en/nl
Office (new address as of 1 November 2011)
Raadhuisstraat 22-2
1016 DE Amsterdam
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Public transit: bus or tram to Dam Square
Driving directions: not recommended, parking is expensive and limited

E  info@avocado-legal.nl
T  +31 020 71 73 975 (11am-1pm M-F)
F  +31 020 68 66 840

Please direct all postal correspondence to:
P.O. Box 14628
1001 LC Amsterdam
The Netherlands

If you are a citizen of a country belonging to the European Union or the European Economic Area, or of Switzerland, you almost certainly won't need any assistance. With the exception of citizens of Romania and Bulgaria, European citizens can live and work in the Netherlands with virtually no paperwork required: flashing a passport or an identity card is enough.

But it can get more confusing when it comes to the rights of your partner, spouse, or other immediate family members, especially if they are not European citizens. They also have an automatic right to live and work here, but filing some paperwork might be required to prove it.

  • What about the rights of your family members' employers?
  • What if you want to marry or enter a partnership with a non-European?
  • Is it true that Dutch citizens can qualify for treatment as European citizens in the Netherlands as well (for instance, through the so-called "Belgium route")? What are the benefits of that?
  • What rights do Romanians and Bulgarians have, if they can't automatically work?
  • You are not a European citizen, but you have lived and worked in another EU country for 5 years or longer. What rights can this give you in the Netherlands?
  • And do citizens of Turkey have any rights under European law?

For these and any other questions about European law as it relates to rights of residence and movement, Avocado Legal is the specialist. Legal advisor Jeremy Bierbach is a member of the editorial board of the European Constitutional Law Review, and has published on the rights of non-European family members of European citizens.