Dear editors,
Now that my emigration to Thailand is canceled because of the sky-high health insurance for there, I have decided to let my girlfriend come to the Netherlands to live and work here. Can someone tell me what the approximate costs are to realize this?
Also all costs that have to be incurred in the Netherlands in connection with integration, etc.
All information is welcome.
Yours faithfully,
William from Amersfoort
Dear Willem,
Well that just depends on how crazy you want and can make it. But you quickly lose a few thousand euros for the first few years. Once your partner has become integrated, the costs will be limited to, for example, having the residence permit extended every 5 years. Let's take a closer look at the (most important) costs.
Deeds, translations and legalisations:
We take the (un)marriage certificate and birth certificate. Translate to English 400 THB per document, so 800 THB together. Legalization by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs costs 200 THB (standard) or 400 THB (1 day service) baht per document. You have 2 deeds and 2 translations so this amount times 4 is 800-1600 THB. Translation plus legalization is a total of 800 + 800 a 1600 THB. With a rate of about 40 baht per euro, that is 60 to 80 euros. Legalization by the Dutch embassy 26,25 euros per document, times 4 = 105 euros. All together you are then 165 to 185 euros. If you hire an agency that takes care of all this, the price can rise to say about 250 euros in total.
Civic integration abroad and abroad exam:
Preparation can be done through self-study (for example, the websites and textbook of Ad Appel) or through a course in Thailand or the Netherlands. If your partner can do self-study (with your help) then you will have lost a few tenners, if you opt for a course it will cost a few hundred euros. Of course, the choice depends on what suits your partner (is she handy with languages? Does a course fit into her daily schedule? What can you miss? What do you feel comfortable with?). So you can spend little to a few hundred euros here. On top of that comes the exam of a total of 150 euros (may increase if a resit is required for one or more components).
The TEV procedure:
To have your partner come over, you start the TEV procedure, which currently costs you 233 euros (that amount will not increase) and you will lose it anyway, even if the IND decides negatively. In the event of a positive message, the IND will inform you that there is no objection to the issue of the MVV (D visa), which your partner will then collect from the embassy and some time later the VVR residence permit card will be ready here. Of course, you do not have to pay again for the MVV sticker or the VVR pass, which all fall under the TEV procedure.
Flight ticket (one way BKK – Europe):
Seems logical to me unless you have your own hot air balloon at your disposal. You can fly from Bangkok to Amsterdam, but you can also enter via an airport in, for example, Belgium or Germany. Price tag will also depend on the season. For the sake of convenience, we only assume 500 euros.
TB test:
Is free at most GGDs, some still charge an (unknown to me) amount for this.
Civic integration in the Netherlands and Civic Integration Exam in the Netherlands:
Once your partner is here she will have to integrate. As with the foreign exam, you can opt for self-study or a course. So you can make it as cheap or expensive as you want and can spend. Some learn the language by actively applying it (and especially not getting stuck in clubs with only compatriots and continuing to speak English with the Dutch partner!!), others with some textbooks. Most people really need to take a course. They are available from fairly minimal to longer, more personal or for a higher level. You can spend a few hundred to a few thousand euros on study costs. Of course, the exam costs of a total of 350 euros will also be added. Overview of a possible cost:
- Translations and legalization of 2 deeds: 165 – 250 euros.
- Preparation for integration exam abroad (WIB): 25 – 750 euros.
- Taking all parts of the WIB exam: 150 euros.
- Arranging deeds, translations and legalisations: 125 euros.
- Starting up TEV (MVV+VVR) procedure: 233 euros.
- Flight ticket: 500 euros.-
- TB test at the GGD: free at most locations.
- Study or course Integration Netherlands (WI): 0 to 3000 euros.
- Taking all parts of the WI exam: 350 euros.
Total: 1500 to 5000 euros. Globally quickly more than 2000 to 3000 euros.
- Costs not included are, for example, the wardrobe (warm clothes, etc.) and other living expenses.
- Bonus: If your partner opts for Dutch naturalization in due course, it will cost another 850 euros.
There is, of course, much more to immigration than just the cost. After all, immigration is not nothing, and the preparations take the necessary effort and time. Once in the Netherlands, you must of course put your shoulders to the wheel. Of course I would let your partner come on holiday with a short stay Schengen visa at least once to a few times to taste the atmosphere here and of course test your relationship, but that goes without saying that you probably did that. Finally, I advise you to take a good look around, so look for information at the IND, embassy and the various other parties involved (such as various course providers). The dossier I wrote about the immigration of a Thai partner can also come in handy here: www.thailandblog.nl/wp-content/uploads/Immmigration-Thaise-partner-naar-Nederland1.pdf
Best of luck!
