# Moving to NL with 3rd country spouse



## Complexity (Mar 11, 2014)

Hello All,

This is just a quick query, me and my spouse are looking into the idea if moving to the Netherlands. 

We were thinking I would go there and get a job, then I would sponsor him. I am from the UK so I would be exercising treaty rights. 

If we moved it would be simply to try life in another country ( not to go back to England under the Surinder Singh route). Therefore our intent would be to stay permanently (unless we don't like it if course lol)

- Are there any minimum requirements I need to meet? Eg salary. 

- Do I have to be there a certain length of time before sponsoring my spouse? Eg working 3 months first?

Just checking as we are exploring all options. 

Thank you,

Complexity


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## Donutz2 (Apr 14, 2014)

I'm sure you'll enjoy the Netherlands, it has the same awefull weather as England does, you'll feel right at home! 

- You need to be able to support yourself, so find a job with sufficient salary to pay for all your bills. Just don't rely on wellfare.
- He can join you from the very start, applying for free, easily and quickly issued Schengen visum for a family member of an EU/EEA national going on a holday to NL. 

- On travel to the EU: EU – Travel documents for non-EU family members – Your Europe
- On registation: EU - Residence - Your Europe

The IND (Dutch Immigration & Naturalisation Department) would also be important to check:
https://ind.nl/EN/individuals/eu


And if you wish to know the details of your rights and obligations:
- EUR-Lex - 32004L0038 - EN - EUR-Lex

Best of luck, prepare yourself well!


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## Complexity (Mar 11, 2014)

Hey Donutz2,

Thank you for responding.

Let me just clarify, he can enter on a tourist visa and then switch into a long term/permanent visa without having to go back to his home country?

Many thanks,

Complexity.


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## Donutz2 (Apr 14, 2014)

Correct, though I don't know what the UK would like to see upon return, if you to plan to do the SS/EU route and return to the UK, best to read up on how the UK applies that so you can make sure you can get all the documentation in order for that. 

For NL you'd ofcourse need the marriage document (officially translated into English, Dutch, French or German) for both the visa and registration. Officially it's not required but bring a birthcertificate (translated etc.) aswell to the municipality. 

I don't know what they'd say if you would ask for a type D (entry, settlement) visa. It should be free aswell. It shouldn't matter much. As a spouse of an EU/EEA national he should be able to get the free visa with minimal requirements. Once here he'd be entitled to move in with you using the same documents (marriage certificate, your passports) for registrating here and applying for ressidency. The IND page should have details on that. Perhaps there are threads or pages around detailing the "Netherlands route" in more detail. But with the information from the EU webpages you should atleast know what your rights and obligations.


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## Complexity (Mar 11, 2014)

No one is giving the time frame. I hope I find a few more answers. The Europa portal has been quite helpful though! Free call backs & legal advice has allowed me to get the gist of the whole process.


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## Donutz2 (Apr 14, 2014)

Hope you get it all sorted out, in theory it should all be easy and straight forward, in practise... that isn't always the case. Hope you find the EU and Dutch websites useful. 

If you do migrate to NL this might be useful too:
Inspectie SZW - New in the Netherlands

But first try to get the hang of what the EU and IND pages say about moving to NL (you + foreign spouse).


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## Complexity (Mar 11, 2014)

I got it all sorted now. It just required a lot of arguing with the Dutch Embassy in London who were clear on EU law. The contact I had at IND was very helpful, he went as far as emailing me everything that he said on the phone to me. Then after a phone call and forwarding the his thread to them, they believed me! Yay!


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## Donutz2 (Apr 14, 2014)

Good, congrats. Too bad about the hassle. You may wish to sent a complaint to the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs and the EU Home Affairs. Hopefully that may bring change for the next applicant...

- Interne klachtbehandeling | Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken | Rijksoverheid.nl (use google translate)
- DGs - Home Affairs - Who we are - Contact us


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## Complexity (Mar 11, 2014)

I will do that! It's unfair that other may have to suffer solely because the very people at the embassies don't know EU law. I found this issue with Belgium also. I find that EU nations seems to disregard EU law until someone challenges them.


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