The expat scheme application looks deceptively simple: one form, a handful of attachments. Yet applications are rejected every day — usually on one of the same four grounds.
1. You can't prove where you actually lived — the 150 km requirement
You must have had your main residence more than 150 km from the Dutch border for more than 16 of the 24 months before your first working day. The applications that stumble here are usually not border cases on the map, but evidence cases: people who worked for international organisations, were on temporary postings (detachering), or moved around — where the paperwork points to one country while daily life happened in another.
If your residence history contains periods whose location can't be substantiated, this is where the rejection comes from.
2. Not recruited from abroad
If you signed your contract while already living in the Netherlands — or moved here before being hired — the Tax Authorities may find you were not recruited from abroad. This is a big one, and it includes a group that often doesn't see it coming: people who first studied in the Netherlands and started working here afterwards. Narrow exceptions exist (for example for recent doctoral graduates), but they are exceptions.
The timeline of contract, arrival, and start date matters more than most applicants realise.
3. The salary threshold
The threshold applies to your taxable salary, which is not the same as the gross salary in your offer letter — holiday allowance, bonuses, and part-time factors all affect the calculation. Borderline cases deserve a careful check before applying.
4. Inadequate documentation
An employment contract that doesn't document the required elements, a missing agreement on how the scheme will be applied to your salary (the addendum), missing signatures, or an incomplete form. These are technicalities — which makes them the most avoidable rejections on this list.
And the famous 4-month deadline?
A common misconception: applying more than 4 months after your first working day is not a ground for rejection. It shifts the start of the scheme to the month after your application — permanently costing you months of benefit, but not the scheme itself.
Was your application rejected? A rejection can be challenged, but the objection period is short. Our free assessment has a dedicated path for rejected applications.
This article provides general information, not legal advice, and reflects the rules at the time of writing. Thresholds and rules change — for advice on your specific situation, get in touch.