Netherlands

stickybookmark

wardides wrote: »

Sorry, I'm just seeing you said your wage has to be circa 50k to benefit from 30% rule, so that makes more sense as to why I probably wouldn't get it. Industry I'm in, my next move would probably be towards that pay scale (I've had offers circa 45k) but obviously not sure whether that correlates to Holland. Not looking for an answer there either, as it's practically impossible for someone to say whether there is or not without knowing the full details.

There are a couple of websites with the criteria like this one:

http://www.expatax.nl/30ruling.php

As it says here your salary has to be gross 52,436 to qualify.
However if you are under 30 and have a masters then your gross salary only needs to be 39859 (maybe do a masters between now and moving over ha!)

As it says on there in very confusing language:
Since the law requires a minimum taxable salary and doesn't mention the gross salary and also states that under the 30% ruling a tax free allowance can be paid of up to 30%, it is possible to reduce the tax free allowance to a lower percentage as such that the minimum required taxable salary is met
(which may have been what denhaagite was referring to when she said salaries can be adjusted) there is another option if your gross isn't high enough but it's close-ish.
My friend was in that category, he wasn't earning 52,436 he was earning somewhere in the 40s and he was still able to get a reduced version of the 30% rule (just need to find an accounting company that knows their stuff) so he gets a 20% rule or something like that.

When you do move over & if you're looking for recommendations for good tax crowds that are adept at getting people the 30% rule let me know I can recommend one or two.

Denhaagite - you said you live in Eindhoven, not sure if you have kids but do you know of any irish mothers living there? A friend of mine just moved there, she has 3 kids and would love to meet other expat/irish mothers.

dissed doc

NoCrackHaving wrote: »

What is the food from Dutch supermarkets like? The few times I've visited the Netherlands I always found it pretty dire foodwise apart from cheese.

the food in supermarkets and in restaurants is notably poorer in quality than Ireland or UK. you will not get the likes of what used to be Superquinn, or M&S (well yes there is a small m&s in amsterdam) there. Marqt is okay but pricey and mostly a place that small local suppliers can sell organic food to.

overall the food is simply poor. it is not Africa but beyond ham toasty, cheese toasty or (i am not actually joking) ham/cheese toasty, and then deep fried snacks you will find it is a massive step down in quality compared to what Ireland has.

however, if you come from Scandinavia then Amsterdam will seem like heaven.

denhaagenite

stickybookmark wrote: »

Despite living in the land of cheese, I've recently started bringing cheddar back over with me from Ireland when I go home ....

I think all Dutch cheese is the same. Obviously there's M and S for cheddar but Jumbo also have Cathedral which is absolutely fine for me.

dissed doc wrote: »

the food in supermarkets and in restaurants is notably poorer in quality than Ireland or UK. you will not get the likes of what used to be Superquinn, or M&S (well yes there is a small m&s in amsterdam) there. Marqt is okay but pricey and mostly a place that small local suppliers can sell organic food to.

overall the food is simply poor. it is not Africa but beyond ham toasty, cheese toasty or (i am not actually joking) ham/cheese toasty, and then deep fried snacks you will find it is a massive step down in quality compared to what Ireland has.

however, if you come from Scandinavia then Amsterdam will seem like heaven.

While the supermarket food isn't generally amazing quality, there is quality to be had and restaurants are amazing in Amsterdam. It's not really that fair to generalise. Plus there does seem to be a food revolution going on with festivals, food trucks, pop ups, you name it. The Dutch do love a good bandwagon to jump on

dissed doc

denhaagenite wrote: »

I think all Dutch cheese is the same. Obviously there's M and S for cheddar but Jumbo also have Cathedral which is absolutely fine for me.



While the supermarket food isn't generally amazing quality, there is quality to be had and restaurants are amazing in Amsterdam. It's not really that fair to generalise. Plus there does seem to be a food revolution going on with festivals, food trucks, pop ups, you name it. The Dutch do love a good bandwagon to jump on

yeah fair point, there are a lot of the markets like Neighbourfood and so on. But, a lot of it is fast food, hipster burgers etc. . the fish is quite good though in the fishmongers.

the food becomes immediately better and very noticably in Maastricht for example, in even casual restaurants.

stickybookmark

dissed doc wrote: »

the fish is quite good though in the fishmongers.

I had to take out a bank loan last time I went to the fishmongers :eek:
Back to the catfish in Albert heijn for me!

JellyBeanx

Hi Guys,

I am thinking of moving to the Netherlands in a couple of months. Just wondering what it’s like there to live there. I’ve been on holidays a couple of times there and really liked the country.

