Tightening of the highly skilled migrant scheme for IND payroll agencies

Earlier, we wrote about the government’s proposal to implement restrictive measures on labour migration. On November 8, 2024, Minister Faber of Asylum and Migration addressed the misuse of secondment within the highly skilled migrant scheme in a letter to the Dutch House of Representatives. Through these constructions, such as secondment or via payroll agencies, recognized sponsors can lend highly skilled migrants to other employers.

The letter revealed that the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) has received reports indicating abuse of these payroll constructions. Additionally, the Netherlands Labour Authority (Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie) has observed that it is often unclear where employees of payroll agencies are actually working. The Labour Authority believes that such companies should not fall under the highly skilled migrant scheme.

To mitigate the risk of abuse, the government has proposed the following measures (as also outlined in the decision memorandum).

Recognized sponsors will generally be prohibited from the secondment of highly skilled migrants to third parties, except in the following cases:

• Hiring companies awaiting the outcome of their application for recognized sponsorship status. This also applies in cases of mergers or acquisitions, where a new application for recognized sponsorship is required.
• Innovative start-ups and scale-ups that cannot yet meet all the requirements but require specialized knowledge. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) will advise in these cases.

A residence permit issued under one of these exceptions will be granted once for a maximum duration of two years and cannot be extended.

At this stage, there are no immediate consequences for residence permits already issued via secondment within the highly skilled migrant scheme.

Recognized sponsors who engage in secondment will be required to provide information during the application process regarding the factual employer and the reason for using the payroll construction. Additional obligations will also apply, including:

1. Notification obligations for any changes in the situation
2. Notification obligations if there is no longer any contact with or oversight of the foreign national
3. Clarified duty of care, including a verification obligation.

For our clients who utilize payroll constructions for highly skilled migrants, it is crucial to stay informed of these developments. Companies will need to prepare for stricter requirements.

We will provide further updates as more details become available regarding the implementation date and specific regulations.