Many people move to the Randstad area including The Hague, Amsterdam, Rotterdam either for a year out, work as an Expatriate or to join partners who are mostly either Expatriates or Dutch. There are specialist websites for English and non-Dutch speakers looking to work in The Hague and Randstad area and a good place to start; Blue Lynx - Employment by Language (http://www.bluelynx.com).
Immigration matters are dealt with by the Immigration Service IND (http://www.ind.nl/EN/index.asp). Registration is done by both police and municipalities. Immigration policy is restrictive and deliberately bureaucratic. That is especially true for non-EU citizens.
European Union citizens do not require a work permit. Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians are afforded a one year working-holiday visa. In general the employer must apply for work permits. Immigration is easier for "knowledge migrants" earning a gross annual salary of over ⬠45 000 over ⬠33 000 for those under 30.
Since The Hague was founded on a former hunting manor, there are a variety of parks and green spaces that are ideal for exploration. Like the majority of cities in the Netherlands, The Hague is extremely bike friendly and it's easy to get from one place to another on a bicycle if you feel like stepping outside the city centre. Scheveningen and to a lesser extent Kijkduin is a busy seaside resort filled with boardwalk cafes and close to the dunes. The prime months to get out and see The Hague on foot or by pedal are in the late spring, summer, and early fall months; just note that the beachfront area can get extremely crowded as vacationers from all over Europe come to visit and bask along the North Sea coastline.
Events
North Sea Regatta
(http://www.nsr.nl). end of may / beginning of june. international sailing contest, held off the coast of scheveningen.
Den Haag Sculptuur
(http://www.denhaagsculptu...). june, july and august. free sculpture exposition on lange voorhout with different themes each year.
North Sea Jazz Festival
(http://www.northseajazz.nl/). second weekend of july. after having been held in the hague for 30 years, this world famous jazz festival has now 2006 moved to rotterdam because of accommodation problems in the hague.
Prinsjesdag
Third tuesday in september. prinsjesdag or 'princes day' marks the beginning of the new parliamentary year. on this day, large crowds are drawn by the traditional journey that queen beatrix makes from her palace at noordeinde to the knight's hall at the binnenhof. she makes her trip in the gouden koets golden carriage, a gift from the people of amsterdam to her grandmother wilhelmina from 1903. the carriage is used only for this special occasion. in the knight's hall, the queen then performs her duty as the formal head of state by reading out the troonrede throne speech to the gathered chambers of the parliament. the throne speech contains a summary of the policies the cabinet is planning to implement over the next year.
Tong Tong Fair
(http://www.tongtongfair.nl/). end of may/beginning of june. this claims to be the largest eurasian festival in the world. since its first edition in 1958 it has been the quintessential event and meeting place for the country's sizable dutch-east-indian community. the festival also attracts lots of outsiders though, who come to sample indonesian cuisine in the huge food halls, listen to music, buy foodstuffs, indonesian clothes and parafernalia and inform themselves about indonesian culture. the festival is held in large tents on the malieveld, opposite centraal.
KoninginneNach
(http://www.internach.nl). evening of the 29th of april. while amsterdam is generally known for having country's largest celebration of dutch queen's day on the 30th of april, in recent years the hague has held the largest anticipatory party the night before. koninginnenach queens' night in the hague dialect has bands and dj's giving shows in 5 different locations in the city centre.
Parkpop
(http://www.parkpop.nl). last sunday of june. huge, free, one-day pop music festival held in zuiderpark. attracts nearly 400.000 visitors each year, nearly as many people as actually live in the city, making the festival the largest of its kind in the world.
TodaysArt Festival
(http://www.todaysart.nl). last weekend of september. international festival beyond art.