On January 30th, 2026, the formation process of the minority government in the Netherlands closed with the presentation of the coalition agreement by Rob Jetten (D66), Dilan Yeşilgöz (VVD), and Henri Bontenbal (CDA).
The coalition agreement outlines plans on migration, including labour migration. However, practical implementation of the legislative agenda will be dependent on obtaining a parliamentary majority through negotiations with opposition parties.
In the coalition agreement, the minority government aims to have equitable rules for labour migration and to tackle misuse of immigration practices. On the one hand they will implement measures to prevent misuse of the system, including the launch of a well-planned labour migration pilot. On the other hand, the coalition agreement also states that measures will be implemented to keep talent as valuable assets for the needs of the Dutch economy. To this end, the minority government is aiming to launch a three year pilot programme to bring foreign talent actively and effectively to the Netherlands. These foreign talents will need to add value to specific predefined sectors and will be framed by strict conditions.
Although the predefined sectors and strict conditions have not been elaborated, more strict conditions such as salary thresholds, accommodation arrangements, and a maximum duration of three years have been mentioned. It has also been confirmed that (nationals of) EU candidate countries (e.g., Albania, Serbia, Türkiye) should be eligible to make use of this three year pilot.
Even though the new Dutch minority government of D66, VVD and CDA will need other opposition parties to reach the parliamentary majority needed to execute their aims of the coalition agreement, the launch of this three year pilot regarding immigration can bring significant change when considering bringing foreign talent (such as highly skilled professionals) to the Netherlands. While the predefined sectors and strict conditions will need to be further elaborated by the Dutch government, businesses that rely on facilities of foreign talent in line with their mobility policy could face more challenges.
Vialto will continue to monitor developments and assess any potential impact on global mobility.
For a deeper discussion on the above, please reach out to your Vialto Partners point of contact, or alternatively:
Hugo Vijge
Director
Nini Braken-Zheng
Manager
Marijan Vrhovac
Senior Associate
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