Author
Making and registering the application
Expressing the wish to apply for asylum does not mean that the request for asylum has officially been lodged. Asylum applications can be lodged at the border or on Dutch territory. Any person arriving in the Netherlands and wishing to apply for asylum must report to the AVIM, Kmar or the IND (where the asylum application is to be expressed).[1]
If an asylum applicant from a non-Schengen country arrives in the Netherlands by airplane or boat, the application for asylum is to be made before crossing the Dutch external (Schengen) border, at the Application Centre at Judicial Complex Schiphol (Justitieel Complex Schiphol, JCS). The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (KMar) is primarily responsible for the registration of those persons who apply for asylum at the international airport.[2] The KMar refuses the asylum applicant’s entry to the Netherlands if they do not fulfil the necessary conditions, and the asylum applicant will be detained in the JCS.[3] In recent years, no problems have been reported by asylum applicants that the KMar did not recognise their claim for international protection as an asylum request. The IND then takes care of the transfer of the asylum applicant to the AC, which is located within the JCS, where further registration of the asylum application takes place, meaning the identification and registration of the applicant and the formal lodging of the application. The JCS is a closed centre.
If an asylum applicant enters the Netherlands by land, they have to lodge their asylum request at the Central Reception Centre (Centrale Ontvangstlocatie, COL) in Ter Apel (nearby Groningen, north-east of the Netherlands), where further identification and registration, as well as the registration and the lodging of the asylum request, take place.
If an asylum applicant is already on Dutch territory, they are expected to lodge their application with the authorities as soon as possible after arrival in the Netherlands, which is, according to jurisprudence, preferably within 48 hours.[4] Asylum requests lodged within 48 hours after arrival are deemed to be lodged ‘promptly’ (onverwijld). The IND can negatively weigh the circumstance that an asylum request is not lodged within 48 hours, but this cannot on its own justify a negative decision.[5]
As a rule, after registration at the AC, asylum applicants immediately go to the COL. After the registration procedure in the COL, they are transferred to a Process Reception Centre (Proces Opvanglocatie, POL).
The application/registration procedure in the COL takes three days. The Aliens Police (AVIM, Vreemdelingenpolitie) takes note of personal data such as name, date of birth and country of origin. Data from Eurodac and the Visa Information System (VIS) are consulted and AVIM registers the application in Eurodac. The asylum application is formally lodged at the IND. Every asylum applicant must complete an extensive application form at the start of the registration procedure, containing questions regarding their (1) identity; (2) place and date of birth; (3) nationality, religious and ethnic background; (4) date of leaving the country of origin; (5) arrival date in the Netherlands; (6) earlier stays in one or more third countries if applicable; (7) identity cards and/or passport; (8) itinerary; (9) schooling/education; (10) military services; (11) work/profession; and (12) living environment and family.[6]
Subsequently, the IND conducts a registration interview (Aanmeldgehoor). During the registration interview, questions can be asked about identity, nationality, travel route and family members. This is mainly to establish whether the asylum applicant is the person they claim to be. Additionally, the IND briefly questions the asylum applicant as to their reasons for requesting asylum, in order to assess the complexity of the case, to better prepare for subsequent steps to be taken during the rest of the procedure, and to determine whether the asylum applicant is in need of specific procedural guarantees.[7] This also applies to unaccompanied minors.
Due to the high number of asylum applications and the ongoing capacity problems at the IND, the registration procedure as outlined in this section has not always been followed in recent years. Instead, an alternative procedure has been introduced. Depending on both the capacity of the Aliens Police and the available accommodation at the COL in Ter Apel, either the regular registration phase as outlined above is followed, or temporary ‘waiting areas’ are installed for a period of time. From September 2022 to March 2023, asylum applicants travelling to Ter Apel were not registered immediately.[8] Instead, they were only ‘pre-registered’ (voorregistratie), where only the asylum applicant’s identity, nationality and origin were noted. Following this pre-registration, asylum applicants were transported to a different ‘pre-registration location’ (voorportaallocatie). Whilst staying there, asylum applicants had to wait for the confirmation of their appointment to register them in Ter Apel or Budel. This waiting period could take several weeks, up to four months. This pre-registration procedure was discontinued in March 2023, as there was enough capacity at Ter Apel to register and accommodate arriving asylum applicants.