Regards,
Rob V
Sources:
- https://www.thailandblog.nl/dossier/dossier-immigratie-thaise-partner-naar-nederland/
- http://adappel.nl/cursussen/a1-zelfstudie/
- https://www.thailandblog.nl/lezersvraag/mvv-procedure-vertalen-aktes-huwelijkse-staat-geboorte/-
- http://thailand.nlambassade.org/shared/burgerzaken/burgerzaken%5B2%5D/consulaire-tarieven
- https://www.inburgeren.nl/inburgeren-betalen.jsp
- https://www.inburgeren.nl/basisexamen-inburgeren-buitenland.jsp#
- https://ind.nl/particulier/familie-gezin/kosten-inkomenseisen/Kosten
You should of course also include the costs of health insurance and other insurance for your girlfriend in the Netherlands.
And of course you both want to go on holiday to Thailand once a year.
So you actually want to bring your girlfriend to the Netherlands because it is ultimately cheaper to live together in the Netherlands than together in Thailand. I think it must be a very expensive insurance policy.
Perhaps you can consider staying less insured in Thailand, and keeping a fund for calamities, and if something valuable/chronic comes up, just move back to the Netherlands. Far from ideal, but it comes to mind anyway.
Dear Willem from Amersfoort,
To give a realistic picture of the healthcare costs, you should first indicate your age.
To have your partner come to the Netherlands, I estimate that you will spend approx. 10.000 euros.
lost etc.
(according to my own experience).
Good luck and wisdom.
Dear Willem
My Thai girlfriend finally comes to the Netherlands after a long time.
It cost a lot of time and money.
The costs we had to incur are close to 10.000 euros.
And soon she will be allowed to do an integration course here in the Netherlands.
I don't know yet what that will cost, but they also write here in the Netherlands with 6 forks.
You are well milked as a citizen with the desire to be with your wife or girlfriend.
Dear Henk,
Learning the Dutch language costs the incomprehensible amount of 1020 euros per session and you need approx. 3 depending on a lot of things.
Then there is travel money (the exam is usually in another city) and the exam money.
Something the ladies can do nothing about is that they do not succeed in one go (so further learning and costs)
The time you put in is of course welcome, but this is really a lot.
good luck
I brought my current partner to the Netherlands at the beginning of 1997. How simple that was. Translating the documents and having them legalized were not cheap at the time, but the rest was very simple. And we paid virtually nothing for integration training. How much it has changed since then.
It is now a discouragement policy combined with money scraping, which the Dutch government is so good at.
I think it would be nice for other readers if the estimates up to 10.000 euros could receive a bit more explanation. For example, if you include short stay visas, airline tickets, purchasing all kinds of clothes and footwear, expanding the kitchen appliances, etc., you will of course lose a few thousand euros extra on top of the purely migration-related costs.
Healthcare costs and other insurance also goes without saying, but you also have those with a Dutch partner. On the income side, check whether you are eligible for certain benefits (rent benefit, care benefit) and because it is by definition expensive to lean with your 2 on 1 income, also check whether your partner can find a job. Brings in money and can also be good for integration if you don't stay among the Thai. Finding work with hardly any knowledge of Dutch is difficult, even with simple cleaning or production work, people ask for a “good command of Dutch”. The fact that you can also do simple work with simple Dutch and not too difficult Dutch and then pick up the language quickly is something that many employers do not want, or they are afraid of unmotivated (?) 'foreigners' who, after years here, do not go further than (bluntly put) baby Dutch come and shave everything over 1 comb 'just to be sure'.
Dear Robert V,
I don't buy clothes or anything like that, these costs will be added.
It starts with the course which is followed during the day ( in my case Bangkok )
School fees, travel money, food and housing.
There are few ladies who can take this course alongside her own working life.
Sorry, but I threw this calculation away.
I don't know if the pensioners among us know that, but you will also be cut back on your state pension, after which you will receive a supplement again, which means that you are bound hand and foot to this terrible arrangement.
My advice is therefore not to conceal any earnings in such a case because you pay it back to the SVB twice and straight.
Yours faithfully,
The best alternative seems to me 8 months in Thailand and the so-called 4 Summer months in the Netherlands. Then with your Dutch health insurance you are well insured in both countries.
