Relocating for Work: Visas, Costs and a 90-Day Checklist for Amsterdam and Berlin

An offer from a company in another country is exciting for about a day. Then the questions arrive. Which visa do I need? Who pays for the flights? How do I rent a flat without a local bank account, and how do I open a bank account without an address?

This guide is for people who have accepted, or are about to accept, a job in the Netherlands or Germany. We focus on Amsterdam and Berlin because they are two of the most common destinations for tech and design roles listed on HireWise, but much of the advice applies anywhere in the EU.

A quick note before we start: immigration rules and salary thresholds change, usually every January. The figures below were correct when we checked them, but always confirm with the official sources: the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) and Germany’s Make it in Germany portal.

Step one: understand your visa route

If you hold an EU or EEA passport, you can live and work in both countries without a permit. You will still need to register locally, which we cover below. Everyone else needs a residence permit tied to work, and the route usually depends on your salary and your employer.

The Netherlands: highly skilled migrant

Most international hires in Amsterdam come in through the kennismigrant (highly skilled migrant) scheme. The employer must be a recognised sponsor with the IND, and your salary has to meet a monthly threshold that depends on your age. In 2025, the threshold was €5,688 gross per month for applicants aged 30 or over and €4,171 for those under 30, not counting holiday allowance. Both figures are indexed each year.

The big advantage is speed. Because the employer applies on your behalf, decisions often come within two to four weeks.

Germany: the EU Blue Card

In Germany, the most common route for university graduates is the EU Blue Card. It requires a recognised degree and a minimum annual salary. In 2025 the general threshold was €48,300, with a lower threshold of €43,759.80 for shortage occupations such as IT, engineering and medicine. Experienced IT specialists without a degree can sometimes qualify too, with proof of at least three years of relevant work.

Processing times vary much more than in the Netherlands. Depending on the German consulate in your home country, an appointment can take anywhere from two weeks to three months, so start early.

“The single most useful thing I tell new hires is to book the consulate appointment the day they sign, even before the paperwork is ready. You can always move it. You can’t conjure a free slot in October out of thin air.”

Lena Hoffmann, Global Mobility Lead at Fernweh Software

What it really costs to move

Relocation packages vary hugely. Some companies offer a flat €5,000 lump sum; others cover flights, two months of temporary housing and a relocation agent. Ask for the details in writing before you sign, and see our guide to negotiating your offer if the package seems light.

Here is a realistic estimate of first-90-day costs for a single person moving from outside the EU, based on prices we saw in Q2 2026.

Expense	Amsterdam	Berlin	Typically covered by employer?
Visa and permit fees	€350–€400	€100–€150	Usually
One-way flight and luggage	€600–€1,400	€600–€1,400	Often
Temporary housing, 30 days	€2,800–€4,200	€1,800–€2,900	Sometimes
Rental deposit (2–3 months)	€4,000–€6,000	€2,400–€3,600	Rarely
First month’s rent, 1-bedroom	€2,000–€2,400	€1,200–€1,600	No
Health insurance, first 3 months	€400–€480	€350–€700	Partly
Furniture and household basics	€1,500–€3,000	€1,500–€3,000	Rarely

Add those up and a self-funded move can easily reach €12,000 in Amsterdam, before you’ve bought a bike. That is why the relocation package is worth negotiating as seriously as the salary.

Tax incentives

The Netherlands offers the so-called 30% ruling, which lets eligible employees receive part of their salary tax-free for up to five years. The rules have been tightened in recent years, and the tax-free share is scheduled to fall to 27% from 2027, so check your eligibility with your employer’s payroll provider. Germany has no equivalent, but moving expenses you pay yourself can often be deducted from your income tax.

Housing: start before you land

In both cities, housing is the hardest part of the move by a wide margin. Amsterdam’s rental market is extremely competitive, and a good one-bedroom flat in a central neighbourhood can attract dozens of viewings within a day of being listed. Berlin is not much easier; landlords often ask for a SCHUFA credit report, which newcomers don’t have yet, and proof of income in the form of three recent payslips.

