Another new one...
 

Hello All!

I'm yet another new one here, joined with hope of getting some help, support & friendship from some like minded people. :)

I'm planning to move to the Alkmaar region in April, going to be moving in with my boyfriend for 6 months at first. We should be moving down to Utrecht after a few months. Have been planning this for a few months now and things are starting to come together.

Very worried about getting a job over there as I speak little to no Dutch. I'm learning as much as I can, but its slow. Hoping I can find some sort of work to fund a lang course to help me along.

I have a ton of questions about visa's and jobs and pet passports (my lovely cat needs to come with) floating round in my head, muddling along the best I can. Does anyone fancy pointing me in the direction of a thread thats covered all this before? Any kind words of encouragement are appricated, to be honest they are needed right now!

:D

Darna

Re: Another new one...
 

Utrecht is a great city.
Moving from the U.K. to The Netherlands should prove easy regards your personal requirements. We take it your boyfriend is Dutch and will show you how to register at the town hall etc.
Look at the first posting on the following thread. It has a link to a web site which gives links and all the information you should need.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=420757
Finding work with out the native language in any country is difficult. What is your present job? Computer skills are easy to move around, for example.
Ian found the language difficult so now we are here in Spain.
If you look at the DEFRA web site you will find more information about taking your cat to The Netherlands. However if you find the information not so clear they have phone number and the folks on the other end are more than helpful.

Other will hopefully post here too.

Re: Another new one...
 

Dont worry Irene, i'm still lurking out here :D

have a good read and check out some of the links, any questions just let me know.

Re: Another new one...
 

I hope you keep lurking after you have moved ;-) it will be a lonely forum without you.

Re: Another new one...
 

dont worry.

Im a natural born lurker :sneaky:

Re: Another new one...
 

We are thinking of moving back to The Netherlands. So maybe we’d be able to help.
Nice house Paul ..but too expensive for us.
All we need now is a job for Ian!:unsure:

PS JDR, are you not lurking?

Re: Another new one...
 

Thanks.

It goes on sale officially this week, but we already have a second couple coming on Wednesday, so fingers crossed.

Why are you looking at moving back ?

Re: Another new one...
 

Hi Ferkew, Darna_Moon, Casa, fdr, and everyone else! I am so grateful to have found this forum because my wife and I are seriously comtemplating relocating to the Netherlands (town 30 min out of of Amerstdam) from Toronto, Canada, and we are desperate for advice from friendly, knowledgeable people.

I am a soon-to-be chiropractor (graduate in June) and I am in negotiations with a Dutch chiropractor seeking an associate. I LOVE Holland, been there twice, but I really don't want to make any hasty decisions that I will regret later. I have heard the Netherlands is extremely expensive, but everyone I talk to has a different opinion.

I am being offered a starting salary earning approx. 42,000 Euro in my first year. Will this afford us a reasonable lifestyle in the Netherlands? I realize this is a broad question, but I have no context in which to assess whether we will be able to live comfortably or not. My wife is a lawyer and she may or may not work while we are there, a lot depends on how we are managing financially. I checked out www.xe.com/ucc/ to calculate how much that translates into Canadian dollars, and it converts to $64,000 CAN.

Can anyone offer me advice as to whether 42,000 Euro (gross salary) offers a reasonable, or even comfortable lifestyle? We're not big spenders, but we would like to sock away some savings to pay back student loans!

ANY ADVICE WOULD BE GREAT!!!!!!! Thanks....

Chris and Holly

Re: Another new one...
 

Thanks for all the replys! Nice to see people out there! Post again soon when I have more time!

Thanks again!

:lol:

Re: Another new one...
 

Hurrah! So far all going ok!

Have managed to sort out Pet Passport (which is going through as we speak)! Have had a nice (if standard) reply from Undutchables about looking for work. And clearing though all my stuff is going nicely. Also handed in my notice at work. No turning back now!

Random question... does anyone know. When I report to the goverment office for my Sofi number, I've been told it would be a good idea to get a residency visa too, to help get a bank account. Does anyone know what I need with me/to do to get one of these?

Thanks a milion!

:lol:

Re: Another new one...
 

Language hasn't been a problem for me, but I work in IT. You can't work in IT without speaking English ;-)

As for learning the language, don't go mad if it goes slow. My experience was the same - the courses in England were woeful. Linguaphone is also ancient and poor.

Buy yourself a copy of the Van Dale Dutch-English dictionary. It's the best, though it is expensive.

You can follow a dutch language course at most unis. They're not cheap - to become fluent you need to complete two day courses, which cost 960EUR each plus 160 EACH for books. Beware they're only in Dutch. So you need the dictionary. Oh, and they start twice a year - Feb and September. I'm two weeks into my course, and am impressed - very well structured.

