Netherlands
Netherlands Visa from the UK: The Complete Guide for Non-UK Nationals
If you live in Britain on a visa or with settled status and you are travelling to Amsterdam or anywhere else in the Netherlands, this is what the application asks for, what it costs, and the one timing figure that catches people out.
Written and kept current by a UK consultancy that prepares Schengen applications every week.
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Independent consultancy. Not affiliated with any government, embassy or consulate, nor with VFS Global, who operate the Netherlands visa application centres in the UK. Official fees are paid directly to the relevant authority.
Who this is for
Do you actually need a Dutch visa?
If you hold a British passport, no. You can travel to the Netherlands and the rest of the Schengen area for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa. This page is not for you. From October 2026 you will need an ETIAS travel authorisation, which is applied for online and is not a visa.
If you are a non-UK national living in Britain, it depends on your passport, not your UK status. If your nationality requires a Schengen visa, you need one, and indefinite leave to remain, a work visa, a student visa or an eVisa does not exempt you.
What your UK status does decide is where you apply. Because you live here, you apply from here.
Everything below concerns the short-stay Schengen visa, up to 90 days. Moving to the Netherlands to work or study is a different application under different rules.
Three separate costs
What a Netherlands visa costs from the UK
The official Schengen visa fee is EUR 90 for an adult and EUR 45 for a child aged six to eleven. Children under six are free. The Dutch government publishes this in its own consular fees schedule, and it is the same figure across every Schengen country.
| What it is | Who you pay | How much |
|---|---|---|
| Official Schengen visa fee | The consulate, via the centre, on the day | EUR 90 adult · EUR 45 child aged six to eleven · free under six |
| VFS Global service fee | VFS Global, on the day | Set and published by VFS Global; check their current figure when you book |
| Our consultancy fee, if you use us | Flypass Holidays | From £95, confirmed in writing before any work begins |
The fee is not refunded if your application is refused. We never collect, handle or forward official fees.
The page's spine
How long it takes, and why the Netherlands is different
This is the most useful thing on this page and almost nothing written for travellers says it.
Most Schengen guidance quotes 15 days. That is the standard decision period in the Visa Code and it is correct as a general rule.
VFS Global's own Netherlands page for the UK publishes an average processing time of 25 calendar days, with a maximum of 45.
That is ten days longer than the figure you will find on almost every other page about Schengen visas, and it is published by the operator handling your application. If you have planned to 15 days because that is what the internet told you, you may be a week and a half short without having done anything wrong.
For how the two waits fit together across all Schengen countries, see our Schengen visa processing time page.
The VFS route
How a Dutch application works
1. Check on Netherlands Worldwide.
The Dutch government's own portal is where you confirm whether you need a visa, which type, and what your specific situation requires. Start here rather than at the visa centre.
2. Prepare your documents and complete the application.
3. Book and attend at VFS Global.
VFS operates the Netherlands visa application centres in the UK. You attend in person, hand over your documents and give your fingerprints and photograph.
4. The Dutch authorities decide.
VFS does not, and neither do we.
You may apply up to six months before you travel.
VFS Global runs Netherlands visa application centres in four UK cities: London, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh. Birmingham is worth knowing about. Most Schengen countries run three UK centres or fewer, and the Midlands is often the gap. If you are in Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton or anywhere across that region, the Netherlands is one of the few destinations that does not require a trip to London. VFS publishes the current addresses and opening hours on its Netherlands pages, so check them close to your date.
The other route
The other route, through the embassy
There is a second way in that very little written for travellers mentions.
A limited number of appointments are available directly at the Netherlands embassy in London, as an alternative to going through VFS Global. The Dutch government publishes this itself.
It is limited, so it is not a reliable plan. But if VFS availability is poor and your dates are tight, it is worth knowing the option exists rather than assuming VFS is the only door.
Check the current position and the correct contact route on the Netherlands Worldwide website before you try it.
Documents
What a Dutch application asks for
- A valid passport, issued within the last ten years and valid for at least three months beyond your planned departure from the Schengen area
- Proof of legal UK residence, valid beyond your trip. For most people this now means an eVisa share code
- Travel medical insurance with at least EUR 30,000 of cover, valid across the Schengen area for your whole stay
- Proof of accommodation covering every night
- Return travel arrangements
- Financial evidence showing you can fund the trip
- A cover letter explaining the trip and how the documents fit together
Transit, not entry
Changing planes at Schiphol
Amsterdam Schiphol is one of Europe's largest transfer airports, so a meaningful number of people reading this are not visiting the Netherlands at all. They are changing planes there.
Transiting is not the same as entering. If you stay airside and never pass through Dutch border control, you may not need a Schengen visa for the transfer itself.
But some nationalities need an Airport Transit Visa even to stay airside. That is a different visa, a Type A rather than the Type C this page is about, and whether you need one depends entirely on your passport.
And if your connection requires you to collect and re-check baggage, or to leave the terminal, you are entering the Schengen area and the ordinary rules apply.
If your trip involves a Schiphol connection rather than a Dutch holiday, check which of those three situations you are in before you book anything.
The main destination rule
Applying to the Netherlands when your trip covers more than one country
Apply to the Netherlands only if it is your main destination, meaning where you will spend the most nights. If more nights fall in Belgium, Germany or France, the application goes to that country instead, even if you fly into Schiphol first. Where nights are split equally between two countries, it goes to the one you enter first.
This catches people out on Dutch trips specifically, for two reasons.
- Schiphol is a natural arrival point for a wider European trip, and arriving somewhere is not the same as it being your main destination.