However, this pre-registration procedure was put in use again during the summer of 2023, due to the lack of capacity of the Aliens Police and lack of available accommodation. Different ‘pre-registration locations’ were in use at different times, dependent on the capacity every day. In weeks where the influx of asylum applicants is lower, it can be that they can be registered immediately after arrival in Ter Apel. In more busy weeks, people are temporarily transported to pre-registration locations across the country, for example in Assen, Amsterdam, Biddinghuizen, Leeuwarden and Stadskanaal. In 2024, the use of these ‘pre-registration locations’ was continued. Their exact locations and sizes depended on the required extra reception places and the availability of suitable locations. For example, the overnight ‘pre-registration location’ that was first set up in Stadskanaal, consisting of tents, was moved several times to different municipalities surrounding Ter Apel.[9] A new development in 2024 was that some of the applicants staying at the ‘pre-registration locations’ had already undergone the registration process. Their stay at these locations is no longer due to backlogs in the registration process – which were reduced during 2024 – but due to a lack of reception capacity in normal AZCs (see for more information Asylum Procedure – Short overview of the asylum procedure).[10]
The rest and preparation period (RVT)
Exclusively in Track 4, the asylum applicant is granted a rest and preparation period. This starts when the registration interview has taken place and the registration phase has ended.[11] The rest and preparation period is designed to give first-time asylum applicants some days to cope with the stress of fleeing their country of origin and the journey to the Netherlands.
The rest and preparation period takes at least 6 days.[12] It is primarily designed to provide the asylum applicant some time to rest. Additionally, it provides the organisations involved with time to undertake several preparatory actions and investigations.[13] The main activities during the rest and preparation period are:
- investigation of documents conducted by the KMar;
- medical examination by an independent medical agency (MediFirst) which provides medical advice on whether the asylum applicant is physically and psychologically capable to be interviewed by the IND;
- counselling by the Dutch Council for Refugees (VluchtelingenWerk Nederland); and
- appointment of a lawyer and substantive preparation for the asylum procedure.
The rest and preparation period is not available to asylum applicants following the Dublin procedure (Track 1) or those coming from a safe country of origin or who receive protection in another EU Member State (Track 2). Furthermore, there is no rest and preparation period in the following situations:
- the asylum applicant constitutes a threat to public order or national security;[14]
- the asylum applicant causes nuisance in the reception centre;[15]
- the asylum applicant is detained on the basis of Article 59b Aliens Act;[16]
- the application is a subsequent application for asylum.[17]
During the entire rest and preparation period, asylum applicants have access to accommodation and medical aid. Since 2018, this period has been considerably extended due to the IND’s delays, meaning it can last more than a year. This means asylum applicants often have to wait more than a year for the detailed interview, which marks the end of the rest and preparation period.
Backlog
In March 2020, 15,350 asylum applications lodged before 1 April 2020 were passed on to a newly established Task Force, with the aim of clearing the backlog before the end of 2020. The Task Force in succeeded in doing so.[18] In June 2021, the Task Force was dissolved; afterwards, the remaining 1,520 cases were transferred to another department.[19]
Although the Task Force took over the backlog from the IND, due to an increase of applications, a new backlog of 6,400 applications arose in the last months of 2021. The objective to clear it during the first quarter of 2022 was not met, and the backlog continues to grow rapidly.[20] At the end of 2022, the total backlog of asylum cases (first and subsequent asylum requests, excluding family reunification requests) was 32,370. This number grew to 44,030 at the end of November 2023.[21] At the end of 2024, this number reached 50,980, even though the number of new applications is roughly half of what it was in November 2023 (4,140 in November 2023 as opposed to 2,140 in December 2024).[22]
The IND has published an overview of the average waiting times for the interviews in the different tracks, which it updates regularly. As of 30 December 2024, for Dublin Procedures (Track 1), asylum applicants have to wait on average thirteen weeks before their first interview. Asylum applicants from a safe country of origin or already benefiting from international protection in another Member State (Track 2) have to wait on average 15 weeks before they meet with the IND. In the Regular Procedure (Track 4) it takes on averages five weeks before the registration interview takes place (note that theoretically, this interview should happen on the third day after the asylum request). After this interview, another 63weeks elapse on average before the detailed interview takes place.[23] This means that on average, the detailed interview takes place 16 months after the asylum request. However, after the detailed interview, the IND can also take several weeks or months to reach a decision, leading to a large amount of asylum applicants waiting for more than 15 months before a decision is issued. As the statistics show, the number of cases that have not been decided upon after 15 months has grown from 1,610 in November 2022 to 5,490 in November 2023.[24] As of November 2024, this number has grown to 11,680.[25]
Legal penalties
In 2019, the IND was obliged to pay a large sum in legal penalties (dwangsommen)[26] to asylum applicants whose application had not been decided upon within the legal time frame of 6 months.[27] Therefore, the ‘Temporary Act on suspension of penalties for the IND’ (Tijdelijke wet opschorting dwangsommen IND) was passed by the Dutch Parliament and entered into force on 11 July 2020.[28] Under the Temporary act, asylum applicants were excluded from giving the IND a notice of default,[29] going to the regional court and receiving a legal penalty in cases where the IND does not decide upon their application in time.
