Non-EU student work rules in NL
Hi everyone! I’m an incoming non-EU master’s student at Erasmus University Rotterdam starting this fall (ESHCC), and I recently realised something about the student work rules that confused me a bit.
I had initially assumed that non-EU students could:
- work up to 16 hours/week during the academic year, and
- work full-time during the summer months (June–August)
But from what I’ve read now, it seems like you actually have to choose one system per calendar year:
max 16 hrs/week throughout the year, OR
full-time only in June/July/August, with no part-time work during the rest of the year.
So my questions for current students/alumni are:
- Which option did you choose and why?
- In practice, what tends to work better in terms of opportunities and financially/professionally/socially?
- Is the 16-hour route generally more realistic for international students trying to build local experience early?
- I’ve also heard that if an internship/research role is formally tied to your thesis or programme, different rules may sometimes apply. Is that true in practice?
I was hoping to start working fairly soon after arriving in NL (mostly for experience/networking rather than just income), so I’m trying to understand what makes the most sense long-term. Even if I get rejected a bunch of times initially, I still want to start applying early just to familiarise myself with the process and job market.
Having spent time in the Netherlands before and already having a few potential leads/connections is also partly why I’m trying to understand the practical side of the system early and plan properly before arriving.
Would really appreciate hearing people’s actual experiences, especially from other non-EU students who’ve navigated this system. Thanks!