I’ll be going over there hopefully before starting college in February 2017(I have applied for a transfer to AUC, Tilburg Uni and Utrecht for liberal arts, it’s taught through English)

Are there any pros or cons to living there? I have done some research into most things but just wanted people’s opinions who live there!
My boyfriend was also considering moving over with me... He has a masters and is currently working in Intel. He'd really need a full time job before moving over. Is it difficult to get a job before moving over? I have read that most places won’t consider you if you don’t have a word of Dutch? (Neither of us do but we’re considering taking classes) I myself, wouldn’t mind finding a job before college in Feb but I know because I don’t have a completed degree it may be difficult!

keithclancy

JellyBeanx wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I am thinking of moving to the Netherlands in a couple of months. Just wondering what it’s like there to live there. I’ve been on holidays a couple of times there and really liked the country.

I’ll be going over there hopefully before starting college in February 2017(I have applied for a transfer to AUC, Tilburg Uni and Utrecht for liberal arts, it’s taught through English)

Are there any pros or cons to living there? I have done some research into most things but just wanted people’s opinions who live there!
My boyfriend was also considering moving over with me... He has a masters and is currently working in Intel. He'd really need a full time job before moving over. Is it difficult to get a job before moving over? I have read that most places won’t consider you if you don’t have a word of Dutch? (Neither of us do but we’re considering taking classes) I myself, wouldn’t mind finding a job before college in Feb but I know because I don’t have a completed degree it may be difficult!

No you can work in ASML, Shell and many other companies with just English,

These posts also address your questions.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=83982257&postcount=2
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=94534367&postcount=153


On a separate note Mobile Viking is finishing in NL

Went with Lycamobile as they have decent prepaid deals

1 cent per minute to Ireland landlines, 9 cent per minute to Irish Mobile Numbers.

Free Roaming too when in Ireland.

Also this bundle is fairly decent if you call Ireland a lot:

http://www.lycamobile.nl/en/bundle?id=6

30 euro package gets you unlimited national calls (International Bundle) , 1 GB of Data and 500 minutes to many countries (including Ireland) or take the other one and get 1000 minute to National and selected countries (Ireland included)

Or of you just want data 1GB is 10 euros, 2GB is 20 euros, 3 GB is 25 euros. (Data Bundles)


You have to topup online to get the prices above.

Also with KPN so good coverage all over NL

stickybookmark

Sounds great keithclancy. I'm guessing local or international texts are not included in their bundle as I don't see them mentioned?
That would be the only downside of that 30 euro package for me

keithclancy

stickybookmark wrote: »

Sounds great keithclancy. I'm guessing local or international texts are not included in their bundle as I don't see them mentioned?
That would be the only downside of that 30 euro package for me

The All in 1 International is 100 SMS to International .... although I haven't use SMS in I don't know how long, normally it's all Whatsapp for me

Actually at the moment all I have is a 3GB Data Bundle, I don't really call or SMS anyone.

pajor

I've been with Lyca since about March. Wanted prepaid as that's what I've always had, and all the big networks will screw you on prepay here. I never call or text, I use skype when calling Ireland. But a fiver for 500mb of data per month can't be beat.

stickybookmark

keithclancy wrote: »

Also this bundle is fairly decent if you call Ireland a lot:

http://www.lycamobile.nl/en/bundle?id=6

30 euro package gets you unlimited national calls (International Bundle) , 1 GB of Data and 500 minutes to many countries (including Ireland) or take the other one and get 1000 minute to National and selected countries (Ireland included)

On this link that you posted, there are no details about what each bundle actually contains, I take it you have to search through other parts of the site to find the details?

I dunno I find it hard to beat Vodafone prepaid over here.
For 34.50 a month I get my dutch calls, dutch texts and 1GB of data

I top up by sending a text and it comes off my visa card. I activate my plan for the month then by sending another text. No need to go online.

Then I activate an international bundle of 60 mins calls or texts (so 1 min = 1 text) for 6 euro by sending another text. That's 10 cent per minute to call Ireland (mobile or landline) or 10 cent to send a text to Ireland. I'd text the parents in Ireland a lot.

On some months where I'd have a lot of calls to make to Ireland, and the bundle of 60 mins runs out, I can activate another bundle straight away by sending another text.
It might cost a couple of euro more than Lyca but it's so convenient...

Asmooh

Everyone is saying it's easy to move to Netherlands and get a job and everything with "just English"
There are many unemployed people in the Netherlands that finished HBO/Uni and don't get a job.
That speak Dutch, English, German, French.