However, on 30 November 2022 the Council of State ruled, in two separate cases, that the Temporary Act was partially not in accordance with EU Law.[30] Regarding the judicial penalty (rechterlijke dwangsom), the Council of State ruled that by suspending the ability of receiving judicial penalties, asylum applicants did not have an effective way of forcing the IND to take a decision regarding their asylum application. Therefore, the Temporary Act was deemed incompatible with the right to an effective remedy stemming from Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, as preventing asylum applicants from being able to exercise their rights.[31] Following this judgment, the IND published a new Information Message outlining the new policy that for any ongoing and future cases, of exceeding the time limit for deciding, judicial penalties would be disbursed.[32]
Regarding the administrative penalty (bestuurlijke dwangsom), which was automatically disbursed two weeks after the submission of the notion of default, the Council of State ruled that its abolition under the Temporary Act was in conformity with the existing legal framework. The main reasoning for this is that the administrative penalty is a measure that goes beyond the minimum rules dictated by the recast Asylum Procedures Directive. Considering that asylum applicants would still be able to enjoy their rights by receiving only the corresponding amount from a judicial penalty, abolishing the administrative penalty in asylum cases was deemed legal.[33] As a result, in ongoing and future asylum cases, no administrative penalties will be disbursed.
Extension of the time limit for deciding
Due to the large number of asylum applications received and the arrival of a large number of asylum applicants from Afghanistan and people fleeing from Ukraine, paired with capacity problems, in September 2022 the IND decided to extend the time limit for deciding with 9 months in all cases where the 6-months time limit had not yet expired on 27 September 2022. In addition, for all asylum applications lodged after 27 September 2022, the time limit was pre-emptively extended by 9 months, meaning that the IND can take a maximum of 15 months to decide on asylum applications lodged after 27 September and before 1 January 2023.[34] On 3 February 2023, it was announced that this measure would also be in place for asylum requests lodged between 1 January 2023 and 1 January 2024.[35] On 19 December 2023, the decision to extend this measure for asylum requests lodged during 2024 was announced.[36] On 6 February 2025, the decision to issue this measure for the fourth time was published.[37] All asylum requests submitted until at least 1 January 2026 will therefore only be decided upon within 15 months.
On 23 November 2022, the Regional Court of Den Bosch ruled in favour of the (first) general extension of the time limit for deciding.[38] On the contrary, on 6 January 2023, the Regional Court of Amsterdam issued a judgement declaring the time limit extension unlawful.[39] The IND argued that, due to the numerous new arrivals – especially regarding Afghan and Ukrainian nationals, but also many individuals later channelled into the Dublin procedure – it was impossible to manage the existing caseload. Despite this, the Court maintained that, even though there was an increase in the amount of asylum applications, it was not of such magnitude that the threshold included in art. 42(4)(b) Aliens Act was reached. However, the Minister submitted an onward appeal with regards to the judgment of the Regional Court of Amsterdam, meaning the Council of State had to give a judgment. On 8 November 2023, the Council of State ruled that European Law was too ambiguous to determine whether the general extension of the time limit for deciding was legal. As a result, it referred preliminary questions to the CJEU, asking for clarification regarding the definitions of ‘a large number of third-country nationals’, ‘simultaneously’ and ‘very difficult’ as laid down in Article 31(3)(b) of the Recast Asylum Procedures Directive.[40] On 10 July 2024, the Council of State submitted additional preliminary questions to the CJEU, requesting clarification regarding the legality and requirements of subsequent extensions and the efforts of the deciding authorities in reducing the capacity problems.[41] These questions have been referred to the CJEU[42] vis-à-vis the first extension, but the answers are also relevant for the second extension in 2023 (WBV 2023/3) and the last extension (2023/26) concerning 2024.
On 12 December 2024, Advocate General Medina issued her opinion, suggesting that the six-month time limit for deciding can only be extended by nine months if the number of applications increases in a rapid tempo, which results in a rapid increase in this number, excluding a more gradual increase of the number of applications. Other circumstances cannot be considered when extending the time period, as the increase must undoubtedly be the result of an increase of the number of applications.[43]
[1] Paragraph C1/2.1 Aliens Circular.
[2] KMar, Taken Marechaussee, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3OUzJCG.
[3] Article 3(3) Aliens Act.
[4] Council of State, Decision ABKort 1999.551, 20 September 1999.
[5] See for example: Regional Court of Den Bosch, Decision No NL21.10091, 9 May 2022.
[6] Article 3.109 Aliens Decree, paragraph C1/2.1 Aliens Circular and IND Work instruction 2018/15 Aanmeldgehoren en Verificatie eerste gehoren.
[7] IND, Working Instruction 2021/8, Aanmeldgehoren, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3vFivz8.
[8] IND, Politie, COA en IND starten inhaalslag identificatie asielzoekers, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/41ERiw2.
