Send the documents the vacancy requests
Send the documents or form requested in the vacancy. When you need a CV, match your work and education history to the role. Keep your BSN (citizen service number), identity-document copy and health details out of an ordinary application. Explain a foreign diploma in plain words, and check whether your profession needs official recognition before paying for a comparison with Dutch qualifications.
This guide is for people applying for jobs in the Netherlands, including newcomers with foreign experience or qualifications. Start with the vacancy: check whether it asks for a CV, a sollicitatiebrief (application letter), a form or another way to apply. For places to search, use the guide to finding a job without fluent Dutch.
If you are making a portfolio for Oriëntatie op de Nederlandse Arbeidsmarkt (ONA, Dutch labour market orientation), follow its document rules. ONA is part of the inburgering (civic integration) exam. DUO (Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs, Dutch education service) gives the ONA portfolio instructions (External site, opens in a new tab) as a PDF (document file that keeps its layout), about 111 kilobytes. DUO requires your address, woonplaats (town where you live) and year of birth on your CV. Your letter shows your own address. Fill in the 2 sollicitatieformulieren (application forms) in Dutch with your own details. The ONA portfolio guide lists DUO’s rules for these documents.
For ONA, write the CV and letter in Dutch. If all your chosen vacancies are in English, DUO allows those 2 documents in English. The forms must always be in Dutch. These portfolio rules differ from the privacy advice for ordinary job applications below.
Check how to apply for the vacancy
Each vacancy can ask for different documents. Note the organisation, role, deadline and contact before you write. Use the table to check what each way of applying needs.
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| Channel | What may start the application | What to confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Employer email or apply button | The requested CV, letter and attachments | Document list, language, deadline, contact name and vacancy number |
| Employer portal | Required form fields, sometimes with one or more uploads | Whether the form replaces a letter, accepted file types and whether you can save a draft |
| Werving-en-selectiebureau (recruitment agency) | A profile, call or CV for a client vacancy | Which organisations may receive your data and who would employ you |
| Uitzendbureau (temporary employment agency) or detacheringsbureau (secondment agency) | Registration and availability, followed by a proposed assignment | Who signs the contract, which client you work for, hours, wages and applicable CAO (collective labour agreement) |
| Network contact, open sollicitatie (application without an advertised vacancy) or open hiring (recruitment without a CV or selection interview) | A conversation, short message or the method named by the organisation | What the contact wants next; check the job requirements even when no CV or letter is needed |
UWV (Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen, employee insurance agency) open-hiring advice (External site, opens in a new tab) describes recruitment without a CV, motivation letter or selection interview. Check whether you meet the job requirements. After acceptance, there is still a short conversation about employment terms.
Follow these steps in order to prepare and send an application:
- Save the vacancy and its document, language and deadline instructions.
- Mark the required skills and experience separately from preferences and general company information.
- Choose one true task, result, qualification or example for each relevant requirement.
- Prepare the CV, letter, form, portfolio or certificate requested.
- Remove personal details, other people’s contact details and document scans that the employer does not need.
- Submit through the requested channel.
- Save your files, confirmation, vacancy text and the date you applied.
If you receive WW (unemployment benefit), UWV job-search rules (External site, opens in a new tab) allow several types of activity. Registration with an uitzendbureau, an open application and an application through an agency or website can count. Follow your own UWV agreement and report each activity through the required channel. Keep application letters and invitations for interviews or tests for at least 2 years.
Build your CV around relevant experience
UWV’s CV advice (External site, opens in a new tab) lists personal details, work experience, education, skills, certificates and languages. Use the suggested layout below to show the evidence relevant to this vacancy. The personal profile and additional activities are optional.
