6. Private servants

6.1     General information

With effect from 1 July 2024, due to a change in the policy current and new staff members will no longer have the option of requesting that the Ministry register a private servant (see Note Verbale DPG-Min-BuZa.2024.20297-18, 5 January 2024). 

This chapter outlines the Dutch policy on private servants of staff members of international organisations hired before 1 July 2024. Private servants are individuals in the service of persons who have been granted the privileges and immunities of diplomatic staff with AD status.

6.2     Employing private servants

Scope for employing private servants
Only staff members of international organisations who enjoy the privilege of employing a private servant can register a private servant.

No family member or relative by blood or marriage up to the fourth degree of kinship as defined in Dutch law (that is, no parent, child, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, grandparent, grandchild, great-grandparent, great-grandchild, great-great-grandparent, great-great-grandchild, great-aunt, great-uncle, great-niece, great-nephew or first cousin) of a staff member or of a staff member’s spouse may be employed as a private servant in the staff member’s household.

A private servant is not allowed to be accompanied by family members.


Work permit for private servants 
Employers of private servants are exempt from the requirement to obtain a work permit for their private servant(s). 

Private servants may not be employed by a person other than the person named in the employment contract. This restriction is indicated on the back of the servant’s identity card. 

Tax status of private servants
Private servants working for employers with AO status are exempt from taxes on their earnings from employment, provided that they are neither Dutch nationals nor permanently resident in the Netherlands. 

Social security status of private servants
Private servants of staff with AO status are exempt from the obligation to pay national insurance contributions, provided that they are covered by the social security system of their own country or of a third country. 

This exemption is not applicable to private servants who have been working in the Netherlands for more than 10 years, have Dutch nationality, were residents of the Netherlands at the time of recruitment, have taken up gainful employment in the Netherlands (other than their employment by the staff member with AO status), or receive any Dutch social security benefits.

An employer with AO status who employs a private servant who is not covered by the social security system of their own country, of a third country or of the international organisation must comply with the obligations which Dutch social security provisions impose on employers, and must therefore register as an employer with the Tax Administration. See: Melding Loonheffingen Werkgever van personeel aan huis (Employer’s notification in respect of salaries tax and social insurance contributions for domestic staff). 

6.3     Admission of private servants

Private servants from a country whose nationals require a visa to enter the Netherlands must apply for a visa at a Dutch diplomatic or consular mission in their country of origin or of habitual residence. If there is no Dutch diplomatic or consular mission in their country of origin or of habitual residence, their employers are requested to send an email to the Short Stay Visa Service of the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND), which falls under the Ministry of Justice and Security (email address: visa.posten@ind.nl). The Short Stay Visa Service provides advice on visa issues on a case-by-case basis.

Please bear in mind that processing a visa application can take up to four weeks, as it is sometimes necessary to consult one or more of the other Schengen countries.

Before the visa application is submitted to the Dutch diplomatic or consular mission, the international organisation must report the private servant’s appointment to the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by means of a Note Verbale. The Note Verbale should include the following details:

  • the personal details (name, date and place of birth and nationality) of the private servant;
  • their passport number and passport expiry date;
  • the employer’s name and the position the employer holds in the international organisation;
  • a copy of the servant’s full-time employment contract; 
  • a declaration in which the employer guarantees to pay all costs that may arise during the period in which the private servant resides in the Netherlands, plus any repatriation costs;
  • if the private servant is covered by the social security regulations of their own country or of a third country, a statement to this effect from the authorities of their own country or of the third country;
  • in cases where the private servant is not covered by the social security regulations of their home country or a third country: evidence that the employer is registered with the tax authorities in the Netherlands as the servant’s employer;
  • the starting date and duration of the servant’s employment contract;
  • private servants of persons who are themselves employed by a member of a diplomatic mission are not eligible under the arrangements that allow work without a work permit and therefore require work permits and must follow all Dutch regulations (see section 7.6). 

Without this Note Verbale the visa application will not be considered.