[9] RTV Drenthe, ‘Crisisnachtopvang asielzoekers naar 2e Exloërmond verhuisd: ‘Een uitkomst voor Ter Apel’’, 6 February 2024, available in Dutch at https://bit.ly/3BTQTNw; RTV Drenthe, ‘Nachtopvang verhuist van 2e Exloërmond naar Zuidwolde: ‘Triest dat het nodig is’’, 2 April 2024, available in Dutch at https://bit.ly/4jdOa2i; RTV Noord, ‘Tijdelijke nachtopvang voor 200 asielzoekers gaat naar Pekela’, 26 June 2024, available in Dutch at https://bit.ly/4hadiFi.
[10] Most of the information provided in these two paragraphs is not official policy, and follows from practice or direct communication with the IND which is not publicly available.
[11] Article 3.109 Aliens Decree.
[12] This occurs from practice and is not regulated by the law.
[13] Paragraph C1/2.2 Aliens Circular.
[14] Article 3.109(7)a Aliens Decree.
[15] Article 3.109(7)a Aliens Decree, for the definition of ‘nuisance’ see paragraph C1/2.2 Aliens Circular.
[16] Article 3.109(7)a Aliens Decree.
[17] Article 3.118b Aliens Decree.
[18] For further in-depth information about and analysis of the work of the task force, see previous updates to this country report available at: https://bit.ly/3SMHHji.
[19] AEF, Leren van de Taskforce Dwangsommen, toekomstgerichte evaluatie, 18 February 2022, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3XfjoKB.
[20] Dutch Parliament, no 35476, nr H, 16 November 2021, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3FiageD.
[21] IND, De IND in cijfers, 20 March 2025, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/4kDCars and IND, De IND in cijfers, 16 January 2024, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/48moKJP.
[22] IND, De IND in cijfers,20 March 2025, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/4kDCars.
[23] IND, Asiel: Laatste ontwikkelingen, 7 January 2025, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3tMTVyZ.
[24] IND, De IND in cijfers, 16 January 2025, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/48moKJP.
[25] IND, De IND in cijfers, 7 January 2025, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/48moKJP.
[26] The Penalty Payments and Appeals for Failure to Make a Timely Decision Act, provides that a citizen can go to court when an administrative body does not take a timely decision and request a penalty payment. The Act entered into force in 2009, and has been applicable to the IND since October 2012. It foresees that an asylum applicant can receive a penalty payment following a non-timely decision.
[27] Article 4:17 GALA, Regional Court Arnhem, ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2019:12133, 14 November 2019, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/48gml2q; Regional Court Amsterdam, Decision No NL19.18215, 13 September 2019, not published on a publicly available website.
[28] ‘Tijdelijke wet opschorting dwangsommen IND’, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3bQlRql.
[29] This means that the lawyer concerned has to inform (in writing) the IND that it has exceeded the time limit of 6 months and has to request the IND to issue a decision within a maximum period of 2 weeks.
[30] Council of State, ECLI:NL:RVS:2022:3353 and ECLI:NL:RVS:2022:3352, 30 November 2022, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3HWrAcZ and https://bit.ly/3uhh4tK.
[31] Council of State, ECLI:NL:RVS:2022:3353, 30 November 2022, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3HWrAcZ.
[32] IND, Information Message 2022/107 Afdelingsuitspraken d.d. 30 november 2022 inzake de Tijdelijke Wet dwangsom (3), 2 December 2022, no longer published on a publicly available website.
[33] Council of State, ECLI:NL:RVS:2022:3352, 30 November 2022, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3uhh4tK.
[34] Amendment Aliens Circular, Besluit van de staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid, 26 September 2022, Staatscourant 2022, No 25775, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3CsTDyj.
[35] IND, Information Message 2023/10 ‘Verlengen beslistermijn asiel’, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3XLhL6U.
[36] WBV 2023/26, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/41XJwNl.
[37] Amendment to the Aliens Circular, Besluit van de Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid van 14 januari 2025, nummer WBV 2025/4, houdende wijziging van de Vreemdelingencirculaire 2000, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/4bFvTra.
[38] Regional Court Den Bosch, Decision No. NL22.21366, 23 November 2022, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/49vETwS.
[39] Regional Court of Amsterdam, ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2022:12636, 6 January 2023, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3w7jz29.
[40] Council of State, ECLI:NL:RVS:2023:4125, 8 November 2023, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3SRLqMH.
[41] Council of State, ECLI:NL:RVS:2024:2829, 10 July 2024, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/4j3Jc83.
[42] The case is registered before the CJEU under Case Number C-662/23, Zimir, the progress of which can be followed here.
[43] CJEU, Conclusions of the Advocate General, ECLI:EU:C:2024:1028, Zimir, 12 December 2024, available at: https://bit.ly/3PtMpQK.