Family matters
Life is best with family nearby, even when that family is living in another country. In 2015, we at the IND received nearly 28,000 applications from people who very much wanted to live near their family in the Netherlands.
People who fell in love with someone abroad, but also children who want to bring their parents to the Netherlands to look after them there. Or, adoptive parents adopting a child from abroad. Each year, again people turn to the IND to apply for these residence permits, so as to quickly give their attention to their loved ones again.
The applications for these residence permits are listed in the category 'Family members and relatives'. And as with all applications, there are conditions linked to them. These include, for example, the question who can apply, which documents are needed, but also the income requirements an applicant has to meet. To someone who wants to bring his foreign partner to the Netherlands, other conditions apply than to minor children, for example, and these again differ from what is needed for adoption. If you want to read more about this, please check Family .
Real-life stories
Both Anneke and Judith fell in love with a man abroad and wanted to live with their partners in the Netherlands. Read more about the experiences of
Anneke and her partner John from Australia and
Judith, whose husband emigrated from South-Africa to the Netherlands.