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I'm ready now to uproot my life and move to Holland.


Be aware that a lot of our expat friends have actually left, partly because Amsterdam was really badly hit by the 2001/2002 financial crash, but partially because the recent rather hostile and foreigner-unfriendly policies and attitudes. But things look a bit brighter again.

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I do not have an EU work permit but I qualify as a "Highly Skilled Knowledge Migrant". What I don't know is how widely that program is supported by employers.


It is - if they want your skills badly enough.

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Another option is to set myself up as a business and be paid as a contractor instead of as an employee. I have no idea what is involved in that or if it is an arrangement a company would be willing to do for my services.


It is actually very common here.

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The next question is whether I can afford a lifestyle that I find comfortable.



The simple aswer is probably "no". Unless...

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This is the hardest for me as an American.


Indeed. And what is needed is a mental adjustment - the quality of life here is not anywhere as consumption-defined as in the US. Here a posh, new bike (not to mention a car) is definitely frowned upon, and people don't eat out every day.

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The salaries I'm seeing for a Senior Software Engineer are shockingly low by US standards. It looks like I can expect to make around 50K Euro with a tax rate of 40%. Does this sound right for a strong candidate with 12 years of Windows development experience?


It sounds slightly on the lower end, but remember that a lot of techies want to live here, and there is a vast pool of very skilled, educated and hard-working programmers/software engineers here from Russia and the former Eastern Europe. And actually not that much software industry around anymore, apart from sweatshops like TomTom.

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In the Washington DC area I can earn $100K give or take. And I don't think the weak dollar is relevant for this discussion because it seems that 1 dollar in the US has about the same buying power as 1 Euro does in Holland.



But you have to remember that health insurance (and healthcare in general) is cheap, public transport works well, etc.

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So I take home 2500 Euro a month. An apartment in the canal area or Oude West of Amsterdam will consume about half that



That is also the most expensive areas in the city... So expensive that most Dutch people feel "only silly foreigners are stupid enough to pay that kind of prices".

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But it seems manageable and I’m willing to give up the discretionary income to live a lifestyle where I think I will be happier.


Precisely. But you have to be prepared to live with bureaucracy and red tape. Don't even ask about my garage permit (currently involved in a collective action lawsuit against the city on that one).

Julf (living in Amsterdam for the last 10 years)