I'm a non-EU citizen who's been living in Germany for the past 4 years (2 of them I was a student). I just got offered a job in the Netherlands but I'm not sure how it works. Will my years living in Germany eventually count towards getting a Dutch permanent residency or citizenship, or would moving there mean I've reset all those years back to zero?
Previous years of residence in another EU member state only counts towards EU permanent residence in the next EU country of residence, if the holder has continuously been in possession of a residence permit on the basis of EU law, such as the EU Blue Card. A study permit does not qualify as such. Moving to the Netherlands may very well cause the buildup towards permanent residence to be reset to zero.
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