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youRegion spouse network

The Dual Career Services in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine offers family-friendly assistance and supports the (highly) qualified partners of new employees in finding a job and provides practical help with settling into new surroundings. Below, you can find some hints on living and working across the borders of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine with children.

By networking, offering workshops, seminars, and social events we try to interest companies and organisations in the region for partners of international staff. The Dual Career Services are offered free of charge. It is initiated to join forces and utilise the unique diversity of opportunities to retain talents in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine.

RWTH University

Welcome Center and Dual Career

Welcome!

Welcome center RWTH provides general information and deliberate advice for international researchers. For personal advice, find the RWTH Dual Career Service.
Website

Maastricht Region

Advice from Expat Centre and University

Family friendlyness

Find support for Dual Careers by Expat Centre Maastricht and Natasja Reslow (family friendly university Maastricht).
Advice

Hasselt University

Personal contacts

Dual Career

Leen Lambrechts is contactable for questions with a direct relation to the University of Hasselt. For KU Leuven (including its UC Leuven-Limburg), Natalie De Filette is contactable for relevant questions.
Contact

"So when you first arrive in a new country you are filled with expectations and want your life to be all rainbows, sprinkles, and unicorns...

[...] but right now I am going to tell you the three things that shocked me the most when I moved. It may not be big, life-changing things, but I hope they will give you a good laugh or two!" [...]

With events and dedicated information, the spouse networks supports you with making this place your region and to benefit from a maximum of possibilities across borders.

For living, working and having a partner across the border, the Expatcentres, Newcomerservices and Dual Career advice joined forces and provide dedicated events. For all questions concerning cross-border commuting for one partner or the other, the GrensInfoPunkte provide information and free consultations.

Euregional opportunities

Especially for partners, the diversity of euregional jobs and languages can open up unique windows of opportunity, such as in Claire’s case below. For information on possible cross-border commuting, find info in the respective section.

“I followed my boyfriend here and then as soon as I arrived, I realized…problem, I don’t speak Dutch. So, what I’m going to do because I’m a teacher, I’m going to go to Liege, to Belgium, because I knew this was a French-speaking area and that was my first language.”
Expat from Canada
Living in Maastricht

Of course, there is several groups of partners that organise themselves, such as the facebook group Aachen international spouses and the well established International Women´s group in Maastricht and the new initiative of a (facebook-based) cross-border, youRegion spouse network. Of course, find our information sections on multilingual opportunities, tips and info on finding a job and pursueing an academic career, possibly by cross-border commuting.

AVV / Smilla Dankert

Education & personal development

Except for opportunities at the (partly free) universities, the “Volkshochschulen” provide interesting opportunities for self-development, from language learning, programming to cultural excursions. The prices for vary but rarely exceed 50-200€/semester with weekly courses.

  • Volkshochschule VHS Aachen (DE only, exemplarily for other VHS in Stolberg, Eschweiler, Düren…) with various offers for e.g. learning French and Dutch (and other languages). Courses are in German, and a large offer of German language classes and integration courses in partnership with other euregional institutions from the cross-border project “Tree“.
  • Among the Volksuniversiteiten in the Netherlands, find the largest network of language courses in this country, some of which in English. 

Find the courses in the topic that interests you – with radius search. Also note in Germany, denominational institutions such as Caritas and Diakonie play a large (and largely secular) role in providing multilingual services for and by newcomers.

Exploration

If you want to go discover the euregion on your own or with your family, find a great pool with material on various topics, particularly (but not only) for smaller members of your family. Also find our section on living with children.

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