Future Expat Center Zeeland
The Expat Center has started in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen at the request of the business community and the Economic Board in Zeeland. From the start the ambition has been to become a center for the whole of Zeeland. Also given the growth of international employees (currently 7% of the Zeeland labour force comes from abroad) and the expectation that this development will only continue to grow, it is a logical step to enlarge our services for the whole of Zeeland.
The services of the Expat Center consists of:
- personal and digital information about the formalities, rules and legislation
- information on affiliated partners (partnerships) related to the private/commercial sectors such as schooling, housing, insurances, language trainings etc.
- information to companies that hire international employees
- establish/maintain an international community platform
- represent Zeeland in the national network of expat centers
The Expat Center wants to develop further and assist internationals as much as possible with an one-stop-shop concept. The concept states that the international receives in one location and in one visit all the information that is needed. Contacts are exchanged to help the international with questions he/she may have and the necessary formalities and/or registrations are taken into account. An important distinction concerns EU- internationals and Non-EU internationals. The non-EU internationals can only start to work at an employer in the Netherlands via the IND and the employer is often registered as a recognized sponsor.
Apart from the current location in Terneuzen, a new location will be established above the Westerschelde. The same successful format as in Terneuzen – lean & mean - will be established as a starting point for the second location and is part of having an expat center for the whole of Zeeland.
Currently the Expat Center Zeeland consults the IND about the possibility to have an IND registration desk in Zeeland, so that internationals from Non-EU countries can faster obtain the combined work-residence permit with the one-stop-shop concept.
We hope to realize these further steps to become an Expat Center for Zeeland by
January 1st 2023.