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Holders of an asylum residence permit or a permanent asylum residence permit can apply for a refugee passport (vluchtelingenpaspoort) issued by the Netherlands. There are no differences between refugees and subsidiary protection beneficiaries.
The duration of validity of the passport for refugees issued to a holder of a permanent asylum residence permit is 5 years. The duration of validity of the passport of a holder of a non-permanent asylum residence permit depends on the validity of the residence permit. There is a minimum duration of validity of 1 year and a maximum duration of validity of 3 years of the passport for refugees. Therefore, if the residence permit has a duration of validity less than a year, it is not possible to obtain a passport for refugees.
The possibility for obtaining a passport for refugees is provided in the Act of Passports (Paspoortwet). Holders of a (permanent) asylum residence permit can apply for a passport for refugees in the municipality where they live and where they are registered at the BRP. The municipality issues passports for refugees. The application must be done in person. The person must show his or her residence document and must bring two passport photos. Fingerprints will also be taken. The municipality must issue the passport as soon as possible, which means most of the time in 5 days. The municipality officially has 4 weeks to decide to issue the passport. The fee for a passport for refugees is maximum €58.89. The refugee passport contains a travel limitation, prohibiting travel to the country of origin.
The application for a travel document is filed by an automated system at the municipality; the beneficiary does not need to apply. As far as the Dutch Council for Refugees is aware, there are no obstacles in the recognition of travel documents for beneficiaries of international protection issued by other countries. There are no statistics available on the number of travel documents issued.