- Brussels is under two hours from Amsterdam by train, and Cologne and Paris are not much further. A week that takes in Amsterdam, Bruges and Paris is a normal trip and it is frequently not a Dutch application.
Count your nights country by country before you do anything else. Applying to the wrong consulate can have a file refused before anyone reads it properly, and that refusal stays on your record.
Casework patterns
Where Dutch applications run into trouble
- Planning to 15 days. Covered above, and it is the commonest Dutch-specific problem.
- The wrong country. Also covered above, and unusually likely here because of Schiphol.
- Financial evidence that does not support the trip. Not whether you have money, but whether the trip you have described fits the financial picture your statements show.
- Gaps in accommodation. Every night needs evidence.
- A stated purpose the documents do not match.
- A previous refusal that has not been addressed. Refusals are recorded and visible to every Schengen consulate. The notice states the grounds, and those grounds tell you what has to be answered rather than repeated.
- Applying too late. Appointment availability is usually the tighter constraint, and on a 25-day average decision it matters more here than most places.
Honest service
How we can help, and what we cannot do
What we cannot do. We cannot issue a visa, influence a decision, or obtain or accelerate an appointment. Anyone who tells you otherwise is describing something they do not control.
What we do. We confirm the Netherlands is the correct country before you spend anything, which on a Schiphol arrival is not a formality. We build your document set around your actual status in the UK. We draft your cover letter and itinerary so they reconcile with your bookings. We read your financial evidence the way an officer will. And we build your timeline on the figure the Dutch operator actually publishes rather than the one most guides quote. This is what we prepare.
Abdul Mateen, who founded the practice, reads the cases himself. Our fee starts from £95, confirmed in writing before any work begins.
And when you do not need us, we say so. A few days in Amsterdam, settled finances and time in hand is a straightforward application and plenty of people make it alone.
What travellers say
Reviews from people who sat where you are sitting
Rated 4.5 out of 5 based on 27 reviews
- September 2026
Lalian Sen
My Schengen visa just got approved. The agent helped me throughout the process. Just respond with the info they ask and they’ll sort out everything else for you in no time!
Verified Trustpilot review - August 2026
Mahesh Patil
Excellent and prompt service! Very efficient team with quick responses, smooth booking, and all documents handled professionally. Really pleased with the overall service.
Verified Trustpilot review - July 2026
Nayya Hassan
It was my first time applying for a Schengen visa and Fly Pass Holidays made the process so easy and seamless. I got a multiple entry Italy visa for 4 months within just two weeks of application. Highly recommend their services!
Verified Trustpilot review
Straight answers
Netherlands visa questions, answered plainly
Official references: EU Home Affairs, Schengen visa policy · Companies House, Flypass Holidays Limited
No. Flypass Holidays Limited is a private consultancy registered in England and Wales, company number 16891200. We are not affiliated with any government, embassy or consulate, nor with VFS Global, TLScontact, BLS International or Global Visa Center World. We cannot issue a visa and we cannot influence a decision.
If you hold a British passport, no, not for stays up to 90 days in any 180-day period. From October 2026 you will need an ETIAS authorisation, which is not a visa. If you are a non-UK national living in Britain, it depends on your nationality, not on your UK status.
No. A UK biometric residence permit proves your right to live in Britain. It is not a Schengen visa and it does not give you visa-free entry to the Netherlands. If your nationality requires a Schengen visa, you need one regardless of your UK status. BRPs have also been replaced by the online eVisa, so most people now prove UK status with a share code rather than a card.
Not on the BRP alone, unless your nationality is visa-exempt for the Schengen area. The BRP or your eVisa share code is one of the documents you show in support of a Schengen visa application, because it proves you are lawfully resident in the UK and expected back. It is not a substitute for the visa itself.
VFS Global publishes an average of 25 calendar days for Dutch applications, with a maximum of 45. That is longer than the 15 days most general Schengen guidance quotes. The appointment you attend beforehand is a separate wait and usually the longer one. Our Schengen visa processing time page sets out how the two fit together.
EUR 90 for an adult and EUR 45 for a child aged six to eleven, free under six. VFS Global charges its own service fee on the day. If you use a consultancy that is a third and separate cost. Ours starts from £95.
Through VFS Global, which runs Netherlands visa application centres in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh. A limited number of appointments are also available directly at the Netherlands embassy in London.
Yes. The Netherlands is one of the few Schengen countries with a UK centre in Birmingham, which makes it easier for applicants across the Midlands than most destinations.
It depends on your nationality and on your connection. Staying airside may not require a Schengen visa, but some nationalities need an Airport Transit Visa even to do that. If you have to collect baggage or leave the terminal you are entering the Schengen area and the ordinary rules apply. Check your specific position before booking.
Wherever you will spend the most nights. Amsterdam and Brussels are under two hours apart so mixed trips are common, and the answer is frequently not the Netherlands. Where nights are equal, it goes to the country you enter first.
Yes. You need cover valid across the Schengen area for the whole of your stay, with a minimum of EUR 30,000. It is checked when you submit.
Yes. A previous refusal makes preparation more important, not less. The refusal notice states the grounds. We read those grounds, work out what was doubted, and rebuild the application to answer it rather than resubmitting the same file.
No, and no honest agency can. Decisions are made solely by the Dutch authorities. What we control is the quality of what reaches them.
Ready when you are.
Tell us where you are going and when, including any connections and anywhere else in Europe you plan to be on the same trip. You will get a straight answer the same working day about whether the Netherlands is the right country to apply to, whether your timeline works, and whether your case needs us at all.
Flypass Holidays Limited · 50 Princes Street, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 1RJ · [email protected]