Economically inactive visa for long term residents from other EU countries

If you are in possession of an EU long term permit issued by another EU country and you have sufficient passive income and/or assets to provide for yourself (and your family), you can apply for a special Dutch residence card called economically inactive permit. This permit is valid for five years. With this card, you will also have unlimited access to the Dutch labour market.

Should you want to apply for the economically inactive permit, first of all, you need to make sure that you are in possession of an EU long term permit issued by another EU Member State. Since the implementation of the EU Directive 2003/109, each EU country has introduced a few different types of permanent residence. You need to make sure that your current residence card is the correct one. For your convenience, please find below the corresponding names of the EU long term stay residence cards in different EU Member States.

Remark: Ireland and Denmark have never implemented the EU Directive 2003/109. Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein are not parts of the EU. Therefore, these six European countries do not issue EU long term stay cards.

Sufficient assets and/or passive income

Another important criterion for the economically inactive status is that one needs to have enough passive income and/or assets to provide for himself/herself. In the past, one had to prove that he/she was capable of generating sufficient and sustainable passive income from his/her assets. For example, Bob owns an apartment in Paris. His apartment is currently being rented out to an expat family. Each month, Bob receives a rental income of €1800. On the basis of this rental income, Bob can apply for the economically inactive visa in the Netherlands.

In 2019, the Court of the Hague made an interesting ruling. In that case, an applicant (who had obtained a Spanish long term stay permit) tried to apply for an economically inactive permit through using his savings. The Immigration Department (“the IND”) refused his application, as the IND contended that his savings were not sustainable. The applicant did not agree with the refusal and filed an appeal with the Court of the Hague. The court holds that “the IND’s explanation of the sustainability requirement has no legal basis in the EU Directive 2003/109 and the IND has used its discretion in a way that violates the purpose and effectiveness of the Directive.”

If you are in possession of an EU long term permit issued by another EU Member State and if you are interested in immigrating to the Netherlands, please do not hesitate to contact us through filling out the contact form.