The Orientation Year Pack

Your master's from abroad, one year in the Netherlands, no sponsor required, if your university clears one rule.

Which of these is you

• Finished a master's abroad in the last three years, no sponsor yet. Start at "The rule that decides it".
• Finished more than three years ago. This permit is closed to you; see "If you don't qualify".
• Only a bachelor's from abroad. A foreign bachelor's does not qualify; a Dutch bachelor's does. See "If you don't qualify".
• Finished your master's in the Netherlands itself. You clear the education rule automatically. Go to "Apply from abroad".

The permit in one paragraph

The residence permit for the orientation year gives recent graduates and researchers one year in the Netherlands. During that year you may work for any employer, or start a business, and your employer needs no separate work permit to hire you. Apply within three years of completing the qualifying degree. Official: Residence permit for orientation year.

The rule that decides it

Your master's, post-master's or PhD must come from a university that sat in the world top 200 at the time you graduated, on at least two of these lists: the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the QS World University Rankings, or the Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai). The general list or your subject's list both count; two lists from the same publisher count as one. Source: Residence permit for orientation year.

Check yourself tonight

1. Write down the year on your certificate.
2. Open the QS World University Rankings for that year and search your university.
3. Open the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for that year and search again.
4. If either rank sits above 200, open the subject list for your field on the same publisher and check again.
5. Top 200 on two different publishers' lists: you pass the education rule.

Apply from abroad

You apply in writing at the Dutch embassy or consulate, using IND form 9571, which includes the provisional residence permit (MVV) that Nigerian nationals need. The form lists the documents: your passport, your degree certificate (the diploma itself needs no legalisation; other official documents must be legalised and translated into Dutch, English, French or German), a passport photo, the completed and signed form, and a TB test declaration where required.

The fee for this application is EUR 254.00 (about ₦400,000). IND fees change every 1 January, so confirm the live figure on IND fees before you pay.

The official overview names no separate income requirement for this permit itself; the fee is what you pay when you submit. Source: Residence permit for orientation year.

Month twelve: the job that keeps you

Inside the year, the target is a job as a highly skilled migrant. For someone who has just completed an orientation year, the salary that job must pay is the reduced figure on the IND's own page: EUR 3,122.00 a month gross, excluding holiday allowance (about ₦4.9m a month). This figure is valid from 1 July to 31 December 2026 and is reviewed twice a year. Source: Required amounts, income requirements. If a job pays below that line, the employer applies for a single permit for you instead.

If you don't qualify

More than three years have passed, or your only foreign degree is a bachelor's: the same pages list the highly skilled migrant route through a recognised sponsor, and the Netherlands study route, which itself ends in a Dutch degree that qualifies for this permit.

Worked example

Ngozi finished her MSc at the University of Leeds in December 2024. Her Graduate visa ends in 2027 and no sponsor has come. She checks Leeds on the 2024 QS and the 2024 Times Higher Education general lists: both sit inside 200. She lodges form 9571 at the Dutch embassy in London with her certificate and passport, pays the IND fee, and lands in Rotterdam with twelve months to find a highly skilled migrant job at the after-orientation-year salary line. Her Nigerian bachelor's never enters the calculation; the Leeds master's does the work.

The lines that protect your money

No agent can add your university to a ranking. The IND fee is paid to the IND only. Nobody can guarantee a permit, including us.

Naira figures on this page were converted at the 5 September 2026 rate (EUR 1 = ₦1,575.52).