Our organisation

What we do

Around 75 percent of applications for residency are from people who want to work or study here, or who want join someone already living here. Around 25 percent are asylum applications. These are from people who have fled their home becasue they not longer feel safe there.

On the next pages, you can find out more about our contributions in the fields of asylum, economy, naturalisation and family.

Attention for every application

Our decisions have a great impact on people’s lives. That is why we are always pay attention to everyone’s personal story as well as the immigration policy provisions.

Implementating political policy

At the IND, we base our decisions on the laws and regulations made by the Dutch Parliament (Senate and House of Representatives). There are also European and international treaties and conventions we must follow. So we do not make the rules ourselves: we implement them.

Our organisation is an agency with a Managing Director. We come under the Ministry of Justice and Security. The Minister for Migration, Van der Burg is politically responsible.

View the organogram of our senior management.

Enforcement

Enforcement is an important part of our work. We are on the alert for fraud because people are not supposed to abuse the system. After granting a residence permit, we also check whether people continue to meet the requirements. In this way, we help the Netherlands stay safe.

International cooperation 

Migration crosses borders. That is why international cooperation is important for the IND. For that reason the IND exchanges information, knowledge and expertise with European and international partners and countries on the level of migration.

The IND also outsources staff to support other countries in the field of asylum and migration. By doing so we contribute, for example to the prevention of irregular migration to the Netherlands and making the influx of asylum seekers more predictable. In addition, we do international research via networks including the European Migration Network (EMN).

We also work together with…

To make the most effective contribution to Dutch society, we work together with other organisations. These include the police, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (KMar), the Repatriation and Departure Service (DT&V), the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Organisations can also have the authenticity of documents examined by the IND (The Identity and Document Investigation Unit). The IND has developed an information system for this purpose.  Find out more about this.