Netherlands, residence permit, "real and actual work"

Question

I am an EU citizen intending to move to the Netherlands. I work remotely for an Australian company and I am currently resident in South Africa.

I am moving to the Netherlands with my non-EU spouse, for whom we need to apply for a residence permit. The IND states that the EU citizen "carries out real and actual work or has sufficient means to support you" with regards to the residence permit application.

It is not stated what is needed in terms of proof of employment.

I will have:

1. A contract of employment
2. Pay slips
3. A letter from management starting that they support my move to the Netherlands
4. South African bank statement indicating regular salary payments

I intend to open a bank account in the Netherlands to receive my salary, but this might not be open at the time of the residence permit application.

My question: what documentation is typically required by the Dutch government in the case where you work remotely for a foreign company to satisfy this requirement?

Edit:

I received a reply from the IND regarding my question - it states that since I don’t work for a Dutch employer, I will be considered to be economically inactive in the Netherlands, and that I have to prove that I have sufficient means of existence for myself and my family members to not have to depend on public resources.

I find the term "economically inactive" a strange term, I would have thought that living in a country and paying income tax would mean that you are considered economically active.

Answer 1

EU freedom of movement for workers dates back to the 1957 treaty of Rome and was originally understood as one of the components of the single market. Basically, it is about making it as easy for employers to recruit workers and for workers to switch employers within the EU as it is within a single country. It only incidentally creates rights for EU citizens and isn't a right to live everywhere provided you have work.

But Australia is not part of the single market and working for an Australian company isn't a transaction between an EU citizen and an EU employer and doesn't contribute directly to the Dutch (or EU) economy so it makes sense for the IND not to consider you as a “worker” in the EU sense.

Freedom of movement was later extended to other categories of EU citizens but with an additional requirement, namely “not to become a burden on the social assistance system of the host Member State”. That's what the treaty calls “economically non-active” persons. That's also why the IND wrote “carries out real and actual work or has sufficient means to support you”.

The easiest way to get your spouse's residence card sorted would therefore be to establish you have sufficient income and health insurance. If you fulfil those requirements, your employment situation is irrelevant. I don't know what the exact documentary requirements are but not having a Dutch bank account should not in principle be a problem.

Once you established your (and your spouse's) right to reside in the Netherlands on that basis, your spouse is also allowed to take up employment or become self-employed as they wish. And if you have significant income (from whatever sources), you might have to pay income tax in the country where you reside, irrespective of whether you are economically active in that country or not.