You maybe able to work at Shell or ASML but why would they hire you/anyone instead of someone who is Dutch with the right education?
Netherlands is not Ireland that is looking for people that speak a special language, everyone speaks English, Dutch and many more languages.

People need to sent 4 job applies a week just to keep their social money...

and if you want cheaper internet: www.simyo.nl

keithclancy

stickybookmark wrote: »

On this link that you posted, there are no details about what each bundle actually contains, I take it you have to search through other parts of the site to find the details?

I dunno I find it hard to beat Vodafone prepaid over here.
For 34.50 a month I get my dutch calls, dutch texts and 1GB of data

I top up by sending a text and it comes off my visa card. I activate my plan for the month then by sending another text. No need to go online.

Then I activate an international bundle of 60 mins calls or texts (so 1 min = 1 text) for 6 euro by sending another text. That's 10 cent per minute to call Ireland (mobile or landline) or 10 cent to send a text to Ireland. I'd text the parents in Ireland a lot.

On some months where I'd have a lot of calls to make to Ireland, and the bundle of 60 mins runs out, I can activate another bundle straight away by sending another text.
It might cost a couple of euro more than Lyca but it's so convenient...

Hmm .. Strange, here's what I see. (Attached)

With Vodafone I found it was grand in the City but not so good on the Motorway/Train which was annoying with Google Maps, KPN I have no problems and was able to watch Netflix on the train all the way from Den Haag to Eindhoven.

Also VoIP was blocked when I tried it on Vodafone, not sure why.

As I said I'm only really interested in the Data Packages, Vodafone were a bit pricey for me for out of bundle minutes

Asmooh wrote: »

Everyone is saying it's easy to move to Netherlands and get a job and everything with "just English"
There are many unemployed people in the Netherlands that finished HBO/Uni and don't get a job.
That speak Dutch, English, German, French.

You maybe able to work at Shell or ASML but why would they hire you/anyone instead of someone who is Dutch with the right education?
Netherlands is not Ireland that is looking for people that speak a special language, everyone speaks English, Dutch and many more languages.

People need to sent 4 job applies a week just to keep their social money...

and if you want cheaper internet: www.simyo.nl

I tried Simyo and also Vectone but they were dog slow, was limited to 1meg down and 384kb up

With Lycamobile I'm getting around 14-18meg down on 3G and 40meg down on 4G.

dissed doc

Asmooh wrote: »

Everyone is saying it's easy to move to Netherlands and get a job and everything with "just English"
There are many unemployed people in the Netherlands that finished HBO/Uni and don't get a job.
That speak Dutch, English, German, French.

You maybe able to work at Shell or ASML but why would they hire you/anyone instead of someone who is Dutch with the right education?
Netherlands is not Ireland that is looking for people that speak a special language, everyone speaks English, Dutch and many more languages.

People need to sent 4 job applies a week just to keep their social money...
www.simyo.nl

Everything you say is true but with the right qualifications you can definitely get a job, and that is why some places are so full of English speakers. It completely depends on your skill set, and that means certain qualifications like: sciences (marine science, food science, etc.,), medical specialists, specialist IT, or even management consulting and accounting and so on.

With the right demand and qualifications, you might also get paid Dutch lessons but it depends on how much they want you. Certain fields are always in short supply everywhere so someone with a unique skill set can certainly move quite easily.

stickybookmark

I can only speak for Amsterdam, the vast vast majority of my irish and expat friends & colleagues working here don't speak any dutch. But the poster who originally asked is talking about going to Uni in some other part of Holland so I really wouldn't have a clue about english speaking jobs there.

pajor

Fijne Koningsdag allemaal!

Tompouce and oranjebitter all round? :P

annalucia

Hi, I'm hoping to reach out to Irish expats living in the Netherlands who have bought houses in the Netherlands.
I have noticed a few annoying differences between the Irish and Dutch system:
1 Use of buying agents- 1-2% of property value to negotiate and tell you about the area.
2 non disclosure of other bidders bids
3 you get the mortgage approval after you find the house.
4 you can't access a property register to find out how much similar properties in the area have sold for. I found a website that charged me €3 to show me how much 2 houses in the one street went for.

If you know any useful websites or agents that were helpful, I would really appreciate it!

