Is my Degree Valid in the Netherlands?

Work experience or a degree, which one do employers more relevant? My clients often ask me this and the answer I give them hardly ever satisfies them: I do not think it is either, or; the best would be both. That said, experience is the more important. However, a degree gives an indication of a certain level on which one ought to be able to work, but only having a degree and no experience will not increase the chance of landing the job.

Having a foreign diploma can complicate the job hunt even further. This also depends on your experience and specialisation. When you have worked in IT, the chances are likely that your experience might be enough to land a new job. When your degree is less known and your experience is not sufficient enough, it becomes more complicated; foreign degrees after all, cannot be easily compared to Dutch ones. In some cases, a foreign diploma is not recognized in the Netherlands. So how to determine whether your degree is recognized in the Netherlands?

IcDW

When you want to have your degree evaluated you can visit the IcDW (Informatiecentrum Diploma Waardering) – the information centre for credential evaluation. They evaluate foreign degrees and indicate with which Dutch level a foreign diploma compares.

The IcDW is a platform used by two organisations that focus on the evaluation of degrees. NUFFIC (Netherlands Universities’ Foundation for International Cooperation) compares foreign degrees to Dutch higher educational diplomas. The SBB (SamenwerkingsorganisatieBeroepsonderwijsBedrijfsleven) is specialised in foreign degrees that compare to the Dutch Preparatory and Senior vocational secondary education and training.

Conditions

Degrees need to suffice to a couple of requirements before IcDW evaluates them:
• The education took longer than 1,000 hours to accomplish;
• The education was completed within regular education at an institute accredited by the government.

Costs and Applying

Individuals and companies alike can request the IcDW to evaluate a degree. For an individual the cost is about € 150 per degree. It takes about four weeks after payment and the application is complete. When necessary, the procedure can be done in two weeks, the cost for this is about €215 per degree.

The documents that they require need to be in either Dutch, English, German or French. When your original documents are in a different language, a sworn translation of the required documents is necessary.

Mandatory

For certain legal arrangements, a credential evaluation is required:
• The 30%- arrangement, reimburse untaxed a maximum of 30% of the wages in the form of a specific exemption of the extraterritorial costs. Visit: Belastingdienst
• The EU Blue Card, a residence permit for highly third country nationals in the European Union. See EU Blue Card.
• For highly skilled migrants. The requirements and conditions can be read on the website of the immigration and naturalisation Service IND


When credential evaluation is necessary to find a job, the IcDW is the best solution. You will receive an official recognized evaluation.This evaluation is not only useful for job hunting, it can also be mandatory for certain legal arrangements that might be necessary or useful when you wish to work in the Netherlands.


Cecile Koster