Study in Holland: scholarships, accommodation, visa and work during study

Today we continue the topic of education in Holland . In our article you will learn about scholarships and grants, accommodation, visas and additional opportunities during your studies. Recall that in the previous article we talked about the features and cost of education in the Netherlands.

Scholarships

To search for scholarships and grants in Dutch universities there is a very convenient service - search engine scholarships Grantfinder .

All scholarships of Dutch universities for Russian students are available in the search engine. At the moment there are more than 60 of them.

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So, we list the main scholarships for studying in Holland:

• Orange Tulip Scholarship or OTS - scholarship program specifically for talented students from Russia. For the 2015-2016 year, OTS scholarships are available under various graduate and undergraduate programs in economics, business, international finance, MBA, arts, law, medicine and other areas, as well as the Final-year program (Bachelor degree).
  
  

• Erasmus Mundus is a chance for talented and energetic young people who have been studying at a university for at least four years, to continue their education abroad - in several European countries. Students with a diploma of higher education (bachelor’s degree, specialist or master’s degree) of the state sample can apply for participation in the Erasmus Mundus program to continue their studies in Europe and receive a master’s degree from European universities.

• Global Education is a Russian program for financing students who independently enroll in foreign universities. More than 200 universities in 27 countries are already participating in the program. If under international programs admission to a university and a scholarship is provided at a time, the Russian grant is given only to those who have already enrolled in a foreign university, but want to pay for their tuition at state expense.

• Holland Scholarship is a scholarship for talented students from countries outside the European Economic Area. The program is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, research universities and universities of applied sciences of the Netherlands.

This is only a part of scholarships, there are quite a lot of them, as a rule, each university has several of its scholarship programs.

Accommodation

Students most often do not live in dormitories, but in their own rooms.



As a rule, in Holland, students live not on campuses, but in apartments or rooms — student traditions

hostels did not work here. However, if your university offers the possibility of living in a student dormitory, we recommend that you accept.



Most students live in or near the city where their university is located.

If you decide to look for housing yourself, then you need to start as early as possible - finding a good and inexpensive option may be difficult.



Ask at the university: perhaps there are options for accommodating students. If you come on an exchange program or as an international student, you may be offered a room to stay. Agree immediately - then you may regret that you missed the opportunity.



Rental of property



An average room in the Netherlands costs between € 300 and € 600 per month.



Before renting a room, make sure that utility bills are included in the rent. If this is not the case, payments can seriously undermine your budget. Sometimes the price includes gas, electricity, a TV antenna and the Internet; in other cases, bills will have to be paid additionally.



Most rental contracts are for a period of 6 months or for an academic year.

Work while studying

Job opportunities in the Netherlands



For students from Russia, some restrictions are imposed on working in parallel with their studies.

First, you need a work permit, and secondly, you can work no more than 10 hours a week, or full time, but only in summer (from June 1 to August 31).



Request a work permit



An application for a work permit for you must be filed by your employer. The organization that issues work permits is called UWV Werkbedrijf .



Internship



If you study in a Dutch university and an integral part of your study program is an internship, you do not need to issue a work permit. Instead, your university and employer sign an internship agreement.

Dutch diploma and job search

Orientation year or year on job search dreams



If you are educated in the Netherlands (that is, you are a holder of a bachelor’s degree, master’s or PhD), then you have the opportunity to stay in the Netherlands for a year in order to find a suitable job.



For holders of diplomas of Dutch universities there are several options:



1. “ Orientation year highly educated persons ” is a program that applies to foreigners who received a master’s or PhD diploma from a Dutch university not more than 3 years ago. This program gives you the opportunity to issue a residence permit in the Netherlands for 12 months in order to find a job. It should be remembered that by obtaining a residence permit under this program, the applicant has the right to work in the Netherlands only if the employer applies for a work permit for him.



2. “ Orientation year for graduates in the Netherlands ” - a similar program applies to foreigners who have received a bachelor’s or master’s degree from a Dutch university. This program also gives you the opportunity to get permission to stay in the Netherlands for 12 months in order to find a job. IND strongly recommends that you apply for this program within 4 weeks after graduation. The main advantage in this case is that the holder of this residence permit can work this year in the country without a work permit.



3. “ Highly skilled migrants ” is a special immigration status that foreigners can claim in case of employment in one of the companies from the IND (Public Register Recognized Sponsors) list. In this case, the work does not require a work permit. A residence permit for a person in “Highly skilled migrant” status can be granted for up to 5 years. In order to obtain it, it is necessary to satisfy a number of conditions (requirements for age, income level, etc.).

Visa and temporary residence permit

Students from Russia who plan to study in Holland must undergo a series of immigration procedures.



Depending on the length of your stay in the Netherlands, you may need either:



• Short-term visa (Visum Kort Verblijf, VKV) for staying in the country for less than 3 months;

• Long-term visa (Machtiging tot Voorlopig Verblijf, MVV);

• Residence permit (Verblijfsvergunning Regulier voor bepaalde tijd, VVR) for stays longer than 3 months.



To get an MVV to study in Holland, you need to contact the host university, which will submit an MVV application on your behalf in an expedited procedure. Upon arrival in Holland, you must immediately contact the host institution to help you apply for a residence permit.



Students cannot apply for a residence permit themselves. The contact with the IND (Netherlands Immigration Service) is the responsibility of the host country. In addition, all international students must register with the local municipality.



To obtain any visa you need to personally submit an application to the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Moscow or the Consulate General in St. Petersburg .



You can also find out more about what kind of visa you can apply for on the IND website (Netherlands Immigration Service).



The author of the article is Vyacheslav Davidenko, founder of MBA Consult .



The article was prepared jointly with Nuffic Neso Russia - the official representative of the Dutch education in Russia.