A few habits make a real difference:

• Book 30 to 60 days of furnished housing before you arrive, so you aren’t signing a lease in a panic during your first week at work.
• Ask your employer for a letter confirming your salary, contract length and start date. Many landlords will accept it in place of local payslips.
• Be wary of listings that ask for a deposit before a viewing. Rental scams targeting new arrivals are common in both cities, especially in the weeks before the academic year begins in September.

If your employer offers a relocation agent, use them for housing first and everything else second.

Budgeting the move

Many people find it easier to track a relocation budget in a simple structured file than in a spreadsheet with a dozen tabs. Here is the template one of our editors used when moving from Toronto to Berlin in spring 2026.

{
  "move": "Toronto to Berlin",
  "start_date": "2026-04-01",
  "currency": "EUR",
  "employer_contribution": 4000,
  "expenses": [
    { "item": "Blue Card fee", "amount": 100, "paid_by": "employer" },
    { "item": "Flight YYZ-BER", "amount": 780, "paid_by": "employer" },
    { "item": "Furnished flat, 30 days", "amount": 2150, "paid_by": "employer" },
    { "item": "Rental deposit", "amount": 3300, "paid_by": "self" },
    { "item": "Health insurance, Apr-Jun", "amount": 590, "paid_by": "self" },
    { "item": "Furniture and kitchen", "amount": 1850, "paid_by": "self" }
  ],
  "self_funded_total": 5740
}

The 90-day checklist

Moving countries is a long series of small administrative tasks, many of which depend on each other. Get the order right and it is merely tedious. Get it wrong and you can end up stuck in a loop where the bank wants a registration certificate and the town hall wants a bank account.

1. Days 1–30: arrive and register.
   • Collect your residence permit or book the appointment to do so.
   • Amsterdam: register at the municipality (gemeente) to receive your BSN, the citizen service number you need for salary, health insurance and banking.
   • Berlin: complete your Anmeldung at a Bürgeramt within 14 days of moving into a flat. You’ll receive a tax ID by post a few weeks later.
   • Open a bank account. Several online banks accept new residents before the paperwork arrives.
2. Days 31–60: set up daily life.
   • Arrange health insurance. In the Netherlands, basic cover is mandatory within four months of registering. In Germany, you choose public or private insurance when you start work.
   • Register with a family doctor (huisarts or Hausarzt).
   • Start a language course, even if your job is in English. Evening classes typically cost €200–€450 for a 10-week term.
3. Days 61–90: make it permanent.
   • Move from temporary to long-term housing.
   • Exchange your driving licence if needed; deadlines differ by country of origin.
   • Check your first three payslips for correct tax withholding and, in the Netherlands, the 30% ruling if it applies.

Settling in beyond the paperwork

The administrative side is finite. The harder part is building a life: making friends, finding a routine, getting used to the weather. Most people we spoke to said that the first three months were busy enough to feel exciting, and that months four to six were the hardest.

A few things help:

• Say yes to work social events in the first month, even if you’re tired.
• Join one regular activity that has nothing to do with your job, like a running club, choir or climbing gym.
• Leave the city at least once a month. Both Amsterdam and Berlin have excellent regional trains, and a weekend in the countryside does a lot for your sense of perspective.
• Talk to other newcomers. Many employers run informal buddy schemes; if yours doesn’t, ask HR to start one.

Finding a role that supports relocation

Not every company is set up to sponsor visas, and it saves a lot of time to know that before you apply. On HireWise, you can search for roles mentioning relocation or browse Amsterdam listings directly. Company profiles, such as the one for Penpot, often mention whether visa sponsorship is offered, and our FAQ explains how to filter by it.

If you’re still weighing whether to move at all, it is worth asking the hiring team to put you in touch with someone who relocated in the past year. A 20-minute call with a person who has already done the Anmeldung, survived their first Dutch winter or chased a delayed permit will tell you more than any guide, including this one.