Frequently Asked Questions

If you are from a country in groups II, III or IV* and planning to stay in the Netherlands for more than 3 months, you will need an MVV visa (type D - temporary residence permit) to study in the Netherlands. If you are from a country in group IA*, you do not need a visa or residence permit, but if necessary, you can apply for a 'certificate of lawful residence'. If your stay is less than 3 months, you will need a short stay visa.
The college/university in question will request an MVV or Visa Short Stay, you cannot do this yourself. If your stay is longer than 3 months and you are present in the Netherlands, you will require a residence permit. This is also handled by the college/university. A residence permit is valid for the duration of the study plus an extra 3 months. Each year, students must earn at least 50% of their credits, otherwise the residence permit will expire.
The application for a visa can take several weeks, so put in a request to the college/university on time. Should the reason or duration of your stay change, please have this amended via the college/university. The application request for your visa/residence permit by the college/university is free of charge, however, the costs of the visa/residence permit will be charged to you.
*Countries group I: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
Group II: Australia, Canada, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, South Korea, United States, Vatican City State
Group IA: Croatia
Group III: Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bosnia, Brazil, Brunei, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Taiwan, Uruguay, Venezue

Spending your holiday in the Netherlands is an excellent idea! Find plenty of inspiration on our website. Here you can find information about cities to visit, accommodation and things to do in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is located in GMT +1. The Netherlands also implements daylight saving time during the summer.

If you're travelling with your own means of transport, there's no problem bringing your pet on holiday to the Netherlands. Are you travelling by plane? Please contact your airline company.

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands has a tolerant drug policy. All drugs are banned, but smoking cannabis is tolerated under strict conditions.

You can do many interesting things in the Netherlands! What's your preference? Check out our suggestions for your visit to Holland here.

We celebrate the following public holidays in the Netherlands:
January 1 - New Year's Day.
Easter Sunday and Easter Monday.
April 27 is King's Day, every year.
Ascension Day.
Whit Sunday and Whit Monday.
We celebrate Christmas on December 25 and 26.
More about public holidays in the Netherlands here.

The Netherlands is home to several cities and villages. For an overview, see our pages about destinations in the Netherlands.

Dutch is spoken in the Netherlands, but the language has several dialects. In Friesland, for example, locals also speak Frisian next to Dutch. Frisian is the only truly recognized second language in the Netherlands.

Holland is part of the Netherlands and is also used as a synonym for the Netherlands. Read more about Holland vs Netherlands here.