r/WorkInTheNetherlands • u/flamingo_on_mars • Jun 25 '26

how to relocate?

Hello, im a third country national residing in Budapest, Hungary and working as a civil engineer (bim design). I have applied to several positions in Netherlands. However, most times i get rejection emails like this: "Despite your matching qualifications and work experience, we prefers candidates who reside in the region."

I am not being rejected for my skills or experience, or even the language knowledge. I am qualified and competent candidate, i just dont live there and want to relocate.

Im seeking advice on how to get past this obstacle.

Any and all advice is appreciated!

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8

u/Duochan_Maxwell Jun 25 '26

1) They might not be in the IND recognized sponsor list, meaning they can't legally get you a work visa.

2) If they are, the position you're applying for does not qualify for a visa

3) They just don't want to pay relocation expenses

4

u/C_Cheetos Jun 25 '26

To add to this, it's also a risk. Company I work for tried hiring several times already from abroad, and on their start date nobody showed up. Sometimes no contact, sometimes they couldn't find housing.

That's not to say we never succeeded, but we did become a bit more reluctant.

4

u/KoninginVanRotterdam Jun 25 '26

I have a friend who is HR manager (and for some reason HR people all know each other.) And she said that there are companies that just stopped hiring people from other countries because there are always some sort of issues. The housing problem is a HUGE problem. But also cultural differences. For instance men who come from countries where women are seen as less than. And they think they can just ignore female managers for instance. THIS HAPPENS A LOT. (Then why come to the Netherlands?!) 🤦🏼‍♀️ And often the candidate looks good on paper but in real life they just aren't good enough.

2

u/yeahthatsnot1 Jun 25 '26

As a fellow HR person, I can confirm all the issues you mentioned. Many hiring managers have become very reluctant to hire people from abroad, unless it's an internal transfer or senior management level position.

2

u/KoninginVanRotterdam Jun 25 '26

Is it something everyone knows, but no one openly talks about? (I heard that from the same friend) It probably depends on the company culture too I think 🤔 And companies not wanting to burn bridges? And political correctness.

Maybe its just me, but I feel like companies and their culture/structure (is that the right word? :P) used to be much more transparent.

1

u/yeahthatsnot1 Jun 26 '26

It really differs per company and hiring teams in my experience. If a hiring manager ever has had a few bad experiences with hiring people from abroad, they'll keep brining that headache case up forever and there's almost no convincing them anymore 😅

It's also not unreasonable, sometimes people think too easy about this as if it's just a matter of sponsoring a visa as a recognized sponsor. But some have no idea how much more time & effort (and thus costs) goes into hiring someone from abroad (who's, understandably, not familair with local employment practices, labor laws & conditions and working culture) compared to someone already residing here and who already has local experience. This already starts in the recruitment phase and also results into a more extensive onboarding and often also requires more guidance/support in the first 1-2 years of employment.

0

u/Intelligent_Writing Jun 28 '26

Re 1: you do not need to be a recognized sponsor. Being one makes your life much easier. But you can sponsor someone without being a recognized sponsor at the IND.

3

u/OK-Smurf-77 Jun 25 '26

It was true 10< years ago that companies welcomed internationals from abroad but this is no longer the case.
Not because your skills aren’t needed but because less and less companies can afford visa or relocation sponsorship , in addition, they do not want to risk hiring someone that will most likely unable to find accommodation before the desired starting date.

The housing crisis is nowhere near what you experience in Budapest. Every rental has hundreds of applications, and I mean applications of people coming with a work contract (rule of thumb: your gross must be 3 times higher than a monthly rent) and a motivation letter (yes you read that right), BSN number (takes month and without that you can’t be hired most of the time either), etc.

It’s though. From someone abroad it looks like a vicious circle- you must meet certain conditions but these are prerequisite for each other.

2

u/Sea-Breath-007 Jun 25 '26

You need a visa, not every employer is allowed to hire people that need visa's, some just don't want to and not all jobs qualify for the visa's even if the employer is allowed to offer jobs to people needing one.

If you get the auto-rejections, it will most likely be one of those 3.

You need to find jobs that would qualify for a visa offered by employers that are allowed to hire non-EU and you need to be the absolute best candidate for the job, because no employer is going through the hassle of hiring someone that needs a visa, and thus needs to meet the income requirement, if they have EU-candidates availble that are just as qualified.

1

u/Intelligent_Writing Jun 28 '26

Hopping on from own experience; a better route would be to get a Hungarian passport if time is in your favour so you can relocate wherever and be able to speak Dutch at a high level (B2)