Education

Dutch law puts the squeeze on TUs foreigners

TU Delft works hard to attract highly educated foreigners, but new Dutch immigration laws make being a foreign TU student or staff member a real pain in the backside and the wallet.

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While the Dutch complain about price rises resulting from the switch to the euro, it’s the foreigners working and studying at TUD who have a real reason to complain%%especially those from outside the EU. New laws and drastic price rises for government residence permits means it is no longer fun to be a legal alien in Holland.

Last week, Holland’s Immigration & Naturalization Office (IND) raised the residence permit price to 430 euros. “In one year, permit prices rose from 57 euro to 430 euros,” says Joop Lems, a personnel officer at the TU’s Applied Sciences faculty who is responsible for arranging the paperwork of the faculty’s 210 foreign employees. “It’s ridiculous, idiotic.”

It was only last May when the IND raised its permit prices to 258 euro, and now, the IND claims, the steep additional price hike is needed to further reduce the flow of immigrants into Holland. The IND almost makes the seemingly absurd claim that 430 euros for a residence permit still isn’t enough to cover the costs of making the permits. “If that’s true,” Lems says, “I think I’ll start my own company to make these permits. After all, it’s nothing but a plastic card.”

In 2001, the Dutch Alien Police department issued 4,710 residence permits nationally, of which 377 went to immigrant workers and students. The permits are valid for one year. But people who stay only six months in Holland must also pay the same amount of money as those residing here one year. According to Lems, often foreigners have returned to their home countries before their permits arrive from the slow, back-logged IND office: “It’s like paying money in a shop for something but not actually getting the product.”

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“It’s money thrown out the window!” says Stefan Gheorghiu, a Romanian post-doc at DelftChemTech (TNW). “Most post-docs are at an age when they’ve just started a family, and very few of us can afford to pay for more than one permit. It’s government policy, so we cannot change that, but I think Dutch universities should try to.”

The IND has raised all its prices, not just for new permits. From March 2003, it’ll cost 285 euro to renew permits. Gheorghiu’s research department decided to pay the initial 450 euros for newcomers, and in the coming weeks other departments must decide if they’ll also pay for their foreign researchers. “TUD ends up paying the money, and this is a dumb arrangement because Dutch employers lose money in the end. In the USA, for example, visas cost 60 dollars, a reasonable price, and you don’t have to renew it every year,” Gheorghiu says.

Lems hopes that the research sections of all the various faculties will decide to compensate their foreign newcomers: “Currently, allemployees must ask the boss for compensation.” Together with the soon to be established ‘bureau buitenland’(foreign office), Lems wants arrangements for TU Delft’s foreigners to be made centrally, also in conjunction with VSNU (Dutch Universities organisation) and Nuffic (Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education). “Hopefully,” he says, “that would mean foreigners pay less.”

Presently, 60 percent of TU Delft’s PhDs are foreigners. Anita van Velzen, head of the international relations department, says the TU shouldn’t pay permit fees: “It means the TU is subsidizing the IND.”

She says that high permit-related costs price TU Delft and other universities out of the market: “Scientist who can choose between Zurich or Delft, for example, tend to chose Zurich because of the money. I think Dutch permit prices should conform to the rest of Europe.”

For EU-members, a new permit costs 28 euro, and to renew it costs also costs 28 euro. Van Velzen: “There’s no relation between the different amounts for EU and non-EU members.”

Partners

In addition to high permit costs, foreign students and staff have difficulties bringing their partners with them to Holland. Partners of foreigners can reside here on their partners’ residence permits, but they aren’t allowed to work. Most foreign researchers, PhDs and professors have partners who are highly educated as well, but all they can do here is charity work.

The only solution is for partners to arrange jobs for themselves in Holland before they arrive. “It’s very difficult to find a job here while your still in South Africa,” says Greg Georgalli, a South African Phd student in Applied Earth Sciences (CiTG). Georgalli has been in Delft since September 2001 and would like his South African girlfriend to live with him here. His girlfriend, an English lecturer who also speaks Afrikaans (similar to Dutch), could find a job in Holland, where there’s a teacher shortage, but as Georgalli explains, “if you don’t have connections to help find a job, it’s difficult. I’m new here, I don’t know the right people.”

The VSNU monitors problems that foreigners like Georgalli encounter at universities. Sjoerd Andel, a VSNU spokesman, admits there are many: “We can’t help people personally, but we do lobby government ministries for the free movement of people between universities. It should be as easy to travel between Utrecht and Friesland as between Holland and other countries if it involves work or study.”

Meanwhile, Georgialli waits patiently for the spring, when his girlfriend arrives in Holland. He hopes she’ll find a job within the three months of her tourist visa. If not, Georgialli will leave Holland: “I earn enough money to support us, but in addition to my job, one reason I came her was to see Europe with my girlfriend. On my salary alone, we can’t afford to do that, and, moreover, if she can’t work here, she won’t be happy here, and that’s another reason why I’ll have to leave.”

Leaving the TU, Georgialli says, is the worst case scenario for everyone, including the TU: If a PhD leaves after one year, that’s a lot money thrown away for TUD. I haven’t even chosen my researchgoal yet. After a year, the real research begins.”

Georgialli understands the reasons for Holland’s strict immigration rules, but, conversely, he is filling a position that was vacant. “Perhaps the government should make concessions for foreigners who are asked to work in Holland, rather than just sticking to one law for all.”

