Processing times asylum: how long will my procedure take?

Read about the processing times for asylum in the Netherlands. The processing time is the time between signing your asylum application and receiving the decision from the IND.

The IND must decide within 6 months

According to the law, the IND must take a decision on your asylum application within 6 months. This is called the legal decision period. In some cases we extend the legal decision period to 15 months. For example if more research it is needed. When someone receives a decision varies per application. We explain why this is on this page.

The processing time differs per application

After signing your asylum request you will have a reporting interview. The IND will ask you questions about yourself and your journey. After that we carry out some research to assess what your chances are of being granted asylum. The result of this determines which steps you will follow in the asylum procedure: the asylum 'track'.

The track within which the IND processes your application determines the processing time. Because there are different asylum tracks, the processing time also differs for every application. N.B. The processing times may be longer due to the measures against the coronavirus.

The IND currently has 3 asylum tracks

Track 1: For asylum seekers with an asylum application that should be handled by another European country. For example if someone previously applied for asylum in another European country. Asylum seekers in this track have little chance of being granted asylum in the Netherlands.
Track 2: For asylum seekers who have very little chance of being granted asylum in the Netherlands:

Asylum seekers coming from safe countries of origin
Asylum seekers who have already been granted international protection in another European country
Asylum seekers being a citizen from a EU or EEA country, the UK or Switzerland

Track 4 : For asylum seekers in the 6-day General Asylum procedure (GA, or AA in Dutch) or 9-day General Asylum procedure (AA+). These asylum seekers have a good chance of admission to the Netherlands. Is more time needed to make a careful decision on an asylum application? Then the IND processes the asylum application under the Extended Asylum procedure (EA, or VA in Dutch).

Tracks 3 and 5 also exist but are not currently in effect.

Applications with little chance of success are processed first

For asylum applications in Track 1 or Track 2, it is clear that there is little chance of asylum being granted. For this reason, the IND tries to take a decision regarding these asylum applications as quickly as possible. In this way, sufficient places remain available in the reception centres for other asylum seekers. For this reason, the processing time for tracks 1 and 2 is shorter than for Track 4.

Measures to reduce the processing time for track 4

The processing time for track 4 is currently too long. The IND apologises that as a result you have to wait for a long time. We have introduced various solutions to ensure that you do not have to wait so long. The IND is taking the following measures to reduce the processing time for track 4:

More staff and tailor-made deployment

In 2019 and 2020 the IND hired additional support staff to be able to handle more asylum applications. For 2021 the IND is also planning to hire more support staff. The staff involved are being employed on a temporary basis through employment agencies. Some employees are also being transferred from other organisations with the Dutch government.

In addition to this the IND is placing staff in a tailor-made way. This means placing by target group: applications are handled by employees with the relevant expertise. In this way, experienced employees can handle complex applications and less experienced staff simpler ones.

More ways of performing our work

The IND is also shortening the processing times by performing our work in more ways. For example, the IND can interview you in person at the office or by video. If you are interviewed by video, you will talk to an employee from the IND via video-conferencing from your own COA location. A written interview is also possible.

Expired ID document for foreign nationals? Apply for a new one

Your identity document for foreign nationals (VI) could expire while you are waiting for your asylum application to be processed. The VI is previously known as a W-document. Has your VI expired or is it about to expire? Then apply for a new document by choosing one of these ways:

Apply online; or
Apply by written application: make use of the form
Application replacement or renewal of a foreign nationals document or application Foreign Nationals Identity Document type W or W2 6013 (pdf, 306 KB)
Apply to the IND by phone: 088 043 0550. This number can be reached from Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 17:00.

Average processing time per asylum track

Below is an overview of the average processing times for every asylum track from the past. This way you can estimate how long the asylum procedure can take in general. Unfortunately, the IND cannot say how long the procedure will take for every customer personally. The figures apply to first applications. Processing times show how long it took to take a decision in a particular month. The table also shows the percentage of taken decisions within the legal decision time. These data come from IND's information system. We regularly update the information on this website.

Processing time data

The processing times for 2021 are below. You can see the processing times for 2020 and 2019 in our archive at the bottom of this page.

The processing times for 2020 and 2021 have been calculated differently than the figures for 2019. The processing times for 2019 are an average of the figures up to and including a certain month. The processing times for 2020 and 2021 are an average of the figures of the previous 4 months.

Please turn your phone horizontally to see the table with data for 2021 correctly.

2021 Processing times Asylum track 1

	Processing time in weeks	Percentage taken decisions within decision period
January	13 weeks	not applicable
February	13 weeks	not applicable
March	13 weeks	not applicable
April	13 weeks	not applicable
May	12 weeks	not applicable
June	13 weeks	not applicable
July	12 weeks	not applicable
August	13 weeks	not applicable

2021 Processing times Asylum track 2

	Processing time in weeks	Percentage taken decisions within decision period
January	7 weeks	96%
February	8 weeks	95%
March	8 weeks	95%
April	9 weeks	96%
May	9 weeks	94%
June	9 weeks	94%
July	7 weeks	95%
August	7 weeks	96%

2021 Processing times Asylum track 4 General Asylum Procedure (GA)

	Processing time in weeks	Percentage taken decisions within decision period
January	38 weeks	67%
February	41 weeks	63%
March	45 weeks	55%
April	50 weeks	48%
May	55 weeks	43%
June	58 weeks	38%
July	59 weeks	38%
August	53 weeks	37%

2021 Processing times Asylum track 4 Extended Asylum Procedure (EA)

	Processing time in weeks	Percentage taken decisions within decision period
January	56 weeks	39%
February	59 weeks	38%
March	61 weeks	33%
April	67 weeks	22%
May	71 weeks	17%
June	73 weeks	15%
July	74 weeks	17%
August	70 weeks	23%

Latest update: 1 September 2021