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| Section | Evidence to include | How to adapt it |
|---|---|---|
| Contact details | Name, reachable email and phone number; city or region when useful | Give a full street address only when the form or role needs it. |
| Persoonlijk profiel (personal profile) | A few lines linking your experience to this role | Rewrite it for the vacancy or omit it when it adds no evidence. |
| Werkervaring (work experience) | Employer, role, location, dates and short task or result lines | We suggest putting recent work first. For a career change or limited relevant experience, you can group evidence by skill. |
| Opleidingen en cursussen (education and courses) | Original qualification, institution, country and completion date | Add a supported Dutch comparison or a plain description when the title is unfamiliar. |
| Vaardigheden (skills) and languages | Specific tools, tasks and honest language levels | Replace labels such as “flexible” or “reliable” with proof from the role. |
| Nevenactiviteiten (additional activities) | Relevant volunteer work, boards, projects or portfolio links | Keep only items that show a criterion the employer asks for. |
Follow the vacancy’s rules for length, order and file type. We suggest aiming for one or two pages when that fits your work history. For senior, academic or portfolio roles, check which format the employer requests. Use a readable layout and an accepted file type. A PDF is an option when the upload accepts it.
Write the letter or fill in the form
Check whether the vacancy asks for a sollicitatiebrief or motivatiebrief (motivation letter). Check whether the form asks for answers or a separate letter. Use the requested fields and address the questions below.
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| Vacancy asks for | Response to provide |
|---|---|
| Why this organisation or role | One concrete reason tied to its work, clients, product or stated task |
| A required skill or experience | One true example: situation, your action and the relevant result |
| A gap in experience | The closest relevant example from your experience and what you still need to learn |
| Availability, salary or permission to work | A precise answer only when requested; never invent or hide a restriction |
UWV’s application-letter advice (External site, opens in a new tab) recommends reading the vacancy closely and using its relevant terms. Support your answers with concrete examples or results. We suggest keeping a letter to one page when the employer gives no length limit. Follow any limit in the form. Check spelling, names and claims before sending it.
Use the application language requested in the vacancy. If it is unclear, ask the contact whether to write in Dutch or English. State your real level, for example “Nederlands (Dutch): B1 (independent user), in progress.” You can ask for language help. Make sure you understand and can explain every claim. A demand for accent-free Dutch can be discriminatory when the job does not require it.
Share personal data at the right stage
Share only the personal data needed at each stage. The table separates an application from the checks needed when you start work. The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (Dutch privacy regulator) (External site, opens in a new tab) explains which data employers may process during recruitment.
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| Stage | Data normally needed | Applicant action |
|---|---|---|
| Application | Name, email, phone and evidence relevant to the vacancy | Leave out unnecessary BSN, identity-copy, health, marital-status, birth-date, nationality and photo data. Ask why any extra field is needed. |
| Identity check during selection | The employer may inspect an original identity document to verify who you are | Show the original for a justified check. An ordinary employer may not keep a copy during selection; see the agency exception below. |
| After you are hired | The employer checks your original identity document, keeps the required copy and uses your BSN for payroll | Provide the data through the secure route the employer uses for new staff. |
Agency registration has a separate identity-check rule. An agency placing workers or matching them to employers must check identity before placement or referral. It keeps an identity-document copy only as long as needed for that check, up to 4 weeks. If the agency becomes your employer, it keeps the copy under payroll rules. For a freelance assignment through an agency, the agency may not copy your passport or identity card. Article 7c’s agency identity-check rule (External site, opens in a new tab) sets this exception.
An employer may also ask for your BSN to check with UWV whether you qualify under a disability employment scheme. The exception concerns the Wet banenafspraak en quotum arbeidsbeperkten (employment targets and quotas law for people with disabilities). Ask which check the employer needs.
An employer may ask for a video application with your explicit consent. You must have another way to apply without negative consequences.
Employers normally remove an unsuccessful applicant’s data within 4 weeks of the procedure ending. With your permission, keeping it for a later vacancy can be reasonable for up to 1 year after the procedure ends.
An employer needs a strong reason related to the job to search for information about you online. It must announce the possibility in advance and limit searches to business information. It must let you explain online information used during the application procedure. The privacy regulator’s guidance on online searches (External site, opens in a new tab) sets these conditions.
Check selection criteria and health questions
Employers and recruitment agencies may not discriminate on protected characteristics. These include age, origin or race, nationality, sex or pregnancy, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, disability and chronic illness. The College voor de Rechten van de Mens (Netherlands Institute for Human Rights) vacancy check (External site, opens in a new tab) gives examples such as “young”, a Dutch-nationality demand and “accent-free Dutch”. A relevant level of Dutch can be required. A legal exception may allow a distinction, but the employer must be able to explain the requirement for the role.
