How to check your work permit route and apply for a GVVA in NL

The single permit, in Dutch a gecombineerde vergunning voor verblijf en arbeid and known as the GVVA, combines a residence permit and permission to work in one procedure. It is the ordinary route for employment longer than 90 days where the work is not covered by a scheme of its own. The mistake this guide exists to prevent is starting here: highly skilled migrants, EU Blue Card holders, intra-corporate transferees, researchers and orientation year holders are all on different routes with different conditions, and so is anyone who has already worked here for five continuous years. Establish the route first, because applying on the wrong one costs a fee and 90 days.

Get three facts straight. What nationality do you hold, since EU, EEA and Swiss nationals do not need this at all. How long will the work last, because UWV states that an employer applies for a TWV where the employee works in the Netherlands for at most 90 days and for a GVVA where the work is longer than that. And what does your current residence document say on the back, because the endorsement printed there is what decides whether you already have permission to do this work.

Work down this list. The GVVA is what is left after the others are ruled out, not the default.

• You are an EU, EEA or Swiss national

  You do not need a residence permit or a work permit for the Netherlands, and the GVVA route does not apply to you. What remains is ordinary registration with a municipality and the usual employment admin.

• You are on a scheme with its own work endorsement

  The highly skilled migrant (kennismigrant) permit, the EU Blue Card, the intra-corporate transferee (ICT) permit, the researcher permit under Directive (EU) 2016/801 and the orientation year each have their own IND page, their own conditions and their own work rights. Those rights are not the same as each other, and none of them is accurately described as being free on the labour market. Read the endorsement on the back of your own document and the IND page for your own permit, rather than assuming the schemes are interchangeable.

• You have worked in the Netherlands for 5 continuous years

  You no longer need a work permit, but that does not mean there is nothing to do. The IND route is a residence permit for paid employment only, which costs €423 and carries a 90 day decision period, and the residence document that results carries the endorsement 'Arbeid vrij toegestaan, TWV niet vereist'. Until you hold a document with that endorsement, an employer cannot rely on it.

• None of the above, and the job lasts longer than 90 days

  This is the ordinary GVVA route. The IND recommends that the employer submits the application, and states that in the relevant routes the employee can also apply. The employer carries most of the conditions, so the application only moves at the speed the employer is willing to work at.

1. 1

   Rule out the routes that are not the GVVA

   The GVVA is what remains once the schemes with their own rules are excluded. EU, EEA and Swiss nationals need no permit. The highly skilled migrant permit, the EU Blue Card, the intra-corporate transferee permit, the researcher permit under Directive (EU) 2016/801 and the orientation year each have their own IND page and their own work rights, and those rights differ from one another. Read the endorsement printed on the back of any residence document you already hold, because that is what states whether work is freely permitted, permitted with a work permit, or not permitted.

   Do this: Check your nationality, then check the residence purpose and endorsement on your current document against the IND page for that specific permit.

   Documents needed

   • Your passport
   • Your current residence document, front and back

   Processing time

   An hour

   Common mistake: Describing every work permit as being free on the labour market. They carry different endorsements and different conditions, and the endorsement is what an employer and the IND actually read.

   Official source

   IND · Employing a foreign national: which permit is needed
2. 2

   Check whether five years of work has already changed your position

   After five continuous years of work in the Netherlands a work permit is no longer required. That is not the same as needing nothing. The IND route is then a residence permit for paid employment only, and the residence document that results carries the endorsement 'Arbeid vrij toegestaan, TWV niet vereist'. Until you hold a document with that endorsement, neither you nor an employer can rely on the wider work right. The IND lists other situations on the same page, including work as a correspondent for the mass media and work on a Dutch seagoing vessel or mining installation.

   Do this: If you are near five continuous years of work here, count the years precisely and read the paid employment page before assuming the GVVA is your route.