So budget 2500EUR for the courses, over either one or two years (two years if you're doing them in the evening).

Your boyfriend'll be able to do most of the other stuff for you..

EDIT: Undutchables are useless c***s, they'll fob you off unless you're available to work immediately. Just apply for jobs on monster.nl, do the cover in dutch but explain your situation.

EDIT: Your boyfriend needs to help you with the residency. You *MUST* do this, iirc you won't get a sofinummer without it. You just need to go to your local town hall, with your boyfriend. Take all your proofs of ID (and his). Ask for the 5-year residency, or you'll have some problems in 3months if you haven't found a job. Get your boyfriend to ask about it.

Re: Another new one...
 

Ok, thanks for all the advice. I'll talk to my boyfriend about it all :) .

Re: Another new one...
 

Why a problem in 3 months ?
If she is an EU citizen, she is able to live and work legally anywhere in EU, or have they changed the rules again ?

Re: Another new one...
 

If you have a permit for 3 months, you may get interviewed when you want an extention. If you can't prove that you're employed or can support yourselve, they'll deny you the residency.

Hasn't happened to me as I registered as a permanent resident, but it happened to my brother-in-law's colleague. Who is German. Or maybe they really do hate the Germans, proving my other argument wrong ;)

Re: Another new one...
 

Why do you need a permit ?
If you are an EU citizen you dont need a residencia to live in Europe, or has The Netherlands got its own rules ?
In Spain only non EU citizens need a permit to work.

Re: Another new one...
 

No idea, just relaying the experience third party. I have a feeling that it's related to benefits, but then I was asked if my residency would be longterm or short-term - with the short term requiring a renewal after 3 months.

Everyone here has to register their residance, it's the rules. Boy do peeps here like their rules...

Re: Another new one...
 

Used to be similar in Spain, but now only pensioners and people living here not employed have to have a residencia.
Just so as they can keep an eye on us tax wise probably. ;-)

I suppose one day the rules will be the same all over the E U, lol.

Re: Another new one...
 

Holland is very much "big brother is watching you"

You have to register for almost everything (preferrably digitally) . Personally
I dont think its too bad a thing, but they do like to know where you are and what you are doing.

The 5 year registration is very straighforward, but it also means you are officially registered in Holland. I found out recently that I wasnt registered for the last 13 years. :huh: oops !

They still knew how to find me for my taxes and government bills, but it meant I couldnt take my motorcycle theory test :confused: A bit strange, but hey, thats Holland.

I made a couple of phonecalls and everything was sorted (after paying the appropriate bills of course)

They love their red tape over here. Sitting in local government offices for one reason or another is very common. births, deaths, marriages, driving licence, passport, rent rebates, etc etc. very time consuming, and NEVER free .

Re: Another new one...
 

Sounds similar to Spain, but a lot of our paperwork is done at the police station. ;-)

Re: Another new one...
 

Sorry have not been on here for some time…
Why are we thinking of moving back?…we miss Carnaval.

[/font][/color]http://www.eindhovensdagblad.nl/carnaval/

Re: Another new one...
 

HI Darna, i have moved to Amsterdam from Manchester about a week ago and i already managed to bag myself a fairly decent job (IT), i don't speak one word of Dutch but English is your Key to the world of employment with international companies.
what i would advise is that as soon as you arrive in the Netherlands, book your self an appointment for SOFI (VERY CRUCIAL TO EVERYTHING) with the Dutch Tax Office by calling their free number 08000543, they will then call you back in a couple of days to confirm your appointment in one of their offices respectively. As you are a British national, you will not require Work permit but you would however need to a residency permit SOONER or AFTER THREE MONTHS of your stay in the Netherlands. to be able to get the latter you would have been registered with local city council (the personal records database (GBA) of the municipality in which you reside)
then you contact the Dutch IND http://www.ind.nl/EN/index.asp to register.
Residency permit is Free of charge and is a Yellow sticker which will be stuck on your passport.
Good luck
I hope this info will be of much help.

Z:thumbup:

Re: Another new one...
 

Hi Darna, and welcome to the area. When I have to describe the ins and outs in the Netherlands to foreigners, I quite often look things up at expatica.com for the Netherlands. I can also recommend browsing through this page

I live in Haarlem, which is ca. 30 kilometres south of Alkmaar. It has a city guide for English speakers; I am Dutch but my husband is British/Irish and we have three bilingual kids so I sometimes search for English language/culture things for them. Since it is not far from Alkmaar you might find some things to do too.

Re: Another new one...
 

hi, how did you or are you getting on with your move? i may be doing the same in the summer? is there any pitfuls to watch out for? any advice on what to do first ? we want to rent in or around Amstelveen ? ...thanks Ron

Re: Another new one...
 

