Foreign Self-Employed Professionals

Yes, you can.

The requirements that apply to you depend on several factors, including:

• your nationality;
• the country where you live;
• the country where you perform your work;
• whether you genuinely operate as a self-employed professional.

The rules differ for self-employed professionals from the EU/EEA or Switzerland and those from countries outside the EU/EEA.

If you are a national of an EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you can generally work in the Netherlands without a work permit under the EU principle of free movement of services.

We do, however, ask you to provide several documents and pieces of information, such as:

• a services agreement;
• proof of business registration in the country where your business is established;
• a VAT number, if applicable;
• evidence that you genuinely operate as a self-employed professional.

In addition, we carry out an identity check. During this process, we verify your passport or identity card using an ID verification process. We do not request or retain a copy of your identity document.

If you temporarily work in the Netherlands while remaining socially insured in your country of residence, an A1 certificate is often required.

This certificate confirms in which country you pay your social security contributions.

If you are a national of a country outside the EU/EEA, additional requirements apply.

Besides the standard documentation, we also verify whether you are legally allowed to work as a self-employed professional in the Netherlands.

Depending on your situation, you may need:

• a valid passport;
• a valid Dutch residence permit or residence document;
• a work permit (TWV or GVVA), where legally required;
• proof that self-employment is permitted;
• an A1 certificate or a comparable document where a social security treaty applies.

Please note: A residence permit issued by another European country does not automatically entitle you to work as a self-employed professional in the Netherlands.

Before you can start an assignment through HeadFirst Group, we assess, among other things:

• your identity;
• whether you genuinely operate as a self-employed professional;
• whether you comply with applicable immigration and labour regulations;
• which documents are required for your specific situation.

We also assess whether the assignment complies with applicable laws and regulations, including the Dutch Deregulation Assessment of Labour Relationships Act (Wet DBA).

Will you work fully remotely from your country of residence and perform no work in the Netherlands?

If so, many Dutch legal requirements do not apply.

In most cases, this means:

• no Dutch work permit is required;
• no Dutch residence permit is required;
• no notification obligation for posted workers;
• usually no A1 certificate is required.

We will still verify that you genuinely operate as a self-employed professional and perform an identity check. In addition, we record in the agreement that all work will be carried out entirely from abroad.

For every foreign self-employed professional, we determine in advance which laws and regulations apply.

This ensures that:

• you meet the applicable legal requirements;
• the collaboration complies with applicable laws and regulations;
• risks for you, HeadFirst Group and the client are minimised.

As every situation is different, we may request additional documents or information before the collaboration can begin.

No.

Self-employed professionals from the EU/EEA and Switzerland generally do not require a work permit. For professionals from outside the EU/EEA, a work permit may be required depending on the circumstances.

No.

An A1 certificate is mainly required if you temporarily work in the Netherlands while remaining socially insured in your country of residence.

That depends on the assignment.

If you work entirely from abroad, different rules often apply than when you perform work in the Netherlands. We assess the applicable laws and regulations for each assignment individually.