   Documents needed

   • Your employment history in the Netherlands
   • Your previous residence documents

   Cost

   €423 IND application fee for a residence permit for paid employment only (2026)

   Processing time

   The IND must take a decision within 90 days

   Common mistake: Reading the five year rule as the disappearance of your immigration status. It removes the work permit requirement, and you still need a residence document with the right endorsement.

   Official source

   IND · Paid employment, residence permit only
3. 3

   Have the employer do the labour market work first

   The employer's obligations run ahead of the application and take months, not days. UWV states that the employer reports the vacancy to UWV at least 5 weeks before applying for the work permit, and that the employer must first spend at least 3 months trying to find a suitable candidate in the EU, EEA or Switzerland. UWV's general conditions include that the employee is 18 or older, that the employer complies with the employment conditions, that it has not broken employment legislation, and that it arranges a safe and clean place for the employee to live.

   Do this: Ask the employer for the date it reported the vacancy to UWV and for evidence of the recruitment it ran, before either of you counts on a start date.

   Documents needed

   • The vacancy report reference
   • Evidence of the recruitment carried out
   • The draft employment contract

   Processing time

   At least 3 months of recruitment, and the vacancy reported at least 5 weeks before the application

   Common mistake: An employer that has done neither of these is months from being able to apply, however firm the job offer feels.

   Official source

   UWV · Work permit for a regular job: the employer's conditions
4. 4

   Check the contract against the pay and conditions requirements

   The IND's conditions for the single permit include that the employer is registered in the Commercial Register, that it advertised the position with UWV, that the salary matches the standards of the applicable collective labour agreement, and that appropriate accommodation is arranged. The salary condition is not a single national figure: it is measured against the collective agreement or the market rate for that job, which is why a contract that pays less than colleagues doing the same work is a problem for the application as well as for you.

   Do this: Compare the offered salary with the collective labour agreement or the market rate for the role, and get the housing arrangement in writing where that condition applies.

   Documents needed

   • The signed employment contract
   • The collective labour agreement, where one applies
   • The accommodation details

   Processing time

   Before the application is filed

   Common mistake: Treating the labour market test as a formality. It is the part of the assessment UWV advises the IND on, and a thin recruitment record is where applications fail.

   Official source

   IND · Single permit (GVVA): the conditions
5. 5

   File the application and pay the fee

   The IND recommends that the employer submits the application, and states that in the relevant routes the employee can also apply. The fee is €423. The IND must take a decision within 90 days and can extend that period in specified situations, for example where the application is incomplete. When the IND receives the application it asks UWV for labour market advice, so the UWV assessment runs inside the IND's decision period.

   Do this: Agree with the employer who is filing, submit the complete application, and pay the fee.

   Documents needed

   • The completed application
   • All supporting evidence
   • Payment

   Cost

   €423 IND application fee for a single permit (GVVA) (2026)

   Processing time

   The IND must take a decision within 90 days

   Common mistake: Planning against 45 days. The current IND page for the ordinary single permit states 90 days, and an incomplete application extends it.

   Official source

   IND · Single permit (GVVA): fee and decision period
6. 6

   Wait for both documents before starting work

   The single permit consists of two things: a residence document and an additional document. The additional document is what identifies the employer and the conditions the work permission is tied to. The IND states that you may not start working until you have received the residence permit and the additional document. Read both against your contract when they arrive, because the additional document is what an inspector checks.

   Do this: Collect both documents, check the employer name and conditions on the additional document against your contract, and only then agree a start date.

   Documents needed

   • The residence document
   • The additional document

   Processing time

   Start date follows receipt of both documents, not of one

   Common mistake: Starting on the day the residence card arrives. Working before the additional document is issued is working without permission.