In many cases you can take your net gross income to Thailand. I don't know what your earnings are, but if I were you I'd check this out. I don't know your age either, but at April Embassy you pay a little more than 200 euros per month premium for inpatient health insurance if you are 65 years old. Unfortunately, the premium soon rises to almost 300 euros per month. In NL you pay a percentage of your income in addition to the premium for the health insurance. In addition, the living costs in Thailand can be significantly less, so I advise you not to look only at the costs of health insurance.
Taking your gross income tax-free and not paying tax in Thailand is against existing Thai law.
Things have been going well for a long time, but there will undoubtedly come a day when this is no longer going well.
I don't know what the consequences will be.
There may be a transition period.
But maybe not.
In any case, it is a risk for the future and so you have to take it into account.
Given the fact that the Thai government wants to know more and more about the people living in Thailand, it seems obvious to me that paying taxes will not be that far in the future.
And now something else… In addition to the one-off initial costs already mentioned, for which I also roughly lost € 10.000, there will be another nice surprise after registering your tilac in the GBA. If you enjoy your state pension as a single person, you will be reduced from € 1082 to € 745 monthly in the new living situation, so € 337 less. 90 per month, not to mention the costs of the integration course, which can amount to 420 to 3 thousand euros. Also, the annual trip to the family in Thailand should not be forgotten, which will also cost at least € 6 per person. Nice to hear all those butterflies in the stomach, but keep your head up.
I am Belgian , but I think the costs are about the same as for the Dutch . I also wanted to bring my girlfriend to Belgium permanently , she had already been on holiday a few times , first for a month and later for 3 months , but I just made the bill and think it is not a good idea . My girlfriend has a job in Thailand , she also works for her daughter and her parents . Her father recently had a stroke , so that man can no longer work . My friend also has a pond , where her father put 10.000 fish and they also kept shellfish on that pond . They grew and sold those fish and the shellfish on the market. The father kept watch at the pond at night, because some fish often disappeared at night. In the meantime, the father had to spend weeks in hospital and in the meantime the thieves free hand. One night they put power on the pond and they only had to pick up the fish. Currently, my girlfriend is the main breadwinner for the whole family….grandparents included. If you want a Thai woman in Europe, you have to understand that they also want to send money to their family. In my case that is a necessity , but almost impossible work with 1 salary . You should also keep money in reserve for unforeseen circumstances. In the event of a serious illness of a family member or a death, your girlfriend will suddenly want to return to Thailand. I always let my girlfriend fly with Thai Airways, which quickly costs about at least 600 euros and a maximum of 1.000 euros (in high season). My girlfriend has met some Thai women in Maastricht, I myself am from Belgian Limburg, they met each other at the Dutch school. My girlfriend voluntarily followed the first Dutch module at school. They told her that the first years in the Netherlands were very difficult to bridge, if you had to "survive" with one wage with two people, that was not easy. everyone has to make their own bill … best regards and good luck , Francois .
I think the 10 thousand euro scenarios are rather negative, then almost disaster scenarios must occur where you take a course that is too expensive, hand over everything to third parties and the integration is also very disappointing and you have to take part-time lessons for 3 full years with retake on retake.
Let me do a new calculation:
Calculation “wind against on many fronts” scenario:
Translations and legalization of deeds: 250 euros.
Preparation for integration exam abroad (WIB): 750 euros.
Taking all parts of the WIB exams + resits: 150 euros * 2.
Arranging deeds, translations and legalisations: 125 euros.
Starting up TEV (MVV+VVR) procedure: 233 euros.
Flight ticket: 500 euros.-
Study or course Inburgering Nederland (WI): 3000 euros.
Taking all parts of the WI exams + resits: 350 euros * 2.
Total: 250+750+150+150+125+233+500+3000+350+350=5858. Rounded off to above 6000. If it is even more difficult, you throw another 1000 euros at it and you arrive at 7000 euros. If you like headwind in a huge storm and disaster (too expensive course, one more course, resit several times) then you will creep towards 10 thousand.
I see that 10 thousand approaching sooner if the procedures (integration, TEV, etc.) proceed without major setbacks, but if you include other costs (wardrobe, healthcare costs, etc.) and the sponsor is an AOWer who is reduced in benefits. If you assume a doomsday scenario in which the stranger and referent have really bad luck with everything (bad luck, unwise choices, even more bad luck, getting screwed) then you can go over 10 thousand.
But as a middle scenario, I find more than two, three (and with some setbacks such as resits and extra lessons) up to about four thousand euros in unavoidable costs a reasonably feasible / realistic scenario. I only see that rising quickly if the sponsor is reduced on the AOW and that the Thai partner does not get to work.