Hi all,
I'm an Australian citizen currently working and residing in the UK for the last two years and now that my visa is expiring I'm hoping to move to the Netherlands under the Highly Skilled Migrant program. I applied at the Embassy here in London two weeks ago so now I'm playing the waiting game (fingers crossed for me :) )
I'm just trying to research now how I go about accommodation if my visa is successful. My current understanding of the process is if my MVV is approved, I can then enter the Netherlands at which point I have to register with a local authority (within 3 days of arrival) in order to then obtain my 1 year search resident permit from the IND.
My research so far seems to indicate you can only register with a local authority if you have a lease or actually own a place so i'm wondering how people go about this when they first arrive? Initially I was thinking of just starting in a hostel (like I did in London) until I get a firmer idea of where i could be working etc. as I'm not fixed to any one place. Was thinking I would start in Amsterdam but I would go anywhere the work is (I'm an accountant). I'm assuming the local authority and the IND don't consider a Hostel to actually be a place of residence but surely someone can't walk into a lease within 3 days of arrival (nor would i actually want to). I like the idea of couchsurfing as that would be a great way to get accustomed to my new home initially but my understanding is if you stay with 'friends' they have to be a guarantor for you and it affects their council taxes etc. So that doesn't really seem to be a viable option either.
When I first started in London I was at a Hostel then moved to a short term accommodation share house. You rent your room independently from the landlord and you have a lease - you can sign initially for as short term as 1 month then it is just 1 month rolling. The rent is all inclusive of bills etc. and they often own a couple of properties so they can generally fit you in somewhere immediately, and obviously no need to meet and be approved by flatmates so it is far quicker. Also far cheaper renting an actual room on a weekly/monthly basis rather than paying a nightly rate at a hostel. Also beneficial when you're looking for work and not just holidaying as you have more privacy and sleep. I'm wondering if properties like this exist in the Netherlands because that seems to be the only way i can think of at the moment.
Sorry for the long essay but wanted to give you as much information as possible to assist in my query. I'm clearly not the first person that has moved to the Netherlands to look for work so there has to be way - I obviously just haven't found it yet.
Would really appreciate any help or advice you can offer.
Thanks in advance,
Carina.
