Citizens of the European Union have a free period of six months. This means that an EU citizen is allowed to stay in the Netherlands having to validate a purpose of stay for the first six months of six residence.

After the free period the EU citizen must be able to show that he or she has a purpose of stay as either an employee, a student, a service provider, an entrepreneur, or as a family member of a legally residing person. If an EU citizen wishes to stay for longer than six months he or she is required to apply for registration at the Immigration Service.

EU citizens from countries who have recently entered the European Union such as Bulgaria and Romania for as yet do not have free access to the Dutch labour market. All other EU citizens have unrestricted access to the Dutch labour market. In which case the employer is not required to apply for a working permit before hiring the EU employee.