You normally keep diagnoses, disability details, pregnancy and past sick leave out of the CV and interview. The privacy regulator’s health guidance (External site, opens in a new tab) says you must mention health information directly relevant to the job. For example, a condition may prevent you from doing important tasks. This duty does not allow employers to ask broad health questions.
A medical examination is allowed only where the job has necessary special medical requirements. The Rijksoverheid (Dutch government) medical-check rules (External site, opens in a new tab) require the vacancy to announce it. A registered occupational doctor performs it after selection, when the employer intends to hire you. The doctor reports whether you are fit for the job. Rijksoverheid says medical details may be shared only with your permission.
You decide whether the examining doctor may release the result, according to the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens guidance on medical checks (External site, opens in a new tab). If you agree, the doctor may share only whether you are medically fit for the role, without medical details. Rijksoverheid describes a separate exception for sharing medical information with your consent. These official descriptions differ. Before agreeing to share medical details, ask the examining doctor to explain the legal basis and which information the employer would receive.
If a vacancy or rejection may be discriminatory, save the vacancy, messages, dates and names. Ask the employer for its reason or use its complaints procedure. Discriminatie.nl (discrimination reporting and advice service) (External site, opens in a new tab) offers local help and acts only with your permission. You can request a free judgment from the College voor de Rechten van de Mens. Its judgment carries authority but is not legally binding. The College cannot award damages; a court can decide on compensation.
Explain your foreign diploma before paying
Give the original qualification title, institution, country, completion date, subject and study length. Nuffic (Dutch organisation for international cooperation in education) (External site, opens in a new tab) publishes country comparisons that may give an employer enough context. Check the profession’s rules before choosing an evaluation.
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| Situation | Route | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| The profession is not regulated | Use a plain description. Order a diplomawaardering (credential evaluation) from IDW (international credential evaluation service) (External site, opens in a new tab) if the employer asks or the level remains unclear. | The evaluation advises on a Dutch level; it does not create a legal right to a job. |
| The profession is regulated | Find the profession in the regulated-professions database and apply to its bevoegde autoriteit (competent authority). | An IDW evaluation alone does not give permission to practise. |
IDW evaluates one diploma per application. For the paid work route, upload complete colour scans of your diploma, transcript or diploma supplement, and passport, identity card or residence permit. Your identity document must stay valid for at least 3 more months. Check IDW’s required-document list (External site, opens in a new tab) for any extra documents.
For a paid evaluation, a diploma, transcript or supplement in Dutch, English, German, French or Afrikaans needs no certified translation. For other languages, get a certified translation from a sworn translator. If your institution issued an English version, upload that and the original; no certified translation is needed. The free evaluation for inburgering, naturalisation or permanent residence also needs no certified translation.
If you have or had refugee status and cannot safely request missing records, IDW may evaluate the documents you still have. If you have or had refugee status, have no education documents left and cannot safely request them, describe your studies in the application. IDW decides whether it can issue an Indicatie Onderwijsniveau (indication of education level) from that information. Explain which evidence is missing. The guide to documents to collect before moving covers preparing records before departure.
In October 2026, a paid IDW work evaluation costs €148.83 per diploma. The IDW delay notice (External site, opens in a new tab) gives about 6 working weeks for the first document check. Evaluation then takes about 8 working weeks after a complete file reaches an evaluator. If the first check finds missing documents or unclear scans, you join that queue again after sending corrections. The new first check takes about another 6 working weeks. Recheck the price and waiting times before paying.
The IDW integration route (External site, opens in a new tab) allows one free evaluation in specified cases. These include an integration obligation that started on or after 1 January 2015, supported by a qualifying DUO letter. You lose eligibility once you receive the inburgeringsdiploma (civic integration diploma). For naturalisation or a permanent-residence application, IDW checks eligibility with DUO. If you receive a qualifying UWV benefit, ask UWV to approve funding before applying; UWV sends the purchase order to IDW.
