To be a recognised sponsor means understanding that with great power comes great responsibility. Therefore, to remain one, it is crucial to keep up with new upcoming rules... otherwise, your company may get into unnecessary trouble.
What changes?
In the recent IND newsletter, it was announced that the administrative requirements for recognised sponsors will be expanded. From 1 January 2026, the obligations for recognised sponsors in the Netherlands will change significantly, and HR teams must prepare for the immediate impact these changes will have on hiring and managing highly skilled migrants.
Until now, recognised sponsors only needed to keep payslips as proof of salary. But the IND has now made an important clarification: payslips alone do not prove that the salary was actually paid. As a result, sponsors must now also keep evidence of the actual payment of salary in their records. This includes statements from the employer’s business bank account or batch payment overviews clearly showing that the salary was transferred into a bank account in the employee’s own name.
Please note: a shared bank account is allowed (for example, one shared with a spouse), as long as the employee’s name is on it. However, transferring the salary to an account that belongs solely to a partner is not permitted.
Why this matters for employers
These new requirements aren’t just administrative. They directly affect your ability to hire and retain international talent. If your documentation is incomplete, outdated, or missing key proof (such as evidence of actual salary payment) the IND can:
- Delay or refuse applications
- Issue warnings or fines
- Suspending your approved referent status
- Revoke your recognised sponsor status entirely in more serious cases
And once that status is lost, hiring international talent becomes more complicated. Without a recognised sponsor status, a company cannot hire highly skilled migrants and would have to depend on another recognised sponsor to bring them on board.
Although the intention behind these expanded rules is to prevent misuse of the highly skilled migrant scheme, they also place additional pressure on HR teams already handling relocations, onboarding, contract renewals, and ongoing compliance. The result is, however, simple: clean, complete records are no longer optional.
Organising files, tightening internal processes, and centralising compliance tracking are now more essential than ever to avoid unnecessary risks, stay compliant, and ensure your company can continue hiring international talent without interruption.
Long story short
If we cut to the chase, the new obligations are all about creating a better-organised document archive. It means more documents, more proof, and a more structured HR administration.
As 2026 approaches, the companies that stay ahead will be those that standardise documentation processes, centralise compliance tracking, and ensure every record is complete, consistent, and IND-proof from day one.
