Thesis in the Netherlands

Question

I am from India. I am currently studying for a Master's in Germany. I will be doing my Master's thesis in the Netherlands for around 5 months.

Do I need a work permit to do my thesis in the Netherlands? What other things are required?

Answer 1

From the StudyInHolland site, section Visas and permits:

Whether you need a visa or not, depends on:
- your nationality – as stated on your passport;
- the duration of your stay: shorter or longer than 90 days;
- your purpose of stay.
Your institution needs to apply
When you enrol in a study programme, your host institution will contact you to start up the application procedure. If not, ask for help by contacting contacting the international office (or if you are a researcher, the HR department) of your host institution.

They have a PathFinder tool where you can fill in your information. This will tell you e.g. (from the Residence permit for study (TEV)):

Conditions
There are certain conditions that apply to everyone. In addition, you and your educational institution have to meet the following conditions:
- You have (provisionally) been accepted by a university or university of applied sciences as a student to a full-time accredited day programme. This university or university of applied sciences is a recognised sponsor. Recognised educational institutions are listed in the Public Register of Recognised Sponsors.
- Your must have sufficient independent long-term funds. There are various ways to show this.
- You obtain at least 50% of the required credits for each academic year. This is called study progress monitoring.

And:

Do you have your bachelor's degree and you are going to continue a master's programme? It is then possible to again make use of a maximum of 12 months to prepare for your master's programme.
Your educational institution determines the conditions of your education.

And:

The educational institution has a list of documents that you need. You have to have official foreign documents legalised and translated into Dutch, English, French or German

Also, from the Work permit for a part-time job document:

As an international student in the Netherlands, you may want to work alongside your studies or internship. If so, there are some restrictions you will need to take into account.

If you have a residence permit for the purposes of study, the number of hours you are allowed to work is restricted. You may either work full-time in June, July and August only, or work part-time (at most ten hours a week) throughout the rest of the year. You are not allowed to do both. Furthermore, your employer or employment agency has to give you a competitive salary and terms of employment.

If you are not a citizen of an EU/EEA country or are a citizen of Croatia, you will need a work permit, which is issued for a maximum duration of one year. It is up to your employer or employment agency to apply for a work permit from the UWV Employee Insurance Agency on your behalf. You cannot do this yourself. The work permit application must be accompanied by a copy of your residence permit for study purposes and a statement from your education institution confirming that you are enrolled as a student at that institution. If you are a citizen of an EU-EEA country, you are allowed to work in the Netherlands, a work permit is not necessary.

So, I suggest contacting the institute where you are going to your thesis, they will know best.