New parliamentary Act on IND inaction

As from 14 April 2025, the “Act on failure to make a timely decision in an immigration case” (Wet herziening regels niet tijdig belissen in vreemdelingenzaken) has come into effect. As a corollary, the IND is no longer (directly) financially liable for a late decision. Previously, if the IND failed to make a decision within a statutory term, a visa applicant could file a default notification (“ingebrekstelling”) with the IND. Upon receipt of this default notification, the IND would need to decide within an additional period of 14 days. If the IND failed to decide within this 14-day period, the IND would need to compensate the applicant, starting from 23 euros a day.  An applicant would (possibly) be given a maximum amount of 1442 euros in compensation. Nonetheless, on 2 April 2025, the Dutch Parliament adopted this new law, and the new law has come into effect as from 14 April 2025.

In future, an applicant can still submit a default notification (“ingebrekstelling”) to the IND, but it will not have any (direct) financial consequence for the IND. Upon receipt of this default notification, the IND will still need to decide within 14 days. If not, an applicant can potentially file an appeal with the Court of the Hague. Such a court appeal can usually take months. The Court will eventually decide on the issue as to when the IND will need to decide, and the Court can potentially impose a penalty amount on a further delay by the IND.

Have the Dutch legislators given the IND a "carte blanche" to play it by ear? Or will this new law become a “cul-de-sac” for many applicants? According to article II of this Act, the new Act does not affect applicants who have sent a default notification to the IND before the commencement date of this new Act.

Should you have any questions about Dutch residence permit and/or citizenship, please feel free to contact Mynta Law.