How many Dutch residence statuses can you have at the same time?

Many people think that one can have only 1 residence title. For example, a student can only have a student visa; a highly skilled migrant can only have a highly skilled migrant visa.

In accordance with the Dutch Immigration Decree (“Vreemdelingenbesluit” in Dutch), a non-EU immigrant can actually have multiple residence statues at the same time, in parallel to one another. For example, a highly skilled migrant can be in possession of partner visa status concurrently. An entrepreneur visa holder can be in possession of student status at the same time. According to the Immigration Decree, if a non-EU citizen is in possession of multiple visa statuses simultaneously, the IND should issue a very special residence card, on which all the statuses should be mentioned. With respect to this issue, Mynta Law have contacted a senior officer within the IND. The IND’s answer was: “due to technical difficulties, it is not possible to issue such a special card. Nevertheless, if an immigrant has multiple statuses at the same time, he/she can choose which card he/she wants. When he/she wants to switch from one card to another card, he/she can request the IND to print out the other card. Within the IND system, one can have multiple and concurrent residence statuses. However, one can have only 1 physical card.”

Why should someone have multiple residence titles?

The answer is stability. For example, a client used to work as a highly skilled migrant for a large multinational. However, this company gave her a series of 3-month contracts. Every 3 months, she faced the issue as to whether her employment contract would be extended or not. Fortunately, she was also in possession of a self-employment visa. When having multiple visa statuses at the same time, people have more security. In case of unexpected redundancy, a multi-status holder can continue staying in the Netherlands. Some other clients have both partner and highly skilled migrant statues at the same time. If the relationship turns sour, one can continue living in the Netherlands as a highly skilled migrant. When holding multiple statuses, one does not need to worry about residence gap.

Should you have questions about multiple visa statuses, please do not hesitate to contact Mynta Law through filling out our contact form.