Main Area
Main
Economic migration
Economic migrants are third-country nationals who come to Europe to work, such as highly skilled professionals, intra-corporate transferees, entrepreneurs and seasonal workers. The EU promotes economic migration.
Economic migration is a type of legal or regular migration. Examples of EU schemes for economic migration include the European Blue Card, a residence permit for highly skilled professionals, and the Single Permit, a combined residence and work permit. Admission to an EU Member State for employment purposes always requires a specific residence permit. In addition to these EU schemes, the Netherlands has its own national policy on economic migration. The core principle of this policy is selectivity: the Netherlands welcomes migrants whose skills are needed by the Dutch economy and takes a more restrictive approach where this is not the case. The legal framework for economic migration in the Netherlands is the Modern Migration Policy Act.
Please note: the publications on this page are from July 2024 onwards. For earlier publications, please switch to Dutch (the EMN PDFs of the publications on the Dutch pages are in English). The filter below is in Dutch and will be available in English towards the end of 2026.
EMN study | Labour migration
EMN study on policies in EU Member States to foster the sustainable labour market integration of third-country nationals by making better use of their skills and qualifications.
EMN study: ‘Fostering sustainable labour market integration: skills matching policies and instruments’
30 July 2026EMN study on policies in EU Member States to foster the sustainable labour market integration of third-country nationals by making better use of their skills and qualifications.
EMN inform, EMN NL two-pager | Regular migration
EMN research on the inclusion of digitally vulnerable applicants and the accessibility of regular migration procedures in EU Member States and EMN Observer Countries.
EMN inform: ‘Bridging the digital divide - Adapting digital services in legal migration procedures for accessibility and inclusion’
28 May 2026EMN research on the inclusion of digitally vulnerable applicants and the accessibility of regular migration procedures in EU Member States and EMN Observer Countries.
EMN NL ad-hoc query | Missing documents
Ad-hoc query (AHQ)* on the submission of missing documents in incomplete residence applications.
Information request: ‘Procedures for providing missing or supplementary information in application processes’
6 January 2026Ad-hoc query (AHQ)* on the submission of missing documents in incomplete residence applications.
EMN study | Labour migration
EMN research into how EU Member States and EMN Observer Countries use labour migration to address labour market shortages, and to prevent shortages in the future.
EMN study: 'Labour migration in times of labour shortages'
4 December 2025EMN research into how EU Member States and EMN Observer Countries use labour migration to address labour market shortages, and to prevent shortages in the future.
EMN inform | Labour migration
EMN inform on new and innovative ways to attract talented foreign workers in the EU.
EMN inform: ‘New and innovative ways to attract foreign talent in the EU’
5 March 2025EMN inform on new and innovative ways to attract talented foreign workers in the EU.
EMN study | Labour migration, illegal employment
EMN study on illegal employment and labour exploitation of migrants from non-EU/EFTA countries (third countries) in EU Member States in the period 2017–2022. In the additional benchmark, EMN Netherlands compares Dutch policy with the policy of other EU Member States.
EMN study: ‘Illegal Employment of third-country nationals: 2017–2022 situation analysis’
20 February 2025EMN study on illegal employment and labour exploitation of migrants from non-EU/EFTA countries (third countries) in EU Member States in the period 2017–2022. In the additional benchmark, EMN Netherlands compares Dutch policy with the policy of other EU Member States.
Ad-hoc query EMN NL | Au pair regulations
Information request into the au pair policy for residence permits of EU Member States and the EMN Observer Countries.
EMN Netherlands ad-hoc query: Au pair regulations
8 August 2024Information request into the au pair policy for residence permits of EU Member States and the EMN Observer Countries.
