Minister Van Hijum: “Control over migration starts with proper registration of labor migrants. We do not know exactly where hundreds of thousands of labor migrants are located. Therefore, we cannot reach them. Labor migrants may also face various problems, such as being uninsured after losing a job. We must place the responsibility where it belongs: with the employment agencies that bring these people to the Netherlands.”
Labor migrants who wish to stay in the Netherlands for more than four months must register as residents within five days of arrival in the municipality where they will live. For shorter stays, they can register as non-residents in the BRP. Too often, labor migrants are incorrectly registered as non-residents in the BRP. Municipalities and other organizations experience the consequences of this. Due to inadequate registration, they have insufficient visibility on where labor migrants reside.
Labor migrants are and remain responsible for their correct registration in the BRP. With this new measure, employers who lend labor migrants must provide support at the beginning of an employment relationship for registration. For example, by providing the correct information in the language of the labor migrant. They must also check with the labor migrant whether they have actually registered.
These measures will be part of the Act on the Allocation of Labor by Intermediaries (Waadi). The rule applies to all employers who send out labor migrants.
Additional Measures
The Dutch government is focusing on multiple measures to improve the correct registration of labor migrants in the BRP. For instance, there is an emphasis on raising awareness among labor migrants. Since 2022, the contact details of labor migrants have been registered upon registration as non-residents, and this year, efforts are being made to communicate via email to remind labor migrants about proper registration. Additionally, labor migrants can turn to regional physical and mobile WorkinNL information points for questions about registration in the BRP. These WorkinNL points are being rolled out across the country, and the services are available in multiple languages.