After reading the introduction to the Netherlands mentioned in the previous articles, you might have different favorite reasons to come here. Whatever your reason is, if you decide to come to the Netherlands, you should know what to know before you start planning your journey. Obviously, by the name of this article you can probably (and rightly) guess that we will be speaking about Eindhoven specifically, so let's not waste time and move on to core topics we will discuss on this website!

Firstly, it is important to note that the Netherlands, just like any other country, has a set of entry requirements that a person must fulfill. So, you should think about the list of documents that are required for you to enter the Netherlands, of which there are a few. Here are all the general documents you would need to enter the country:

Visa

If you are from the EU, you do not need a visa to enter the country and stay in the country.

If your country is not eligible for entrance without a visa, you will need a visa to come there no matter the length of time. But be aware! There are two types of visas: travel and work/study permits. By name, you can understand that with the first one, you cannot work or study.

Official visa website: https://www.netherlandsworldwide.nl/visa-the-netherlands

The visa you would require is for the Schengen visa, which is a visa that is eligible not only for the Netherlands but for a lot of countries in the EU too. However, usually study or work organizations will help you out throughout the process of your visa. I am not aware of what every university offers, but my university checked my documents before sending them to the Dutch Immigration Department (IND).

Most universities will send you an action plan and will ask you to notify them at every step of your visa application. Also, they will send you important links to Dutch websites which can help you with the visa application and everything should be fine if you just follow the instructions given by the university and the IND website.

Valid passport

If you don’t have a valid international passport, you will not be able to cross the border. However, we would recommend reissuing your passport if you have less than 6 months to the expiration date. In this case, the airport staff would wave “goodbye” and you will drink an average, run-off-the-mill cup of tea instead of eating the famous Dutch “Haring” (we will speak about Dutch culture later, just scroll down).

It is also worth noting that you do not need to take a Covid test to board the plane there, but just in case, here is a good place to double-check this information:

https://www.government.nl/topics/coronavirus-covid-19/visiting-the-netherlands-from-abroad

Special documents

We do not have enough space to cover all special cases here, however, the Dutch government has more than enough space for it here:

https://www.netherlandsworldwide.nl/checklist-relocating-netherlands-immigration

By the way, this site also has a lot of information about documents in general (driving licenses, for example) and your university should also provide you with a list of documents you need.

About Transportation to The Netherlands

If you are going to travel via plane, then you should know that in the Netherlands there are five international airports but the busiest ones, or the ones you will need the most will be Schiphol and Eindhoven airports. The first one is one of the biggest airports in Europe. I would recommend looking for both options because it is impossible to guess what option will be cheaper. However, by experience, tickets from Eastern Europe are cheaper to Eindhoven, and from Western Europe it is cheaper to Schiphol.

Usually, it’s very hard and expensive to get a flight from a non-European country straight to Eindhoven, so you will most probably need to arrive at Schiphol and then take the train to arrive here.

If you are looking for all possible ticket options, I would recommend this place:

https://www.aviasales.com/airports

If you are going to get there from Europe, you can give it a try by going by train, but usually, it costs a lot and requires a lot of transferring in between.

One of the other options is a FlixBus. It is a network of green buses that cover most of the big European cities. It is not the cheapest or the most comfortable (unless you enjoy sitting for hours in buses) option. However, it is an opportunity nonetheless. To get the tickets you must buy them in advance here:

https://global.flixbus.com/

Sometimes if you are lucky, they have some spots left and you can get them from the bus driver. I would not recommend it however because if you rely on this method and it turns out that there are no spots left, you will be left without a place.

BlaBla cars are also quite popular, but it is a matter of preference as they are quite risky as they do not have a driver verification, so you are technically getting inside a stranger’s car, so I will not take responsibility for whatever that stranger can do to you.

One thing to note is that the Netherlands time zone is Central European Standard Time, or GMT+1, so for those in far differing time zones, prepare for the jet lag!

Side note: The Netherlands phone code is +31, so if you want to contact traveling agencies or any services you might need from the Netherlands, make sure to write the right phone code.

That was it from our side. Of course, don’t read information from only one source. We recommend you continue preparing about coming here and read the rest of the articles on this website to know what you need to know about this city, as the Dutch people say,

Veel succes!

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