Can I claim WW (unemployment benefit) as a foreigner who just lost their job?

Losing a job raises two separate questions for internationals, and they are easily conflated: whether the benefit itself can be claimed, and what happens to residence status afterwards. For permit holders tied to a sponsoring employer, the second question runs on a clock that starts immediately.

Answers

Yes, under the same rules as anyone else: you need to have worked at least 26 of the last 36 weeks, and you can't be "verwijtbaar werkloos" — fired for urgent cause or resigned without good reason. What differs by nationality is what happens to your residence status afterward, not the WW claim itself. EU/EEA nationals and permanent-residence holders keep their right to stay regardless of employment status, so WW is purely income support for them. A kennismigrant (highly skilled migrant) permit is different because it's tied to your sponsoring employer — losing that job starts a search period, three months normally, six if you'd held the permit two years or longer, to find another sponsoring employer or switch to a different permit ground, and any dependent family members lose their derived status on the same clock if you can't. Given how permit-specific this gets, an immigration lawyer is worth the consult if your search period is running out.