International students gain freer access to council and board positions

It has become significantly easier for international students to sit on a student association board or participation council. Under Dutch law, students from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) are allowed to work a total of 16 hours per week next to their studies. An exception has been made for board and council positions.

 

To prevent people from seeking full-time employment in the Netherlands on a student visa, migrant workers are required to arrange a work permit.

Until recently, these restrictions also applied to specific extracurricular activities – membership of a representative body or association board, for example. In practice, this work quickly takes up more than 16 hours a week, meaning that many international students had to pass on the opportunity.

Fully fledged

The newly revised Decree implementing the Law on the Employment of Foreign Nationals (Besluit uitvoering Wet arbeid vreemdelingen) exempts membership of a representative body or association board from the aforementioned permit requirement. This means that non-EEA students can now become fully fledged participants in these activities.

Nuffic and the student umbrella organisation ISO are pleased with the revision. “Dutch institutions work to draw international students. It stands to reason that these students should be able to offer their perspectives on the provided education,” says ISO Chair Kees Gillesse.

Students from outside the EEA were already exempted from the work permit requirement for internships. These students do need to enter into an internship agreement signed by the work placement provider, the student and the educational institution.