Unemployment Benefits

Please note, as noted on the Promovendi Netwerk Nederland (PNN) site, once you have terminated your contract, you “You are immediately available for paid work. This entails that you should not make arrangements for unpaid activities if this does not allow you to start a new job immediately.”

• The situation for international, non-EU/EEA/Switzerland residents is complex. Your first concern is that upon the termination of your contract, you lose formal sponsorship for your residence in the Netherlands. In many cases, you can ask for up to a year of extension (search year), which depends on a myriad of factors (read more about this here). It is recommended you speak to an employment attorney to understand how to stay, and whether or not it is possible to claim unemployment for the period of time while you search for new employment.
  • Read more about this here: Introduction working in the Netherlands / residence permit for orientation year.
  • Note that you are automatically entitled to three months of searching for a new job when you become unemployed independent of how your employment ended (meaning this is also the case even if you choose to terminate the employment) See here.

Please have a look on the PNN website (See for more information.) which details the conditions you must meet to apply for unemployment benefits and how to calculate the amount of benefit that you are entitled to.