This is a practical guide on how to move to the Netherlands as a software developer. Might be applicable for other professions. As practical guides go, assumptions are made, this isn't a scientific paper. Contribute by commenting, opening issues.
Why?
The Netherlands and it's people, the dutch, have a lot of great things. In no specific order:
- They all speak english very well making your integration here dead easy.
- Public transport and infrastructure is among the best in the world. Best roads we've seen in Europe so far.
- 30% tax ruling allows highly skilled imigrants to pay lower tax (20-25% effective tax rate on your gross salary).
- Liberal and relaxed as a nation, the dutch are cool, and marijuanna is legal.
- You will have a bycicle, bicycle lanes are everywhere and you will love it.
- Keukenhof is magical in spring.
Step 1: Getting hired.
This isn't that difficult to do in IT in general, it's dead easy if you're a developer. You follow the traditional route, find your dream job on linkedin, glassdoor, google and apply online. Most of the times you will have 2 interview rounds (one with HR, one technical) and if they like you, you will receive an offer.
How much should I ask?
Again, roughly speaking, salaries in IT will range between 40.000E - 70.000E gross per year while higher salaries are possible at large, international companies. It is reasonable to expect that a junior/intermediate/senior developer will get respectively about 45k/55k/65k. Your milleage will vary, and there are exceptions that have significantly higher or lower salaries.
If you do get an offer it will look something like this:
Hi Person X, Y. We are delighted to invite you to join our office in Amsterdam. Details of our offer are as follows:
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Salary: a 60000 gross yearly salary, which consists of:
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Monthly gross salary of Euro 4600
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Annual holiday allowance of 8% (Euro 4800 gross paid out in June)
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Holidays: 27 paid days of holiday (Dutch public holidays that fall on weekdays are not detracted from this amount).
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Pension plan: blabla*
First gotcha: The 60.000E salary they offer is dividied into 2 parts:
- 55.200E paid in equal parts each month and
- 4800E or 8% paid as a holiday allowance in June(So you can take a holiday , you know).
It doesn't make a huge difference, but due to the 8% holiday pay your monthly salary might be lower, and you get that money in June usually.
How much will I get after tax each month?
The best you can do is visit this site here and see how much you would get (Don't forget to tick the 30% ruling). Following our example, a 60.000E offer would mean you receive 3.982E net each month. It is very important to get the 30% ruling, as without it your net salary will be about ~700E less each month, and that's a huge hit.
How do I get this 30% ruling and what benefits does it give me?
Most of the times your hiring company will apply for you. Just make sure you meet the 30% ruling requirements (minimum salary of 37.000E, recruited from abroad, apply within 4 months after coming here).
Besides a higher net salary, it gives you the ability to bring your savings here tax free, it also gives you the possibility to exchange your driver's license with no tests taken.
Gotcha: This law has become an important piece in the political conversations, and people demand that it's benefits be reduced, so they are reduced every few years.
Do you Rent?
As you will be moving to Amsterdam/Rotterdam/Utrecht/Hague also known as Randstad, finding rent might be difficult. It is best if your company manages to find a place for your first month or reimburse you those costs. Numerous friends spent nights in hotels and sleazy motels their first month at work. Have something in place for your first month. Because rent is so hard to find, you will find scammers asking you to transfer deposits in advance. Again, ask your employer for help.
You can find a place to rent on facebook groups here, pararius.com (expensive) , funda.nl (dutch only), the Student Hotel and others. Prices in Amsterdam range from 500E for a room in a big house at the outskirts of Amsterdam to 1500E for a 2bedroom apartment somewhere closer to the centre, to 2500E for a 2-bedroom apartment right in the centre.
You will pay a 1 month deposit + 1st month's rent after you sign the contract. Utilities are not included in this (on websites they advertise this as exclusive/inclusive and they are referring to utilies).
Should you buy a house ?
Yes, mortgage rates are at an historical low in 2017 and buying is still much much cheaper than renting.
Could you buy?
Yes you could. After a few months here you can buy a house provided that your salary allows you to purchase a home. General rule of thumb: You can borrow up to 4.67 times more than your gross salary. Meaning our friend with a 60.000E salary can borrow up to 280.000E. You can find a home on www.funda.nl and buy it. There are a lot of subtleties, including the fact that you need about 5% to cover buying costs, there is no downpayment so far, you don't need a credit score, the process takes 2 months, you will need an agent to help you with buying a house, as he will be very effective during negotiations and when making an offer (via email) it is legally binding so you need to make sure you include clauses that protect you in case you don't get the mortgage.
What will my monthly expenses look like?
Here they are for a single individual living frugally in a private room of a large house.
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Rent : 600E
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Food: 300E
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Public transport: 100E for a monthly pass in Amsterdam.
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Health insurance: 100E monthly, lowest insurance you can get.
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Phone subscription: 20E
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Utilities: Usually included in the room price otherwise 100E gas + electricity, 50E Internet , 20E - water charge.
Total - 1150E net without utilities.
Here are calculations for 2 people living comfortably in their own 2 bedroom home purchased or rented:
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Rent/Mortgage : 1300E
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Food: 500E
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Public transport: 100E for a monthly pass in Amsterdam per person.
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Health insurance: 100E monthly, lowest insurance you can get per person.
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Phone subscription: 25E per person.
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Utilities: 100E gas + electricity, 50E Internet + TV , 20E - water charge.
Total - 2320E net monthly.
Should I bring my car?
I brought my own, against all advice. I had to pay crazy parking fees ( 6Euro per hour), car broke down so had to pay very costly repairs, importing it was a disastrous process so we ended up shipping it back home because importing it oficially would have cost us an extra 2000E (for a 5000E VW Golf) just for the formalities. The Netherlands also has a high monthly insurance cost & road tax especially for diesel cars. You're looking at 200E at least monthly just for insurance + road tax. The Netherlands has great public transport/trains and bycicle infrastructure. I recommend using them and buying a car from the NL later on. It is wise to bring your car here for just a few months and then later on, send it back.
Why shouldn't I move to the Netherlands?
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The weather is unpleasant. Rains 6 months a year (Think October through March). Depressing and cold.
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Even if you have health insurance you will still pay for a lot of health related costs.
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Compared to other nations, those in in northern Europe aren't as friendly. It is hard to make friends. Your milleage will vary.
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High taxes on owning cars, highest gasoline cost in Europe (1.5E/ liter), high parking costs.
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Everything, not just cars is on the expensive side, but not crazy expensive (like Switzerland/Norway)