have to be taken:

In Australia:

1.      Lodge your application for a Working Holiday Visa (if you will be entering the Netherlands within 3 months of leaving Australia);
2.      Obtain a birth certificate and have this legalised with an Apostille stamp from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The legalisation should not be more then 6 months old when presenting it to the local authorities in the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands:

1.      Report to the city hall within 3 days of arrival;
2.      Contact the IND-office by telephone (0900 1234561) to make an appointment for your application of a residence permit.
3.      Apply for a Tax File number (BSN-nummer) from the Taxation Office in the Netherlands.
4.      Attend your visit at the Immigration- and Naturalisation Service (IND) to apply for your residence permit and pay a fee of 30 EURO.
5.      Receive your Residence Permit from the IND.

For your information - Job agencies for English speaking people:

 www.bluelynx.nl
 www.undutchables.nl
 www.dacumac.com
 www.uniquemls.com
 www.simplyamsterdam.nl/jobs.htm
 www.escapeartist.com./netherlands/jobs.htm
 www.dambustersrecruitment.com
 www.worldjobservice.com

Job agencies in the Dutch language:

 www.jobnet.nl
 www.jobindex.nl
 www.bestjob.nl

SYDNEY, Consulate-General of the Netherlands
Tower 2, Level 23, Cnr Grafton & Grosvenor Streets                           
Bondi Junction NSW 2022
Tel. 02-93876644 Fax. 02-93873962
Open to the public Mon-Fri  10 am - 12 pm
 www.mfa.nl/can

CANBERRA, Royal Netherlands Embassy
120 Empire Circuit,
Yarralumla ACT 2600
Tel. 02-62209400 Fax. 02-62733206                                                    
Open to the public Mon-Fri  9.00 am - 12.30 pm
 www.mfa.nl/can

ADELAIDE, Consulate of the Netherlands                     
Floor 1, 147 Frome Street, Adelaide SA 5000       
Tel. 08-82323855 Fax: 08-8223 3836
Open to the public Mon-Fri  10 am - 12 pm (or by appointment)

BRISBANE, Consulate of the Netherlands
Suite 2, "Bellevue Terrace", 25 Mary Street, Brisbane QLD 4000        
Tel. 07-38399644 Fax: 07-3839 2176
Open to the public Mon-Fri  10 am - 12 pm

HOBART, Consulate of the Netherlands                                          
439A Sandy Bay Road, Sandy Bay TAS 7005
Tel. 03-6225 3951
Open to the public Wednesday  8.30 am - 2 pm (by appointment)

MELBOURNE, Consulate of the Netherlands                                 
Level 3, 50 Market Street, Melbourne VIC 3000  
Tel. 03-9620 2701 Fax: 03-9620 9270
Open to the public Mon-Fri  10 am - 2 pm (by appointment)

PERTH, Consulate of the Netherlands                                                              
Suite 1, 88 Thomas Street, West Perth  WA 6005
Tel. 08-94861579 Fax: 08-9486 1580
Open to the public Mon-Thu 10 am - 12 pm (by appointment)

PORT MORESBY - Papua New Guinea
Section 209 Lot 1, Spring Garden Road Hohola
Tel. 0011 675 325 4177 Fax:  0011 675 3254175
E-mail:  dsbrown.png@global.net.pg