I also miss carnaval, but that's about it, oh yeah, still miss frikandellen and kroketten ,Furkew:lol:

Re: Another new one...
 

Hi Ron,

Have you had a good read of all the posts on the Dutch forum ?

There is plenty of advice on all the different htreads.

Cost of living generally from one "gemeente" to another is pretty much the same except for the rental prices. Amstelveen is fairly close to Amsterdam, so ideal for commuting which can make it fairly expensive to live there compard to other towns. Actual rental costs i'm not sure, but I thought there was a link on the Amstelveen thread to an estate agent.

A few words worth learning if you are looking at Dutch sites :

makelaar (estate agent)
appartement
Maand (month)
Prijs (price)

Here is a link which shows rental places from €600-€1000 p.m in a 1km radius of Amstelveen. As you can see only 13 houses.

http://www.funda.nl/WoningAanbod/Huu...&er=0&ut=False

This one is €1000-€1500 p.m

http://www.funda.nl/WoningAanbod/Huu...e=&ZoekSoort=1

22 rentals

Re: Another new one...
 

Thats great , i will read more on these threads and check out the link you sent and maybe Utrecht or Hilversum area could be better ?, much appreciated............cheers Ron

Re: Another new one...
 

Where will you be working ?

Re: Another new one...
 

Hi, my work is based in Amstelveen but i dont mind driving upto 20km ? My wife prefers a village/town type living rather than a big city ? any idaeas? and the rentals site is quite good i just need to scrub up on my geography ?:)

Re: Another new one...
 

I would suggest looking at Amstelveen itself then. 20km driving doesnt sound too far, but if it takes an hour every day to get to work, it might sound different.

In Holland, cycling, bus or tram to work is the easiest way. My BIL lives and works in Amstelveen, and he swears by it. He used to work in Utrecht, and that was a nightmare commuting.

I would suggest emailing one of the estate agents asking for advice on housing in the Amstelveen area. They all speak good English, and i'm sure they can give you a good idea of what, when & where.

Have you looked at the Amstelveen website ?

http://www.amstelveen.nl/web/show?id=44489&langid=43

They also have a fairly decent Rugby team if that is your sport. :thumbsup:

Re: Another new one...
 

Thats great advice ! what agents do you advise (the one you recommended) or is there another link ? im still looking thru all the threads like you suggested also ! :D

Re: Another new one...
 

Oh and one more thing, my son likes rugby my my sport is golf and football.....:thumbsup:

Re: Another new one...
 

Rugby in the Amsterdam area is not a real problem.

AAC, Amstelveen are the 2 main clubs

Football everywhere.

Golf is getting very popular, but not cheap, and memberships harder to get than a lottery win.

Re: Another new one...
 

Thanks again! is there a link for a reccomended map of Amstelveen and surrounding area or is it included in your Amstelveen website link ? :thumbup:

Re: Another new one...
 

Here is a list of 21 estate agents in Amstelveen.

Take your pick :D

http://www.funda.nl/Makelaars/Result...&er=0&ut=False

Re: Another new one...
 

Have you tried google earth ?


Gives you a good idea of how green certain areas are.

Re: Another new one...
 

Nope :confused: but i will now and check it out :thumbup:

Re: Another new one...
 

:thumbsup: i have saved the link and will go thru all with my wife tonite !

Re: Another new one...
 

Hi, i looked thru the list, they seem to be all linked, is that correct ? and is there a way to view in English ? is there a way to get information to buy ? (or is this all thru the Makellaar ? .......... cheers Ron

Re: Another new one...
 

funda.nl is the National Dutch Real Estate site. Almost all agents advertize their offers on there, but the target group is the national population so they don't have a special English version. That is also why everything seems linked; you have the summary on funda.nl. Most Real Estate agents have own websites, probabely also in Dutch but if you email them they ought to be able to respond in English.

You can also click the tab 'woningaanbod' and search for houses. You can fill in a postcode (Amstelveen is 1181) and a region, or a placename and a region.

If you buy you have to be aware that tax and real estate costs will add another ca 10% to the price (and Dutch houses are allready pretty expensive). 'Huur' is 'Rent', so you can look there too (another tab in the menu on the top of the page). 'Kamer' = 'Room', woonkamer = 'living' 'etate'='floor' (first floor is one level higher than the pavement).

If you want info about neighbourhoods I can give you some basic info (I lived in Amstelveel for a few years, grew up in Amsterdam and currently live in Haarlem which is 16km closer to the sea but my spouse bikes to his work in Amsterdam).

Re: Another new one...
 

Many thanks for the information, most helpful. Im getting to know some of the dutch words and get thru the red-tape in the Makelaar sites ! Maybe Uithoorn/Aalsmeer area might be cheaper than central Amstelveen ? ;)