Moving to Amsterdam as a Brit: the residence routes that actually work

Amsterdam is an hour's flight from most of the UK, but since Brexit you need a Dutch residence permit to live there, and for most Brits that permit starts with a job offer.

The short version

• Without a permit you can spend 90 days in any 180 across the Schengen area, the Netherlands included, and that time isn't for working [2].
• Brits living in the Netherlands before 1 January 2021 are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement and hold an Article 50 TEU residence document from the IND [1].
• Newcomers are third-country nationals. The main door is the highly skilled migrant scheme, which in 2026 needs a gross salary of at least EUR 5,942 a month if you're 30 or over [3].
• The other routes are the EU Blue Card, self-employment, study, the orientation year for recent graduates, and family. There's no retirement visa and no digital nomad visa.
• Once you arrive, you register with the City of Amsterdam within five days and get your BSN [5].

Two kinds of Brit in the Netherlands

Before 2021. If you moved to the Netherlands before 1 January 2021 and have lived there legally since, your rights are protected by the EU Withdrawal Agreement. You prove it with a "Withdrawal Agreement residence document (Article 50 TEU)" issued by the IND; if you somehow don't have one, the FCDO says you must apply, and you renew it every five or ten years depending on how long you've lived there [1]. That card also exempts you from registering on the EU's Entry/Exit System; without it you risk being wrongly flagged as an overstayer [1].

Newcomers. Everyone else is treated like an Australian or an American. You need a permit for the purpose you're coming for, and in most cases someone in the Netherlands (an employer, a university, a partner) acts as your sponsor. The one bit of good news is that UK citizens don't need an entry visa (an MVV) first, so you can usually apply from inside the Netherlands [4].

The 90/180-day rule and the Entry/Exit System

Without a permit you can stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period, and days in Belgium, France or anywhere else in Schengen count towards the same 90 [2]. Your passport must have been issued less than 10 years before you arrive and be valid for at least three months after you plan to leave [2]. The Entry/Exit System now takes fingerprints and a photo on your first crossing, and the record lasts three years. Time spent in the country on a residence permit doesn't count towards the 90 days [2]. The FCDO's Netherlands travel advice was still current at 6 November 2026 when we checked on 8 November 2026, last updated on 11 August 2026 with new Entry/Exit System information [9].

The routes, side by side

Fees are from the IND's fee table, valid for the calendar year [4]. Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = EUR 1.2002), so the EUR 5,942 threshold is about £4,950 a month and the EUR 423 fee about £350.

Highly skilled migrant: how most Brits arrive

This is the Dutch equivalent of a Skilled Worker visa, but easier. There's no labour market test; instead your employer must be an IND recognised sponsor, pay a market-rate salary and clear the income requirement [6]. Only the employer can apply, online or on form 7511, and the permit lasts as long as your contract, up to five years. After five years you can apply for permanent residence [6].

The 2026 salary thresholds, gross a month and excluding the Dutch 8% holiday allowance, are:

• EUR 5,942 (about £4,950) if you're 30 or over
• EUR 4,357 (about £3,630) if you're under 30
• EUR 3,122 (about £2,600) for recent graduates and orientation-year holders [3]

The IND changes these every 1 January [3]. If you lose your job you get three months to find a new sponsor, or six months if you've held the permit for two years or more and became unemployed on or after 22 May 2026 [6]. The detail sits in our guide to highly skilled migrant and self-employed routes.

Self-employed and remote work

The self-employed permit is a proper hurdle. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) scores your personal experience, business plan and added value to the Dutch economy, and you need at least 30 points in each area, or 45 for experience and 45 for the business plan [7]. The IND form asks for a business plan with three years of forecasts and figures checked by an independent professional [7]. The treaty shortcut Americans and Japanese use (DAFT) doesn't apply to Brits.

There's no Dutch digital nomad visa. Keeping your London job and working from a flat in De Pijp needs a residence permit like anyone else, and your employer may also face Dutch payroll and social security questions. The 90 days are for visits.

Study, the orientation year and family

Universities that are recognised sponsors apply for your study permit. The orientation year is a gem for younger Brits: if you graduated in the last three years from a university ranked in the top 200 by at least two of Times Higher Education, QS and ShanghaiRanking, you get a year to live and work freely, no work permit needed [8]. Plenty of UK universities make the cut, but check your graduation-year ranking. Family members join a sponsor who is already here, and your employer can apply for them alongside your HSM permit [6].

Retirement

There's no Dutch retirement visa. Unless you have a Dutch or EU partner, or Withdrawal Agreement rights, retiring to Amsterdam from the UK is difficult; our guide to the main retirement visas for Brits covers the countries that do offer one.

Your first week in Amsterdam

Each step leans on the one before, so do them in order.

1. Collect your permit. Once the IND approves, it tells you how and where to collect the card; keep the approval letter with your passport until then.
2. Register with the City within five days. If you're staying more than four months, visit a City Office in person within five days of arrival; no appointment is needed, except in Weesp. Bring your passport, residence permit, rental contract and birth certificate, and every family member must come with you [5]. See our guide to BSN, DigiD and registering at the gemeente.
3. Get your BSN. You need it to work, open a bank account and take out Dutch health insurance [5].
4. Apply for DigiD, the login for every government service.
5. Swap your driving licence. You can drive on a UK licence for up to 185 days, and should apply to exchange it well before that runs out [1].

Finding a flat comes before all of this, and it's the hardest bit of Amsterdam life. Our guide to renting in Amsterdam covers the hunt and the scams.

Don't forget the UK end

Tell HMRC you've gone (usually with form P85) and check whether split-year treatment applies. The UK and the Netherlands have a double taxation agreement, and the UK State Pension is uprated each year for people living in the Netherlands [1]. The 30% ruling can make a big difference to your take-home pay, so read our guide to the 30% ruling for Brits before you sign a contract.

One thing to know early: in most cases the Netherlands doesn't let you keep British citizenship if you naturalise as Dutch, so many Brits stay on permanent residence instead [1]. Consular help comes from the British Embassy in The Hague.

Want to hear how the IND wait really went for others? Our community group for Brits in the Netherlands has plenty who've just done it.

Sources

1. GOV.UK (FCDO): Living in the Netherlands (updated 23 December 2025)
2. GOV.UK (FCDO): Netherlands travel advice – entry requirements (updated 11 August 2026)
3. IND: Required amounts income requirements (2026 amounts, checked 8 November 2026)
4. IND: Fees, costs of an application (last modified 22 October 2026)
5. City of Amsterdam: Moving from abroad (immigration) (checked 8 November 2026)
6. IND: Highly skilled migrant (last updated 29 October 2026)
7. IND: Residence permit self-employed person (last update 13 October 2026) and form 7524-2026/2
8. IND: Residence permit for orientation year (last updated 7 October 2026)
9. GOV.UK (FCDO): Netherlands travel advice (still current at 6 November 2026, updated 11 August 2026)

Keep reading

• Dutch residence for Brits: highly skilled migrant and self-employed routes
• BSN, DigiD and registering at the gemeente
• Renting in Amsterdam
• Brits in the EU after Brexit: residence rights and the 90/180-day rule