We invite artists and cultural workers, whose application to renew their residence visa has been rejected, to get in touch with us. The main reason for the IND to reject the application seems to be that the income as a freelancer was too low in the last two years, as TOZO is not considered to be part of their income.
Platform BK wants to find out if and how many other artists, curators, freelance cultural workers are in a similar situation. Our goal is to want to push policymakers and the IND to either include TOZO in the total income (as the tax office does) or to be lenient in these cases. We will do this together with lawyers, unions, and other representatives in the cultural sector.
For many non-EU cultural workers, it was very difficult to generate enough income to meet the residence permit requirements during the lockdown, as cultural life and so many artistic projects were put on hold due to government regulations. With arguments like this, we could start a lobby trying to convince the minister to reduce requirements for non-EU cultural workers due to Force Majeure and government policies that have hit freelancers in the cultural sector hardest.
If you would like to share your experience with us and/or stay up-to-date, please send an email to kantoor@platformbk.nl.
Please share this article with anyone whom might be affected by the current position of the IND on TOZO.