.aut Ingrid Leeuwangh

TU Delft works hard to attract highly educated foreigners, but new Dutch immigration laws make being a foreign TU student or staff member a real pain in the backside and the wallet.

While the Dutch complain about price rises resulting from the switch to the euro, it’s the foreigners working and studying at TUD who have a real reason to complain%%especially those from outside the EU. New laws and drastic price rises for government residence permits means it is no longer fun to be a legal alien in Holland.

Last week, Holland’s Immigration & Naturalization Office (IND) raised the residence permit price to 430 euros. “In one year, permit prices rose from 57 euro to 430 euros,” says Joop Lems, a personnel officer at the TU’s Applied Sciences faculty who is responsible for arranging the paperwork of the faculty’s 210 foreign employees. “It’s ridiculous, idiotic.”

It was only last May when the IND raised its permit prices to 258 euro, and now, the IND claims, the steep additional price hike is needed to further reduce the flow of immigrants into Holland. The IND almost makes the seemingly absurd claim that 430 euros for a residence permit still isn’t enough to cover the costs of making the permits. “If that’s true,” Lems says, “I think I’ll start my own company to make these permits. After all, it’s nothing but a plastic card.”

In 2001, the Dutch Alien Police department issued 4,710 residence permits nationally, of which 377 went to immigrant workers and students. The permits are valid for one year. But people who stay only six months in Holland must also pay the same amount of money as those residing here one year. According to Lems, often foreigners have returned to their home countries before their permits arrive from the slow, back-logged IND office: “It’s like paying money in a shop for something but not actually getting the product.”

Signature

“It’s money thrown out the window!” says Stefan Gheorghiu, a Romanian post-doc at DelftChemTech (TNW). “Most post-docs are at an age when they’ve just started a family, and very few of us can afford to pay for more than one permit. It’s government policy, so we cannot change that, but I think Dutch universities should try to.”

The IND has raised all its prices, not just for new permits. From March 2003, it’ll cost 285 euro to renew permits. Gheorghiu’s research department decided to pay the initial 450 euros for newcomers, and in the coming weeks other departments must decide if they’ll also pay for their foreign researchers. “TUD ends up paying the money, and this is a dumb arrangement because Dutch employers lose money in the end. In the USA, for example, visas cost 60 dollars, a reasonable price, and you don’t have to renew it every year,” Gheorghiu says.

Lems hopes that the research sections of all the various faculties will decide to compensate their foreign newcomers: “Currently, allemployees must ask the boss for compensation.” Together with the soon to be established ‘bureau buitenland’(foreign office), Lems wants arrangements for TU Delft’s foreigners to be made centrally, also in conjunction with VSNU (Dutch Universities organisation) and Nuffic (Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education). “Hopefully,” he says, “that would mean foreigners pay less.”

Presently, 60 percent of TU Delft’s PhDs are foreigners. Anita van Velzen, head of the international relations department, says the TU shouldn’t pay permit fees: “It means the TU is subsidizing the IND.”

She says that high permit-related costs price TU Delft and other universities out of the market: “Scientist who can choose between Zurich or Delft, for example, tend to chose Zurich because of the money. I think Dutch permit prices should conform to the rest of Europe.”

For EU-members, a new permit costs 28 euro, and to renew it costs also costs 28 euro. Van Velzen: “There’s no relation between the different amounts for EU and non-EU members.”

Partners

In addition to high permit costs, foreign students and staff have difficulties bringing their partners with them to Holland. Partners of foreigners can reside here on their partners’ residence permits, but they aren’t allowed to work. Most foreign researchers, PhDs and professors have partners who are highly educated as well, but all they can do here is charity work.

The only solution is for partners to arrange jobs for themselves in Holland before they arrive. “It’s very difficult to find a job here while your still in South Africa,” says Greg Georgalli, a South African Phd student in Applied Earth Sciences (CiTG). Georgalli has been in Delft since September 2001 and would like his South African girlfriend to live with him here. His girlfriend, an English lecturer who also speaks Afrikaans (similar to Dutch), could find a job in Holland, where there’s a teacher shortage, but as Georgalli explains, “if you don’t have connections to help find a job, it’s difficult. I’m new here, I don’t know the right people.”

The VSNU monitors problems that foreigners like Georgalli encounter at universities. Sjoerd Andel, a VSNU spokesman, admits there are many: “We can’t help people personally, but we do lobby government ministries for the free movement of people between universities. It should be as easy to travel between Utrecht and Friesland as between Holland and other countries if it involves work or study.”

Meanwhile, Georgialli waits patiently for the spring, when his girlfriend arrives in Holland. He hopes she’ll find a job within the three months of her tourist visa. If not, Georgialli will leave Holland: “I earn enough money to support us, but in addition to my job, one reason I came her was to see Europe with my girlfriend. On my salary alone, we can’t afford to do that, and, moreover, if she can’t work here, she won’t be happy here, and that’s another reason why I’ll have to leave.”

Leaving the TU, Georgialli says, is the worst case scenario for everyone, including the TU: If a PhD leaves after one year, that’s a lot money thrown away for TUD. I haven’t even chosen my researchgoal yet. After a year, the real research begins.”

Georgialli understands the reasons for Holland’s strict immigration rules, but, conversely, he is filling a position that was vacant. “Perhaps the government should make concessions for foreigners who are asked to work in Holland, rather than just sticking to one law for all.”

.aut Ingrid Leeuwangh

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