What are the Netherlands visa documents for a UK applicant?

A passport under 10 years old with 2 empty pages and 3 months validity after you leave Schengen, proof of legal UK residence, an employer letter and 3 months of payslips or bank and card statements, travel medical insurance with at least EUR 30,000 of cover, and supporting documents on travel and accommodation. Under-18s add a birth certificate and, where relevant, parental consent.

Can I apply at the VFS Netherlands UK centres if I do not live in the UK?

No. You can only apply at the UK visa centres if you live in the United Kingdom. People living elsewhere must apply in their country of residence. Holders of diplomatic or official passports apply at the Netherlands embassy in London instead, with appointments by email to lon-ca@minbuza.nl.

Do I need to give fingerprints for a Netherlands visa?

Fingerprints are taken at the appointment. Children under 12 are exempt but must still attend. Fingerprints given for a Schengen or entry visa application within the past 59 months need not be given again, if they can be copied from the Visa Information System.

Do I need a photo for the Dutch visa appointment?

Not when applying through an external service provider, because a digital photo is taken at the appointment. If a printed photo is required, it must be colour, under 6 months old, 3.5cm by 4.5cm, on a white or light background.

Do I need ETIAS if I have a Netherlands Schengen visa?

No. ETIAS is a separate travel authorisation for visa-free visitors only; people who need a Schengen visa do not apply for ETIAS. It is not yet operating and is expected to start in the last quarter of 2026, with a fee of EUR 20.

Netherlands Visa from UK: 2026 Fees, VFS Booking Steps

Q: Do British citizens need a Netherlands visa from the UK?

No. GOV.UK says British citizens can travel to the Schengen area without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180 day period, and earlier Schengen visits in the previous 180 days count towards the 90 days. The GOV.UK entry requirement pages only cover people travelling on a full British citizen passport.

Q: How does the 90/180 rule work for the Netherlands and other Schengen countries?

On each day of a stay, count back 180 days; the days spent in the Schengen area in that window must not exceed 90. The day of entry and the day of exit both count, and all Schengen countries share one allowance. Days in the UK do not count, and neither does time under a Schengen residence permit or long-stay visa.

If you are a non-British national living legally in the UK and need a Schengen visa, you apply for the Netherlands at a VFS Global centre in Birmingham, Edinburgh, London or Manchester, and only if you live in the UK. British citizens do not need a visa for visits of up to 90 days in any 180 day period. The standard fee is EUR 90 for adults.

Who needs a Netherlands visa in the UK

British citizens do not need a visa for the Netherlands: GOV.UK says a full British citizen passport allows up to 90 days in any 180 day period in the Schengen area, and earlier Schengen visits in the previous 180 days count towards that 90. Everyone else checks their own position, because the GOV.UK entry requirement pages only cover British citizen passport holders and point other passport holders to the relevant embassy in the UK.

If you hold another passport and live legally in the UK, you apply in the UK. The European Commission says you apply at the consulate with territorial responsibility for the country where you are legally resident, so residence in the UK is what makes a UK application correct.

Two things follow from that:

You can only lodge a Netherlands application at the UK visa centres if you live in the United Kingdom. People living elsewhere must apply in their country of residence.
Holders of diplomatic or official passports apply at the Netherlands embassy in London instead, with appointments arranged by email to lon-ca@minbuza.nl.

A Schengen short-stay visa covers up to 90 days in any 180 day period. A single-entry visa allows one entry, a multiple-entry visa allows several visits while it is valid, and an airport transit visa only covers the international transit area of an airport. For the wider picture across all 29 Schengen countries, see the Schengen visa guide.

Which Netherlands mission and visa centre you use

Netherlands Schengen applications in the UK are lodged with VFS Global in Birmingham, Edinburgh, London and Manchester, and the official page links to VFS for street addresses rather than listing them. You choose the centre that suits you, but you must live in the UK to apply at any of them.

The official page does not print street addresses in its text, so get the address from VFS Global when you book. Do not rely on a search result or a third party listing.

Which country you apply to is a separate question from which centre you use. Apply at the consulate of the country you intend to visit. If you visit more than one country, apply to the country where you will spend the longest time, the main destination. If the stays are equal, apply to the country you will enter first. As a general rule, apply in the country where you legally live.

The Schengen area has 29 member countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Bulgaria and Romania became full members on 1 January 2025. Cyprus and Ireland are EU countries that are not in the Schengen area.

Booking the Dutch visa appointment in the UK

Book online with VFS Global at visa.vfsglobal.com/gbr/en/nld/ and make a separate appointment for each person. The official page warns: do not make an appointment through an intermediary. Changes and cancellations go through VFS Global's contact page, not the embassy.

Under the Orange Carpet Visa Facility, eligible applicants can apply at VFS Global without an appointment from 8:30 to 11:30, Monday to Friday. If you are not eligible, you need a booked slot.

At the appointment:

Your fingerprints are taken. Children under 12 are exempt from fingerprinting but must still attend.
Fingerprints given for a Schengen or entry visa application within the past 59 months need not be given again, if they can be copied from the Visa Information System.
A digital photo is taken, so you do not bring a printed photo when applying through an external service provider.

You can submit no earlier than 6 months before the trip (9 months for seafarers) and no later than 15 calendar days before your travel date. Booking early matters in high season, when appointment slots and processing both slow down.

Netherlands visa fees and VFS service charges

The Dutch consular fee list for the UK for 2026 gives EUR 90.00 for a standard Schengen visa and EUR 45.00 for a child aged 6 to 11, and children under 6 are free. You always pay VFS Global's service costs on top, and the official page does not state that amount.

