The changes involve a large group of TU/e staff; this year alone 107 new knowledge and work migrants have been welcomed who needed visas or work permits for non-EU nationals. The denominator ‘knowledge migrants’ covers research assistants employed by the TU/e. Work migrants are not employed by the TU/e - this group includes assistants who have come to the TU/e via an exchange program or a scholarship program.
Kara de Rooy, who works at the TU/e’s back office International (DPO), is pleased with the changes within the IND. “Knowledge migrants no longer have to travel to and from Rijswijk for their residence stickers and besides, it is handy to have an IND contact point nearby.”
The official opening of the IND office took place on Thursday 8 November, but migrants could already go there as of Monday 5 November. Eindhoven was not the only place to be given an IND branch that week; there will be five extra locations throughout the country altogether. However, with their arrival, tasks within the offices have changed as well. Formerly they did not have a counter function, as this task was delegated to the officers at town halls. Now that the new locations have been opened, migrants can also drop by without an appointment if they have any general questions.

Traveling time
The office will also be accessible to people from outside Eindhoven; the new IND branch is to serve the South-East Brabant and Limburg region. This means that migrants from the province of Limburg will still have a long way to travel. De Rooy explains that this will not affect the majority of TU/e migrants, as they live mostly near Eindhoven.
According to the officer from the back office there was no direct reason for the changes within the IND. Still, as there is a large group of migrants living within the region, the changes were quite desirable. Moreover, they are in line with the policy pursued by the Dutch government to present itself as a knowledge economy. The changes also coincide with the policy followed by the European Union, which wants to make it easier for migrants to settle in Europe./.

The IND office in Eindhoven is located inside the Rijksverzamelgebouw ‘Hooghuis’, Keizersgracht 5, Eindhoven. For general questions you can still phone the IND: 0900-1234561.