Legal pitfalls expats face in the Netherlands & how to resolve them
You sign your relocation contract, land in Eindhoven or Amsterdam, and happily get on with your life. Then something goes wrong; your employer asks you to sign a termination agreement within 48 hours, your residence permit gets refused, or your relationship falls apart, and you and your partner are of different nationalities.
These are not edge cases. They are the most common situations Law & More handles for international clients every month. Here is what you need to know.
Handling a Dutch settlement agreement
A vaststellingsovereenkomst is a mutual termination agreement, not a dismissal. Signing it voluntarily usually means you lose your right to Dutch unemployment benefits (WW). To keep that entitlement, specific language must appear in the document confirming that your employer initiated the termination. Most agreements sent out by employers do not include this by default.
The good news is that you are not obliged to sign, and Dutch law gives you a 14-day cooling-off period after signing to change your mind. Before you do anything, get legal advice. Check the non-compete clause, the severance amount (transitievergoeding), and any bonus or pension waiver provisions.
What if your IND application gets refused
The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) handles all Dutch residence permits, from the highly skilled migrant (kennismigrant) route and EU Blue Card to family reunification and self-employment visas. The most common reason applications fail is not fundamental ineligibility. Usually, missing or incorrectly formatted documents are to blame, issues that could easily be caught before submission.
If your application is refused, you have four weeks to file a bezwaar (administrative objection). Miss that deadline and you lose the right to challenge the decision. If the bezwaar fails, you can escalate to beroep at an administrative court. Both procedures have strict timelines and require a clear legal strategy from day one.
Fix your Dutch legal issues with the help of Law & More
Understanding the complexities of cross-border family law
Dutch law uses the concept of ouderlijk gezag (parental authority) rather than custody. Since January 2023, both parents in the Netherlands automatically receive joint parental authority for children born after that date, provided the father has legally recognised the child.
When parents hold different nationalities, questions arise about which country's law applies, which court has jurisdiction, and whether foreign rulings are recognised here. More than 80 percent of Dutch custody cases are resolved through mediation, but only when both parties understand their actual legal position. If mediation breaks down, the family court applies the best interests of the child as its primary standard.
Who can help?
Law & More is a Dutch law firm with offices in Eindhoven and Amsterdam. The team advises expats in English as standard, and also works in Spanish, Russian, Turkish, and Polish. Whether you are dealing with a settlement agreement deadline, an IND refusal, or a family law dispute, consultations are available at short notice, including outside office hours.