Income requirements: independent, sustainable and sufficient income

Do you have income from work in paid employment? These are income requirements.

Independent income

Your income is independent if you earn the income from legally permitted work. And if your employer withholds taxes and national insurance contributions from your salary. Is your salary paid from a person-related budget (in Dutch: persoonsgebonden budget  or PGB)? Then the administration of the pgb must be done by the Social Insurance Bank (in Dutch: Sociale Verzekeringsbank or SVB). For more information go to www.svb.nl/en.

Sustainable income

Your income is sustainable if 1 of these situations apply to you:

• Your contract is valid for at least another 12 months. The probation period gets counted in.
• Your contract is still valid for less than 6 months or you have a flexible contract. In this case you must have had sufficient average monthly income in the last 3 years. During those 3 years you may not have been unemployed or chronically ill for more than 26 weeks. Chronically ill means that you got a benefit under the Sickness Benefits Act (in Dutch: Ziektewet). You may not have received an assistance benefit or other benefit from public funds.

Does your partner or family member apply for residence to stay with you in the Netherlands? Then your income is also sustainable if your contract is valid for less than 12 months, but more than 6 months. And you have earned sufficient income for at least 1 year. This exception is also valid for an application for a permanent residence permit or long-term EU residency.

Sufficient income

See the required amounts per residence permit to check whether your income is sufficient. 
To determine whether you had sufficient income in previous years, the IND looks at the required amounts of those years. See the old required amounts.

Social security salary

The IND looks at your social security salary (in Dutch: sociale verzekeringsloon or sv-loon in short). This is the gross salary on which wage tax and national insurance contributions are calculated. National insurance contributions are the costs that you pay for a possible benefit for unemployment, sickness or incapacity for work. The social security salary is on your salary strip. 

Also count holiday allowance

You are also allowed to count your holiday allowance. See the required amount without holiday allowance if you get holiday allowance once a year. Do you receive part of your holiday allowance each month? In that case you use the amount with holiday allowance. If your income is too low without holiday allowance, the IND looks at your income with holiday allowance. See the required amounts.

Irregular income also counts

Irregular income is income you receive on top of your fixed salary. For example, an allowance for irregular hours or shifts, danger pay, overtime or salary in kind.

Irregular income also counts if you earned it for at least 11 months in the last 12 months before the application. This means that your income with the irregular income must have been the required amount at least 11 times.

Do you have income from your an own business or as a freelancer? These are the income requirements.

Independent income

Your income is independent if you earn the income from legally permitted work. And you pay tax on the profit from your business or on the profit you have as a freelancer. 

Sustainable income

Your income is sustainable if you have already earned this income for 18 months at the time of the application.

Have you applied for a residence permit for the residence purpose start-up or self-employed person? And have you also applied for a residence permit for your partner or child? Then the IND looks at your expected income. This expected income must be evident from your business plan.

Sufficient income

Your income is sufficient if your average monthly profit for tax purposes in each financial year was at least equal to the required amount with holiday allowance. The IND looks at the last 18 months before the application.

How does the IND calculate the profit?

This is the method the IND uses to calculate the business profit:

The total operating income - the total costs = the profit.

In a partnership, commercial partnership or limited partnership, the profit is divided by the number of partners, commercial partners or general/limited partners. The amount that is left is your profit. 

For more information see this appendix:

Do you have income from a benefit? These income requirements apply.

Independent income

Income from these benefits is independent.

• Unemployment benefit
• Sickness benefit
• Invalidity benefit
• State pension (AOW)
• Pension

Benefits from public funds are not independent income. Benefits from public funds are, for example, an assistance benefit, benefit under the Participation Act or a benefit under the Dutch Invalidity Insurance (Young Disabled Persons) Act (in Dutch: Wajong).

Sustainable income

Your income from a benefit is sustainable if you have received the benefit for at least another 12 months. 

Sufficient  income

See the required amounts per residence permit  to check whether your income is sufficient. 

Social security salary

The IND looks at your social security salary (in Dutch: sociale verzekeringsloon or sv-loon ). This is the gross benefit on which wage tax and national insurance contributions are calculated. The social security salary can be found on your benefit specification. This is the document with the calculation of your benefit on it.

Also count holiday allowance

You are allowed to count your holiday allowance. If your benefit without holiday allowance does not meet the required amount,  the IND looks at your benefit with holiday allowance.

These are examples of income from assets.

• Dividend on shares or bonds;
• Interest on savings;
• Profit from investments.

Do you have income from assets? These are the  income requirements.

Independent income

Your income from assets is independent if you pay tax on the income.

The IND only counts the income from assets. The source of your assets should not be affected. This means that the assets must not be reduced.

Sustainable income

Income from assets is sustainable if it meets these 2 requirements.

• You have already received the income for 1 year.
• You still receive the income on the date that the IND receives your application.

Sufficient income

For the amount of the income, the IND looks at your gains from savings and investments. You calculate these gains for your tax return. This is an annual amount. The required amount is a monthly amount. So you must convert the annual amount into a monthly amount. This monthly amount must be at least equal to the required amount with holiday allowance that applies to the residence permit for which you are applying.

If you have income other than income from work, your own business, benefit or assets, contact the IND.

Also count other income for certain residence permits

Do you have a residence permit for the residence purposes study, scientific research, orientation year, start-up or medical treatment? Then you may also count other income. For example, a grant, bank balance or financing by a third party. You can do this when you apply for your own residence permit and for your partner or child. 

These are the situations in which you get an exemption from the income requirements as a sponsor:

• You get state pension or you have reached the state pension age (AOW). Go to svb.nl for more information on the state pension age in the Netherlands.
• You are fully and permanently unable to work and you can prove this. This appendix explains how to do this:

• You are permanently unable to meet the obligation to integrate into the workforce. This applies only if the local council has already exempted you for 5 years from the obligation to integrate into the workforce. And you have been exempted for at least another 1 year from the obligation to integrate into the workforce when the IND receives your application. 
• You have a residence permit on temporary humanitarian grounds as a victim of human trafficking. Or as a victim of honour-related or domestic violence.
• You have a temporary asylum residence permit. And you apply within 3 months for family reunification for your partner or children.

These are the situations in which you get an exemption from the income requirements:

• You have a residence permit for 10 or more years continuously . If you were a Dutch citizen you can also count the years that you were a Dutch citizen.
• You are 18 or older and you have had a residence permit for residence with your parents. Afterwards, you have always lived in the Netherlands. You did not start living independently or did marry within 1 year after being granted residency with your parents. 
• You are 18 or older and you were born in the Netherlands. And you have always lived in the Netherlands.
• You are 18 or older and you came to live in the Netherlands before you turned 3 years old. And afterwards you have always lived in the Netherlands.

These exemptions do not apply to residence permits for long-term EU residents.