Thanks:D

denhaagenite

www.funda.nl can give a general idea of the area you are interested in, and how much other similar houses are going for. Also, use of a makelaar (mortgage advisor) is common, paid for by the bank and you can go to as many as you like for advice.

minnow

Hi, I'll be moving home from NL to Ireland in the summer and was alarmed by this article on high car insurance premiums for returning emigrants: http://m.independent.ie/life/motoring/car-news/return-migrants-facing-skyhigh-car-cover-costs-34715693.html

Does anyone have experience in getting NL insurance cover recognised by Irish insurers? In my case, I have a completely clean record, but my wife had a small claim over 1 year ago. I'm not sure that the NL insurance differentiates between us.

pajor

I'd suggest consulting the motors forum on that. But from what I've read before on there, Irish insurance companies don't bother accepting NCB from other countries except the UK. No harm in giving some of the big companies like Liberty, FBD or Allianz a call before you move back though.

They can also be difficult about accepting other EU countries licences, despite what they should be doing.

Good luck with that though. I'd probably be paying about double for my insurance in Ireland compared to here.

stickybookmark

Actually does anyone have experience getting NL car insurers to accept irish NCB? I have the irish NCB ready to post off to them wondering will they actually accept it though.

unkel

minnow wrote: »

my wife had a small claim over 1 year ago. I'm not sure that the NL insurance differentiates between us.

It doesn't. It's the one insurance on the car. You will be able to get a NCB cert for 1 year though, it will help a little bit, but expect very high premiums on your return

Getting your NCB recognised is not a problem, but you will need a certified translation of the Dutch NCB (basically a translation from an official translation company approved by your Irish insurer)

Alun

unkel wrote: »

Getting your NCB recognised is not a problem, but you will need a certified translation of the Dutch NCB (basically a translation from an official translation company approved by your Irish insurer)

I managed perfectly OK with a letter on official headed notepaper, in English , from my Dutch insurer when I moved here in 2001. I had to go through a broker though as the insurance companies themselves weren't interested. Things could have changed in the meantime though.

unkel

Respect for your Dutch insurer

My experience is even older than that, and back then (mid 90s), an officially translated letter did the trick. Can't remember if that was directly with an Irish insurer though or through a broker...

redcup342

Alun wrote: »

I managed perfectly OK with a letter on official headed notepaper, in English , from my Dutch insurer when I moved here in 2001. I had to go through a broker though as the insurance companies themselves weren't interested. Things could have changed in the meantime though.

Also had no issues in 2007
Went through independer.nl and sent them my Quinn Direct NCB Cert in English.

Mena

stickybookmark wrote: »

Actually does anyone have experience getting NL car insurers to accept irish NCB? I have the irish NCB ready to post off to them wondering will they actually accept it though.

Didn't see a reply to this. My Irish NCB was accepted with no issues by my Dutch insurer.

Hope that helps.

shortys94

Quick question guys, anyone on this forum living in Amsterdam who has worked in Dublin?

I've lived in Amsterdam for the past three years, never lived in Dublin but am originally from Ireland. I really like life here but my job not so much, and since its a specialised position its difficult to find other positions in Amsterdam. There is an offer from Dublin.

My query is what are the biggest differences between Amsterdam and Dublin in terms of living standards? I find Amsterdam very easy to live in, with a high standard of housing accomodation, I feel as if Dublin is not good in that regard. I don't find the Dutch friendly, but other than that and my job its great.

Just looking for some views on the differences and whether if you had the chance would you go back to Dublin.

kevohmsford

I am planning to move home in a few months time. Used to live in Dublin. Won't be able to afford to live in Dublin when I move back. The rental market is beyond breaking point now.

I have friends who had to turn down jobs in Dublin recently because of the rental shortage. Some family have recently moved out of Dublin to a commuter town. I will probably do something similar.

kevohmsford

I like living in the Netherlands but it is difficult to save money.

pajor

shortys94 wrote: »

My query is what are the biggest differences between Amsterdam and Dublin in terms of living standards? I find Amsterdam very easy to live in, with a high standard of housing accomodation, I feel as if Dublin is not good in that regard. I don't find the Dutch friendly, but other than that and my job its great.

Just looking for some views on the differences and whether if you had the chance would you go back to Dublin.

My impression now would be that rent costs between Amsterdam and Dublin probably aren't that different i.e. both sky high. But I think you'll find that the quality and general availability of rental places will be a lot better in Amsterdam (or even anywhere in NL) better than in Dublin. I saw an article on NOS earlier saying that rent in Amsterdam has never been so high. Like any country there's also a big difference in rent between Amsterdam and anywhere else in the country, even in the Randstad.

And on the idea of Dutch people not being friendly, I will never agree on that. Dutch people are definitely more direct and don't tolerate BS, but not unfriendly. IMO Dutch city folk, especially Amsterdammers are just.. eikels. :pac:

kevohmsford wrote: »

I like living in the Netherlands but it is difficult to save money.

Why so?