Explain foreign work and arrange references
Give the employer, city, country, dates, role and relevant tasks. Explain an unfamiliar organisation in one sentence. For example, if your employer had 40 shops, you could write: “Alfa Market, a supermarket chain with 40 shops in Syria.” For a gap, you can name a move, course, care period or job search. Share only the health or family details you choose to disclose.
Keep contracts, payslips, reference letters and work samples as evidence. Hide unrelated personal data before sharing them.
Ask a referee (a person who can confirm your work) before sharing their contact details. Give references when requested, or write “references available on request”. An employer’s checks can include calling the references you supply. If a former employer has closed or is unsafe to contact, explain the limit. Offer a reachable former colleague, contract, payslip, work sample or other evidence. An employer checking public online information must still follow the privacy conditions above.
Check your work permission before starting
Your work rights depend on nationality and residence status. The Work in NL work-permit guide (External site, opens in a new tab) confirms that EU (European Union), EEA (European Economic Area) and Swiss citizens need no work permit. An employer usually needs a permit before another non-EU national starts, depending on the person’s status. Check the guide to work rights by residence permit.
If useful, add an accurate line such as “Authorised to work in the Netherlands without employer sponsorship.” Use it only when it describes your permission. Keep BSN and identity-document copies out of an ordinary application; agency checks have the exception above. When you start a new job, government identity rules (External site, opens in a new tab) require an original-document check and an employer copy. Share hiring documents through the employer’s secure channel.
Solve common application problems
Use these checks if a document request, qualification or rejection is unclear:
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| Problem | Check and next action |
|---|---|
| The document request is unclear | Reopen the vacancy and portal. Ask the named contact which fields and files are required. |
| The letter fits every employer | Give one reason tied to the organisation’s work and one example of relevant experience. |
| The foreign title has no clear Dutch meaning | Describe the subject and study length. Use Nuffic or IDW for a supported comparison. |
| A reference cannot be reached | Explain the access problem and offer another person or documentary evidence without exposing unrelated data. |
| The portal asks early for BSN, an identity-document copy, video or health data | Ask why the data is needed, which rule allows it, how long it is kept and whether another way to apply is available. Check the agency exception above. |
| The criterion or rejection may discriminate | Save the evidence, ask for the reason and contact Discriminatie.nl or the College if needed. |
Before sending, check the requested files, language and deadline. If a request for personal data is unclear, ask the contact to explain it before sharing. No application format guarantees an interview or job.
Before accepting an offer, check the contract’s probation, hours, pay, holiday allowance and CAO terms.
Continue with these guides:
- Author
- By Inburgering.org team
- Reviewer
- Reviewed by Kirill Svavolia
Official Sources
- UWV: Een uniek cv maken (make a unique CV) (External site, opens in a new tab) - The recurring CV information named by UWV: personal details, work experience, education, competences, certificates and language knowledge, plus the common pairing of a CV and application letter.
- UWV: Sollicitatiebrief AI-proof maken (application-letter advice for AI (artificial intelligence) screening) (External site, opens in a new tab) - The advice to read the vacancy closely, use its relevant terms and support fit with concrete examples and results; the page covers technique, not legal requirements.
- UWV: Sollicitatieplicht (job-search obligation) (External site, opens in a new tab) - Activities that can count toward a WW job-search obligation, including direct and open applications, agency registration and online applications, plus the instruction to keep proof for at least 2 years.
- Work in NL: Employment agency agreement (External site, opens in a new tab) - An uitzendovereenkomst (temporary agency employment contract) is a contract with the agency: the agency is the formal employer and pays wages while the worker works under the client’s supervision.
- Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens: Personal data of applicants (External site, opens in a new tab) - Recruitment data limits; the BSN employment-scheme exception; original identity checks; voluntary video applications with explicit consent and another method without negative consequences; retention of 4 weeks or up to 1 year after the procedure ends.
- Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens: Gathering information about applicants (External site, opens in a new tab) - Online searches require a strong job-related reason, business-information scope, advance notice and an opportunity to explain findings used in the procedure; supplied references may be checked.
- Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens: Health data during job applications (External site, opens in a new tab) - You decide whether the medical result may be released; with permission, only fitness for the role is reported. Rijksoverheid separately describes a consent exception for medical information.
- College voor de Rechten van de Mens: Vacaturecheck (vacancy check) (External site, opens in a new tab) - Examples of direct and indirect discrimination in vacancy wording, job-relevance tests for language requirements and the possibility of lawful exceptions.
- Rijksoverheid: Medical examinations during recruitment (External site, opens in a new tab) - Necessary special medical requirements, vacancy notice, examination after selection by a registered doctor, fitness reporting and the stated consent exception for sharing medical details.
- Rijksoverheid: Unequal treatment during an application (External site, opens in a new tab) - Steps after suspected recruitment discrimination: raise it with the employer, seek an anti-discrimination service, request a non-binding College judgment or go to court.
- IDW: To work (External site, opens in a new tab) - Credential evaluation as advice rather than a right; current fee, documents, translation rules, one-diploma scope, regulated-profession check and UWV-funded route with approval.
- IDW: Required documents (External site, opens in a new tab) - Complete colour scans, identity-document validity, translation language exemptions, institution-issued English versions, the free-route translation exemption and UWV approval before funding.
- IDW: Longer processing times (External site, opens in a new tab) - Current delay notice: about 6 working weeks for the first check and about 8 working weeks for evaluation after a complete file reaches an evaluator; the first-check queue restarts after additional documents arrive.
- IDW: Inburgering (External site, opens in a new tab) - One free evaluation for qualifying integration, naturalisation or permanent-residence cases; exclusion after the integration diploma; DUO eligibility checks and refugee applicants with missing education records.
- NetherlandsWorldwide: Evaluation for work (External site, opens in a new tab) - When an employer may ask for an evaluation, the advisory status, programme conditions, translation requirement and the separate recognition route for regulated professions.
- Nuffic: Working in the Netherlands with a foreign diploma (External site, opens in a new tab) - How to check the regulated-professions database, find the competent authority and use Nuffic’s country comparisons before ordering an IDW document.
- Government.nl: Compulsory identification (External site, opens in a new tab) - The duty to show an original identity document when starting a new job and the employer’s duty to make a copy at that stage.
- Work in NL: Work permit (External site, opens in a new tab) - EU, EEA and Swiss citizens need no work permit, while an employer usually needs one before a non-EU worker can start, subject to the person’s exact status.
- DUO: Oriëntatie op de Nederlandse Arbeidsmarkt, toelichting resultaatkaarten (result-card instructions) (External site, opens in a new tab) - Card 7, vraag 5 (question 5): the minimum CV details, including address, woonplaats and year of birth; your own address on the letter; and application forms that are always in Dutch.
- DUO: ONA resultaatkaart 7 (werk vinden) (result card 7, finding work) (External site, opens in a new tab) - Vraag 5: the statement that you filled in the application forms with your own details.
- UWV: Moeite met solliciteren? Deze tips helpen! (tips if applying for jobs is difficult) (External site, opens in a new tab) - Open hiring without a CV, motivation letter or selection interview; job requirements still apply and an employment-terms conversation follows acceptance.
- Overheid.nl (Dutch government website): Agency identity checks, Article 7c (External site, opens in a new tab) - Article IX inserts Article 7c: identity checks before placement or referral, copies kept only as long as necessary up to 4 weeks, and the payroll-retention exception when the agency becomes the employer.
- Discriminatie.nl: Discriminatie melden (reporting discrimination) (External site, opens in a new tab) - Local advice after a discrimination report and no action without permission.
- College voor de Rechten van de Mens: Discriminatieklachten en verzoek om een oordeel (discrimination complaints and requests for a judgment) (External site, opens in a new tab) - The free judgment procedure, its non-binding outcome and the limit on sanctions and damages.
- Council of Europe: CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) global scale (External site, opens in a new tab) - B1 belongs to the Independent User category in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
- Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens: Identiteitsbewijs bij werk of uitkering (identity documents for work or benefits) (External site, opens in a new tab) - Temporary-agency registration permits identity copies for at most 4 weeks unless employment starts; an agency may not copy the passport or identity card for a freelance assignment.