I am a US citizen and I am seriously considering moving to Holland. I have a Masters in Accounting. How hard would it be for me to get a work visa or citizenship? Thank you very much for any help or advice.
Netherlands - 1 Answers
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Well I'm also a bit confused by your other question and if you really want to move to the Netherlands or just to Europe somewhere. Anyway, assuming you do, then a Masters degree is certainly a step in the right direction, but normally you would have to also have work experience in either the managerial field (usually requiring a minimum of 10+ years) or a specialist stream of financial accounting in order to obtain a work permit. The fact is that work permits have to be applied for by the employer and will not be granted unless they can prove that you & you alone can fill this job (for good reasons) and that no-one else in the total EEA can or is available to do the job. Therefore it is not an easy task and especially in this environment. Indeed many job adverts in English already have a disclaimer that applicants must already have the legal status which allows them to work within the Netherlands This is just to get to the possibility to live and reside in the Netherlands. Citizenship can only be obtained after a minimum of 5 years (3 years if in a relationship visa with a Dutch national) legal residence in the Netherlands. You can see more details here the immigration status of Americans seeking work in the Netherlands http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AoNhS_x5OwfyI.GZJm2WjL_ty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20081029005645AAYhd63 and also includes links to job agencys and sites which advertise English speaking jobs. Also if I were you then I would contact "Michael Page" which is a professional recruitment consultancy and who have a business unit specialising in sourcing high quality candidates for positons in finance & accounting. They will likely be able to give you a good indication of what are your possibilities http://www.michaelpage.nl/index.html?language=en
