Residence and work in the Netherlands for people from Ukraine: the position as at 7 October 2026

Our post of 6 July 2022 is out of date on almost every point. This is the position as at 7 October 2026, for the people concerned and for those who work with them.

Residence until 4 March 2028

People who fled Ukraine and are staying in the Netherlands usually do so under the Temporary Protection Directive (2001/55/EC), activated on 4 March 2022 and most recently extended until 4 March 2028 (Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1912). The Directive covers Ukrainians who left their country after 26 November 2021, non-Ukrainians who held a permanent Ukrainian permit or asylum status on 23 February 2022, and their family members. The IND sticker or card is valid until 4 March 2028; holders of a document with an earlier end date have an extension letter that, together with the document, serves as proof of residence. No one needs to do anything. Note that someone who fled may also be here on another residence title, for example as a highly skilled migrant or with a partner. The rules of that permit then apply.

Two new conditions in 2026: anyone who already had temporary protection in another Member State no longer receives it here since 15 June 2026; and since 5 August 2026 new applicants aged 23 to 60 who are liable for military service must show that they have fulfilled it or are exempt. Those already protected keep their protection.

The 140,000 asylum applications

The Netherlands linked temporary protection to an asylum application and shelved those applications. On 1 October 2026 the Court of Justice held (Jilin, C-249/25) that this is not allowed: the decision periods keep running and examination may be postponed only in exceptional cases and subject to conditions. The IND must therefore assess more than 140,000 applications; there is no timetable yet. A grant gives an asylum permit with free access to the labour market and years of residence that do count. A refusal is also possible, as the IND has assumed since 1 July 2026 that a safe alternative exists within Ukraine. Seek advice before doing anything with your application.

Living allowance

Those without income receive a living allowance from the municipality: as from 1 August 2026 a single adult receives EUR 65.77 for clothing and EUR 260.97 for food per month, plus EUR 77.16 in private reception. Those who work and live in municipal reception have paid an own contribution of EUR 244.22 per month since 1 October 2025.

Working as an employee

In our view the right to work follows directly from Article 12 of the Directive and arises by operation of law; the sticker is the proof, not the condition. The Netherlands has exempted employment under a contract of employment from the work permit (Article 6.5 BuWav 2022, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2022, 130), with retroactive effect from at least 4 March 2022. The counterpart is the notification duty of Article 2a of the Foreigners Employment Act: the employer holding the contract of employment notifies the UWV at least two working days in advance; for agency work, the agency does. The broad concept of employer applies here too in principle, but in our view a failure to notify is an administrative offence, not illegal employment. Hirers request the notification, check it and keep it alongside the copy of the identity document (Article 15).

Working as a self-employed person

Article 12 also names self-employed work. The Netherlands has exempted employment only and refers self-employed persons to the residence permit for self-employment (Article 3.30 of the Foreigners Decree 2000) or the principal to a work permit; in early 2025 the government decided not to relax this and the Netherlands Labour Authority (NLA) enforces it. In our view this sits uneasily with the Directive: the only permitted restriction is priority for EU/EEA citizens and legally resident third-country nationals receiving unemployment benefit, and the work permit is the instrument for work of less than three months. No court has yet ruled on this. Anyone engaging a Ukrainian self-employed contractor without a work permit is, in the NLA's view, breaching the Foreign Nationals Employment Act and risks a heavy fine. Our position has not been tested and therefore offers no protection. Do not do this without taking advice first.

Enforcement and a pending case

Failure to notify is an administrative offence carrying a considerably lower fine than illegal employment; a hirer who does not verify identity risks a fine under Article 15. Hirers and other clients of employers who deploy Ukrainians would do well to request the UWV notification and the residence document, check them and keep them on file. Employers fined for employing a Ukrainian before 4 March 2022 have not exhausted their remedies: in further appeals brought by our firm, the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State has before it the question whether temporary protection, which applies retroactively from 26 November 2021, must apply to those fines as the more lenient rule (lex mitior, Article 5:46(4) General Administrative Law Act read with Article 1(2) Criminal Code; see also Article 49 of the Charter and CJEU BAJI Trans, C-544/23). Heard on 11 June 2026; judgment awaited.

Non-Ukrainians and the period after 2028

Third-country nationals who held only a temporary Ukrainian residence permit have been outside the Directive since 4 March 2024 (Council of State, 17 January 2024, ECLI:NL:RVS:2024:32) and definitively so since 4 September 2025; whether they may work depends on their current status.

For the period after 4 March 2028 there are plans, nothing more. The government is working on a transition document: a regular permit for three years, granted of its own motion to anyone then protected who withdraws the asylum application, with work without a permit and, as intended, also self-employment, but without family reunification. A separate work-based permit with income and housing requirements is also planned. None of this is law yet and the details may still change, so do not rely on it yet. But none of this is 100% certain, and no one knows how the war will unfold. We hope for peace.

Questions? Contact Drenusha Hoxha or Bart Maes. We are here to help.

Position as at 7 October 2026; this post will be updated as developments occur.