‘The data I check determines whether someone is allowed to come here. So I do my work carefully’

But Angelique also does a lot of other work. ‘I forward dates of birth and nationalities to town halls if there is any lack of clarity about them,’ she says. ‘For example if an asylum seeker registers with the town hall. I also check the digital police system for high-risk passports. These are passports which are likely to have been lost, stolen or forged. We use this check to prevent people with evil intentions to abuse the asylum procedure. In addition, I process applications by companies and educational institutions that want to be recognised sponsors. They need this if they want to bring foreign staff or students to the Netherlands.’

Every day is different

‘No day is the same,’ Angelique laughs. ‘This is because of my activities, but also because our team helps staff who process incoming mail to the IND at very busy times. I addition, my work can change if something happens in the world. For example the war in Ukraine. When it started, a great number of Ukrainians applied to the IND for residency in a short period. Then, my colleagues and I were working extra hard on the public order assessment for this group of Ukrainians. Because of this, their application process went faster and they knew sooner where they stood. This variation is what makes my job so much fun.’

A lot of opportunities for development

Angelique thinks you are given a lot of opportunities to develop yourself at the IND. ‘In recent years, I’ve learnt a lot. In the beginning, for example, I checked the income of someone who wished to bring their partner to the Netherlands. The person living here must then have a certain salary so that they will also have enough money to provide for their partner. I also checked whether people who are obliged to do a civic integration course in their home country had indeed taken such a course. I would then check the digital system of the Education Executive Agency, DUO, to see if they had attained a civic integration diploma. But soon I was checking applicants’ dates of birth and nationalities for town halls, checking passports for the embassies abroad and checking whether applicants still met the requirements for their residence permit. This also allowed me to get to know the IND better.’

‘In addition, I discovered I enjoyed giving presentations about my work. My manager gave me plenty of opportunity to do this and he also thinks it’s important that I have training and take courses to develop myself further. A short online course about mindfulness and sleeping better, for example, which really helped me to take short breaks more often and to stop getting behind my screen late at night. The IND also gave me the opportunity to do the MBO programme Legal Services. This way, I stay an attractive employee for other employers.’

Dependent on digital systems

‘The only thing I don’t like is when digital systems and applications do not work. You depend so much on them. If that happens, I’m still able to forward dates of birth and nationalities to town halls. Fortunately it doesn’t happen often, but sometimes our whole digital system is out of service, and then I can’t do my job anymore. This creates some work pressure. At such a time, I see what I can do. For example, I refresh my knowledge about our work instructions or about or application processes and requirements.’

Working from home gives peace of mind

The combination of working at the office and working from home gives Angelique peace of mind. ‘I’ve got a busy family with four children, the youngest of whom is 3 years old. My husband works in a prison and is away from home a lot. I mostly look after the children and run the household. So, it is very nice that I can work part-time and can distribute my hours over 5 days. I work 2 hours on Mondays and Wednesdays, and full days on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. On one of these longer work days I go to the office to consult with my colleagues. Working from home saves me almost 2 hours of travel time per day. In that time, I can do the groceries and cook, for example. I also do a lot more work at home than at the office. That’s because I have work I can easily do at home: little to discuss and I’m a lot behind my computer.’