Pay by Visa or Mastercard debit or credit card. American Express, postal orders and cheques are not accepted. The fee list says the amounts may change at any time, so check it before you pay.

The fee can be waived for some categories of applicant. If you think that applies to you, raise it before the appointment rather than after paying.

Budget for three separate costs:

The consular visa fee, EUR 90.00 per adult.
The VFS Global service charge, set by VFS and not published on the official page.
Travel medical insurance, which you must hold anyway for the application.

Documents for a Netherlands visa from the UK

Bring a passport under 10 years old with at least 2 empty visa pages, signed and valid for at least 3 months after you leave the Schengen area, plus proof of legal UK residence valid for at least 1 month after you leave Schengen. Then add documents on money, employment, insurance, travel and, for under-18s, consent.

Proof of legal UK residence means the original and a colour copy: a British residence permit, or an eVisa printout plus the share code letter.

Employment and money:

Employed applicants need a recent signed employer letter giving name, position, salary, address and contact details, issue date, the signatory's position and the UK company registration number, plus payslips for the last 3 months.
Self-paying applicants need personal bank statements and credit card statements for the last 3 months showing the monthly limit.

Insurance and photos:

Travel medical insurance must be in your name, cover all Schengen countries for the whole stay and provide at least EUR 30,000 of medical cover, including repatriation.
A printed photo is colour, under 6 months old, 3.5cm by 4.5cm, on a white or light background, but it is not needed when applying through an external service provider because a digital photo is taken at the appointment.

Under-18s need a birth certificate. If travelling without one or both parents or guardians, they also need both parents' passports or certified biodata copies, a signed parental consent form and a UK school certificate. Depending on circumstances, add a sole custody ruling, a death certificate or court permission.

The core document set is the same across the area, so the Schengen visa guide is worth reading alongside this page.

Processing time and when to apply

Schengen visa processing takes 18 to 21 calendar days on average and can rise to 45 calendar days in some situations. In high season averages may be longer, and applicants are asked not to contact the embassy or VFS about status.

A decision is normally made within 15 days, extended to up to 45 days when the application needs a closer look or more documents. The Dutch page's 18 to 21 day average already builds in the routine steps, so treat 15 days as the floor, not the expectation.

Plan around two fixed limits:

Earliest submission: 6 months before the trip, or 9 months for seafarers.
Latest submission: at least 15 calendar days before your travel date.

A comfortable plan is to book the appointment as soon as your dates are fixed, gather the documents in the weeks before, and leave the full 45 day maximum between the appointment and departure if your trip is in peak season. Do not book flights you cannot move until the visa is in your passport.

The 90/180 rule in the Netherlands and the rest of Schengen

The 90/180 rule is a moving window: on each day of a stay, count back 180 days, and the days spent in the Schengen area in that window must not exceed 90. The day of entry and the day of exit both count, and all Schengen countries share one allowance.

So a week in the Netherlands and three weeks in Spain use the same 90 days. Days spent in the UK do not count, and time spent under a residence permit or long-stay visa from a Schengen country is not counted either. After 90 days in a row outside the Schengen area, a new stay of up to 90 days is possible.

Two systems police this:

The EU Entry/Exit System records non-EU nationals on a short stay at the external Schengen border: passport details, fingerprints, a facial image and the date and place of each entry and exit. It started on 12 October 2025, has been fully operational since 10 April 2026, and replaces passport stamping. Registration is free, there is nothing to apply for in advance, children under 12 do not give fingerprints, and holders of a long-stay visa or residence permit from an EES country are not registered.
ETIAS is a separate travel authorisation for visa-free visitors only. People who need a Schengen visa do not apply for ETIAS. It is not yet operating and is expected to start in the last quarter of 2026, with a fee of EUR 20.

Run your dates through the Schengen calculator before booking, and read more about the Entry/Exit System.

Data in the Netherlands

A Slashtel Europe+ eSIM works in all 29 Schengen countries, plus the UK and Turkey, so data keeps working when you cross a border. It is data only: no local phone number and no calls or SMS, though WhatsApp and other internet calls work over the data.

Keep your home SIM in the phone for calls and bank codes, and turn off data roaming on it to avoid roaming charges. The eSIM is bought online with an email address and a card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, and the QR code arrives by email within minutes. Someone else can buy it and enter the traveller's email, so the QR code goes straight to the person who will use it.

Practical points:

Validity starts when the eSIM first connects at the destination, so it can be bought and installed at home before the flight.
The network is chosen automatically and cannot be picked by hand.
More data can be added to the same eSIM later, with no new QR code.
The phone must be unlocked and eSIM compatible.

Slashtel also sells mobile top-ups to more than 100 countries, delivered in minutes, which keep a prepaid home line active. Support is on WhatsApp and email, 7 days a week. See the Europe eSIM page, estimate usage with the data calculator, read about calls, texts and OTPs with a data eSIM, or check the Netherlands destination page.

See Netherlands eSIM plans.

Sources

Checked 25 October 2026. Rules and dates can change, so check the official pages before you rely on them.

Netherlands Visa from UK: Schengen Application Guide

Who needs a Netherlands visa in the UK

Which Netherlands mission and visa centre you use

Booking the Dutch visa appointment in the UK

Netherlands visa fees and VFS service charges

Documents for a Netherlands visa from the UK

Processing time and when to apply

The 90/180 rule in the Netherlands and the rest of Schengen

Data in the Netherlands

Sources

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