A recognised sponsor must follow various procedures to obtain and maintain the status. This includes meeting specific requirements, going through an application procedure with the IND, and complying with ongoing obligations. The procedures vary depending on the age of your company and the category for which you are applying for recognition.
What is a recognised sponsor and what role does it play in the immigration process?
A recognised sponsor is a company, school, or organisation that is officially recognised by the IND to bring foreign employees to the Netherlands. This status gives you the right to apply for residence permits for international employees more quickly and with less documentation.
Recognised sponsorship functions as a quality label within the Dutch immigration system and residence permits. The IND thereby has confidence that your organisation is reliable and meets all legal requirements. This trust translates into concrete benefits: the IND aims to process applications within 2 weeks, although some cases may take up to 7 weeks when a work permit is required.
For companies, recognised sponsorship means you gain access to the online platform Portaal Zakelijk for submitting applications. You also need to submit fewer supporting documents with each individual application, which significantly speeds up and simplifies the process.
Recognised sponsorship is mandatory for specific residence purposes such as au pair, exchange, study, highly skilled migrants, and researchers under EU Directive 2016/801. For regular employment, seasonal work, intra-company transfers, and the European Blue Card, recognition is optional but advantageous.
What conditions must you meet to become a recognised sponsor?
To become a recognised sponsor, your organisation must meet various general requirements that apply to all categories. You must be registered in the Dutch Trade Register, unless you are exempt under the Trade Register Act 2007.
The continuity and solvency of your organisation must be sufficiently guaranteed. This means your company must be financially healthy and must not have any payment arrears. Your organisation must not have been declared bankrupt or be under a suspension of payments.
Reliability is another important requirement. The directors and other persons involved must be reliable. Your organisation must not have received any tax penalty notices in recent years, or fines for violating the Employment of Foreign Nationals Act, the Minimum Wage and Minimum Holiday Allowance Act, and the Aliens Act.
In addition, your organisation must comply with applicable codes of conduct. If you are involved in the secondment of paid staff, you must be registered with the Stichting Normering Arbeid (SNA) and report any terminations of this registration.
Specific additional requirements apply to different categories (study, exchange, research, work). Each category requires a separate application, and organisations seeking recognition for multiple business units, locations, or faculties must submit a separate application for each component.
How does the application procedure for recognised sponsorship work?
The application procedure for recognised sponsorship consists of several steps and the processing time depends on the age of your organisation. Organisations that have existed for more than 1.5 years often go through a faster procedure of approximately 3 months, while younger companies often have to wait up to 6 months.
You start by checking the requirements on ind.nl, where you can see when recognition is mandatory and which conditions apply. You then gather all the required documents, which vary depending on the situation and the age of your organisation.
You download the application form from ind.nl and complete it fully with all requested documents as attachments before sending it to the IND. After receiving your application, you will receive payment instructions and pay according to the rates listed on ind.nl.
For organisations that have existed for less than 1.5 years, the procedure is more complex. These applications are assessed by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) using a points system. You must then submit a comprehensive business plan and financial plan, drawn up or approved by an independent accountant or bookkeeper.
The RVO assesses your application on the basis of a maximum of 100 points, with 50 points being sufficient for a positive recommendation. This points system evaluates your business plan (40 points), organisational structure (20 points), and financial plan (40 points). The IND follows the RVO’s recommendation.
What obligations does a recognised sponsor have after recognition?
As a recognised sponsor, you have ongoing compliance obligations that you must fulfil to maintain your status. You must continue to comply with all applicable codes of conduct and ensure that your organisation remains reliable and financially healthy.
You must report changes in your organisation to the IND in a timely manner. This applies to changes in the shareholder structure, acquisitions, suspensions of payment, bankruptcies, or other significant organisational changes. You must also report the termination of registration with the SNA (for organisations involved in staff secondment).
Administrative obligations include maintaining accurate records and providing information when the IND requests it. You must ensure that all information you provided in the application remains up to date and proactively communicate any changes.
The IND continuously monitors recognised sponsors for compliance with conditions. This may lead to inspections during which you must demonstrate that you still meet all the requirements for recognised sponsorship.
What happens if a recognised sponsor does not correctly follow procedures?
When you as a recognised sponsor do not correctly follow procedures, this can lead to various sanctions by the IND. The most severe sanction is the withdrawal of your recognised sponsorship, which means you lose all the benefits of the status and must revert to the standard application procedures.
Withdrawal can occur in various situations: when you no longer meet the conditions for recognition, when you fail to comply with codes of conduct, or when your organisation goes bankrupt or enters a suspension of payments. Failure to report significant changes in your organisation can also lead to withdrawal.
For less serious violations, the IND may issue warnings or impose temporary measures. You will then be given the opportunity to rectify the situation within a certain period. It is important to respond quickly to signals from the IND about potential compliance issues.
If your recognised sponsorship is withdrawn, this has direct consequences for pending applications and future procedures, but also for the existing residence permits of your international employees.
To ensure compliance, you can take preventive measures such as regular internal audits, keeping track of changes in legislation, and maintaining good administration. If in doubt about compliance requirements, it is advisable to seek professional advice in a timely manner to prevent problems.
Correctly following procedures as a recognised sponsor requires continuous attention and expertise in the evolving immigration legislation. At Eastwing, we help companies not only with obtaining recognised sponsorship, but also with ensuring ongoing compliance through our Global Mobility Compliance Audit & Advisory service. For more information, please contact us.
