Netherlands · Work authorisation

Orientation Year for Highly Educated Persons (zoekjaar)

Issued by The IND (Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst) — you apply yourself; no employer or sponsor is involved. It is checked against conditions rather than scored, so the question is whether you meet each one, not how many points you gather.

Basis
Checklist
Steps
3
Possible outcomes
2
Last checked
2026-08-09

Conditions

What this permit
asks of you.

Qualification

What it wants from your degree

Completion, within roughly the last three years, of an accredited bachelor's or master's degree at a Dutch institution, a Dutch post-master's course of at least one academic year, or a master's, doctoral or post-master's course at a foreign institution that ranks in the top 200 of at least two of three named league tables (Times Higher Education, QS, ShanghaiRanking), by overall or by-subject ranking. An Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's degree also qualifies.

Not a licence

Academic comparability

Credential evaluation (diploma waardering) for a foreign diploma, issued by IDW (International Credential Evaluation), operated jointly by Nuffic and SBB.

This compares your degree to a local one. It is an academic statement and it does not authorise you to practise any profession.

Credential evaluation (IDW): €148.83. At least 10 working weeks

The procedure

3 steps,
in the order they happen.

Prepare your documents

  1. Confirm that your specific degree, institution and graduation date meet the ranking and recency conditions before assuming a foreign degree qualifies — the IND does not accept every foreign university.

Get your qualification assessed

  1. Have any foreign diploma evaluated: the IND states that all foreign diplomas have to be evaluated by Nuffic before they can be accepted, with an exception for diplomas accredited in the Flemish (Belgium) education register.

Register and start working

  1. Apply to the IND yourself — online if you already hold a valid Dutch residence permit, otherwise by post — and pay the fee.

Cost and time

What it costs,
and how long the authority says it takes.

Fees

Application
€254

Timeframes

IND decision
Up to 90 days
Orientation year permit
1 year

Published processing times, not a prediction about your case.

Both halves together

Guides that use this permit.

Each one takes a profession into Netherlands and runs the recognition branch and the authorisation branch side by side, including what your country of qualification adds.

Evidence

Every claim on this page, and where it came from.

2 official pages, each with the jurisdiction it speaks for and the date a human last opened it. The oldest is 2026-08-09, and that is the date this page is only as fresh as.

Is this the right permit for you?

That depends on where you qualified.

The planner compares every route Netherlands opens to your country of qualification, and adds the recognition branch when your profession has one.

Check my path →All Netherlands permits