Starting from 1 July 2024, employers in the Asian restaurant sector will face stricter rules when hiring employees. All applications for work and residence permits in this sector will now be evaluated in the same way as permit applications for other sectors. To find out more about how these changes will affect you, watch our webinar on the new work and residence permit rules for the Asian restaurant sector (in Dutch).
The new rules for the Asian restaurant sector will require you to put more effort into finding an employee in the EU/EEA or Switzerland who can work in the Netherlands without a work permit. This means you must spend at least 3 months searching for an employee who meets this requirement.
Keep in mind that posting a vacancy on werk.nl so that it automatically appears on the EURES job board will not be considered sufficient effort. You must, for example, advertise your vacancy on other websites and with employment agencies, both in the Netherlands as well as in the EU/EEA or Switzerland.
Please note: We will run thorough checks to ensure you have made every reasonable effort to fill the vacancy with an employee from the EU/EEA or Switzerland.
If, despite your best efforts, you are unable to find an employee in the EU/EEA or Switzerland, you will be able to apply for a work and residence permit for an employee from outside these regions. However, the following criteria must then be met:
- Your employee is over 18 years old.
- You are offering your employee regular employment (‘reguliere arbeidsplaats’) and not seasonal or casual work.
- You have arranged safe and clean accommodation for your employee to live in.
Make sure you post your vacancy on our Support Centre for the Asian Restaurant Sector before applying for a work and residence permit for your employee.
To post a vacancy, complete the Form for posting vacancies on the UWV Support Centre for the Asian Restaurant Sector (‘Melden vacature Aziatische Horeca’).
We will then send you a confirmation email within 3 days of receiving your completed form. This email will include the following information:
- the job posting reference code (‘vacaturenummer’), which you will need when applying for a work and residence permit via the IND
- the required minimum advertising period for your vacancy (5 weeks)
You will be able to apply for a work and residence permit once your vacancy has been advertised for 5 weeks on our Support Centre for the Asian Restaurant Sector. Keep in mind that the vacancy must not be older than 3 months at the time of application. We therefore recommend applying for the permit as soon as the 5-week period has passed if you have not yet found a suitable employee.
To apply, complete the Application form for a work and residence permit (‘Aanvraag voor een gecombineerde vergunning voor verblijf en arbeid (referent)’). Make sure you have your job posting reference code close to hand when completing this form. Submit your completed form to the IND along with the additional documents you will need to provide. The form will specify exactly which documents you will need to include.
If you want to renew a work and residence permit for a chef specialised in Asian food, you can do so under the old scheme, but only if the following criteria are met:
- The chef was already working in the Netherlands before 1 January 2022.
- The chef holds a level 4, 5, or 6 culinary qualification.
Make sure you renew the permit 3 months before it expires. The renewal process is very similar to the application process with the following exceptions:
- You will have to advertise your vacancy on our Support Centre for the Asian Restaurant Sector for 3 weeks instead of 5.
- You will have to use a different form when applying for a permit renewal, namely the Work and residence permit renewal form (‘Aanvraag verlenging verblijfsvergunning voor het verblijfsdoel - arbeid in loondienst - Aziatische horeca (referent)').
Please note: Once the IND has received your application, they will ask us to verify all the criteria for renewal have been met. If this is the case, the IND will renew your permit for a maximum of 2 years.
If you have any questions or would like more information about arranging permits for the Asian restaurant sector, please send an email to the following address: aziatischehoreca@uwv.nl.