An old hand in The Hague, or a newbie in the Netherlands? The 11^th edition of the IamExpat Fair will take place at the Grote Kerk on October 1 and, the organisers say, there really is something for everyone.  

Expats might be citizens of the world, but they still have local needs and that, says IamExpat founder Panos Sarlanis, is where the IamExpat Fair comes in.

‘We like to help people from the moment they arrive in the Netherlands, perhaps as a student, to when they stay on to work, and then perhaps get married and have a family,’ says Panos, who has been involved in 10 previous editions in Amsterdam and The Hague.

‘Life is not a straight line, and we have something at the IamExpat Fair for every decision that you might make,’ he says.

‘You might have been here for three years, but what about following an MBA because you want to develop your skills and move your career forward,’ he points out. ‘You might have been here for five years and are thinking about buying a house.

‘And if you have been here for 10 years, you might need to find out about schools for your children. Life as an expatriate is a journey that never ends.’

Open to everyone

The IamExpat Fair aims to welcome everyone, no matter what their job or standard of living, because the team behind it believe in using the term expat to cover anyone who is not in their home country.

‘For us an expatriate is someone living outside their country of origin,’ says Panos, who has lived in the Netherlands since he was a student. ‘It is not about your job or your salary, it is about living abroad and all the things that this entails. That is why we aim to both support and connect the international community in the Netherlands.’

The IamExpat Fair will, therefore, enable you to tap into all the services and businesses you need at a single location, as well as navigate life in the Netherlands by attending free workshops and presentations.

There are more than a dozen different sessions on the agenda during which industry insiders will share their knowledge on how things work in the Netherlands, to help you to get the most out of your expat experience.

There are also plenty of options to connect with other expats, organisations and the wider international community. Follow the IamExpat Fair via the special Facebook page for updates.

The IamExpat Fair is the first in The Hague since November 2019, after two years of coronavirus-forced absence and the team are very much looking forward to meeting old friends and new faces.

‘We need face to face meetings to get together and talk, and bring about change,’ Panos says. ‘We are very excited about hosting the IamExpat Fair for the international community in The Hague and Zuid Holland again. It is very important that the companies working in the expat community and expats themselves can interact and exchange knowledge. Events like the IamExpat Fair bring people together.’

Sign up for a free ticket here.