The Protocol Department will determine whether the servant and the employer have complied with the conditions and notify the Short Stay Visa Service of the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND), which falls under the Ministry of Justice and Security.

6.4     Registration of private servants

The international organisation for which a private servant’s employer works must register the servant with the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the ePortal within ten working days of the servant’s arrival in the Netherlands.

6.5     Identity card for private servants

The validity of a private servant’s identity card is linked to the validity of the employer’s identity card. The card will initially be issued twice for six months and afterwards for a maximum period of one year, unless the contract with the employer has a shorter duration. 

Private servants are expected to collect their identity cards (with a valid ID) in person from the Ministry’s Protocol Department, located at Rijnstraat 8, 2515 XP The Hague, after receiving notification that the card is ready for collection.

6.6     Mandatory provisions of Dutch employment legislation 

It is imperative that the terms and conditions of employment comply with the mandatory provisions of Dutch employment legislation. Even if the employer and employee opt for the applicability of a foreign legal system as the basis of an employment contract, the contract must comply with the mandatory provisions of Dutch legislation. 
    
Mandatory provisions of Dutch employment legislation include the following:

These mandatory provisions should always be respected by both the employer and the employee: provisions to this effect should be included in the employment contract. The Dutch government website provides information on employment in the Netherlands: Work | Government.nl. Guidelines on this subject have also been communicated by means of Note Verbale DPG 2018/189.

6.7     Mandatory bank account

As of 1 June 2015, employers are obliged to pay a private servant’s salary into a Dutch bank account (or a bank account in another EU country) held by the private servant. Newly registered private servants must provide proof that they have a personal bank account within 90 days of their registration with the Ministry. The agreed salary must be paid into this account by the employer on a monthly basis. Cash payment of salaries is not permitted. The Ministry reserves the right to request private servants to provide bank statements for verification purposes. 

6.8     Health insurance for private servants

Private servants who are covered by the Dutch social insurance system must take out standard health insurance. Private servants who are not covered by the Dutch social insurance system cannot be insured under the national health insurance scheme (ziektekostenverzekering) but must take out an expatriate health insurance policy. 

If an insurer requires proof of registration in the Netherlands before issuing the policy, the Ministry can send a copy of the identity card. When a private servant comes to the Ministry to collect their identity card, the card will only be issued after a copy of the insurance policy has been presented. 
 
Employers can register private servants who fall under the Dutch social security system with the Dutch Tax Administration by means of the following link: Melding Loonheffingen (salaries tax and social insurance contribution notification).

The completed form should be emailed to: Haaglanden.CB_IFB@belastingdienst.nl, instead of the address mentioned on the form.

6.9     Duration of the employment contract

A private servant’s right to stay in the Netherlands depends on the existence of a current employment contract with a privileged person with AO status as the employer. Private servants cannot change jobs in the Netherlands. The servant must leave the Netherlands in the following circumstances:

  • when the employment contract comes to an end or is terminated;
  • when the employer’s assignment in the Netherlands ends; 
  • if the employer ceases to be a staff member of the international organisation;
  • if the employer fails to comply with the conditions for employing a private servant.

6.10    Departure of the private servant

Privileged employers, at whose request the private servant has been granted entry to the Netherlands, are responsible for the final departure of their private servants from the Schengen area, except in those cases where the private servant is a national of an EU member state. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expects the employer to:

  • ensure that the private servant returns their identity card to the Ministry’s Protocol Department;
  • provide the Ministry with proof of the servant’s arrangements for travel to a non-Schengen country.

Privileged persons who submit a request for a private servant must ensure that the above-mentioned conditions are satisfied for the entire duration of the private servant’s stay in the Netherlands and that the private servant leaves the Schengen area once their contract has ended. 

In cases where irregularities arise in this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will withhold approval of any new requests for private servants by the privileged person or the latter’s successor.  

6.11    Locally recruited private servants

Only holders of a valid residence and work permit may be employed.