   Official source

   IND · What the single permit consists of, and when work may begin
7. 7

   Know what happens if the job changes or ends

   The permission is tied to the employer named on the additional document. Where you change employer, the new employer has to apply for a new residence permit. Where the job ends while the permit is still valid, the IND states that you have up to 3 months to find new work, and that if you lost your job on or after 22 May 2026 and have held this permit for two years or more you are given a maximum of 6 months. The IND states that this also applies if you have been a victim of labour exploitation. The search period cannot be longer than the validity of your permit, and it begins on the day your contract ends.

   Do this: If the job is ending, take the contract end date, add 3 months or 6 months as applicable, compare that with your permit's expiry date, and work to whichever comes first.

   Documents needed

   • Your employment contract and its end date
   • Your residence document and its expiry date

   Processing time

   The search period runs from the day the contract ends, and never past the permit's own expiry

   Common mistake: Assuming the 6 months is the new standard. It applies where the job was lost on or after 22 May 2026 and the permit had been held for two years or more, or in the labour exploitation case, and it still cannot outlast the permit.

   Official source

   IND · Single permit (GVVA): changing employer and losing your job

• Your passport, and your current residence document if you have one
• The signed employment contract, showing hours, duties and salary
• Proof of the employer's registration in the Commercial Register (Handelsregister)
• The employer's evidence of the vacancy report to UWV and the recruitment it carried out
• Evidence that the salary matches the collective labour agreement or the market rate for the job
• Details of the accommodation the employer has arranged, where that condition applies
• Your diplomas or proof of the required qualifications, where the job needs them

• €423 is the IND application fee for a single permit (GVVA) (2026). The residence permit for paid employment only carries the same amount, and you apply on one route or the other, never on both.
• IND fees are set per calendar year and are generally indexed from 1 January, so check the amount published for the year in which you apply. Income requirements are a separate matter and are revised on 1 January and 1 July.
• The employer's own costs, including advertising the vacancy and arranging accommodation where required, are separate again and are not IND fees.

The IND must take a decision within 90 days, and can extend that period in specified situations. The employer's obligations start earlier: UWV states that the employer reports the vacancy to UWV at least 5 weeks before applying for the work permit, and that the employer must first spend at least 3 months trying to find a suitable candidate in the EU, EEA or Switzerland. When the IND receives a GVVA application it asks UWV for labour market advice, so the UWV assessment happens inside the IND's decision period rather than after it.

Requirements depend on your situation. Check the latest requirements with the relevant authority.

• Starting the GVVA application before checking the route. Highly skilled migrants, Blue Card holders, intra-corporate transferees, researchers and orientation year holders are all elsewhere, and so is anyone with five continuous years of work behind them.
• Believing only the employer can apply. The IND recommends that the employer submits the application and states that in the relevant routes the employee can apply themselves.
• Planning against 45 days. The current IND page for the ordinary single permit states a decision period of 90 days, and the IND can extend it.
• Starting work when the residence document arrives. The GVVA consists of a residence document and an additional document, and the IND states that you may not start working until you have received both.
• Leaving the labour market steps until the application is ready. The vacancy has to be reported to UWV at least 5 weeks beforehand and the EU, EEA and Switzerland search has to have run for at least 3 months, so an employer that has done neither is months away from being able to apply.
• Reading the five year rule as meaning your immigration status disappears. It removes the work permit requirement; you still need a residence document, and it is the endorsement on it that gives the wider work right.
• Changing employer without a new application. Where you hold this permit, a new employer has to apply for a new residence permit.

• Check the residence document and the additional document against your contract when they arrive, because the additional document names the employer and the conditions the permission is tied to.
• Diarise the expiry date and start any extension well before it, since the decision period is 90 days.
• Read your contract against the Dutch statutory minimums before your first day, because the permit says nothing about whether the contract itself is sound.
• If the job ends, work out your search period immediately: the baseline is up to 3 months, rising to a maximum of 6 months where you lost the job on or after 22 May 2026 and had held the permit for two years or more, or where you have been a victim of labour exploitation.
• Once you approach five continuous years of work, look at the paid employment residence permit route, since it removes the work permit requirement.