Graduated foreign students want help

{mosimage}Stay for sure

More than 50 percent of the foreign students considers to remain here after graduation, 38 percent of the students are certain that they want to keep on living in The Netherlands.

A good thing for the Dutch economy. Last year the Centraal Planbureau (CPB) calculated that foreign students bring many benefits. If 20 percent stays in the country for a few years it provides the Dutch economy 740 million euro each year.

The Sociaal Economische Raad (SER) asked five hundred foreign students why they want to stay or leave. The comments of the respondents shows that the rules for staying are sometimes difficult.

Almost half of them would like to simplify procedures for residence permits. One in three would like to remain in his student residence during the 'search year' after graduation. And after graduation most students want to get help finding a job.

One year to find a job

Especially the group graduated foreigners from outside the European Union finds it difficult to find a job; they only have one year. Failing that, they are supposed to leave.

This also applies to Bulgarians and Romanians, although they come from an EU Member State. A Bulgarian respondent says it is hardly possible to get a work permit. So many Bulgarians leave once they have their degrees to work somewhere else.

If this group of graduates lose their jobs, they have just a few months to find a new one. That should be a bit more flexible says one of the respondents. He had already found a job during his master and would like to use his ‘search year’ later, if he unexpectedly loses this job or decides to leave. [SD]