New laws and regulations for asylum and family reunification

As of 12 June 2026, the rules for asylum have changed. Normally, you will be informed within 6 months if you are allowed to stay in the Netherlands. This is 3 months in the accelerated procedure, this is 3 months. The accelerated procedure applies, for example, if you come from a safe country. The procedure for a second or following asylum application will also be different.

Changes to the asylum residence permit

Have you been granted an asylum residence permit? From 12 June 2026, the following will change: 

• You cannot apply for a permanent asylum residence permit anymore. However, if on 12 June 2026 you have a permanent asylum residence permit, you keep this residence permit.
• A new asylum residence permit (card) will be valid for 3 years. Does your card expire soon? Apply for a renewal of your asylum residence document. The start date that will appear on your new card is 12 June 2026. This is not the date on which you first received a residence permit in the Netherlands. You retain the same rights and obligations.

Residence permit for long-term EU residents

Have you lived in the Netherlands for at least 5 years with a valid residence permit? Then you may be entitled to a residence permit for long-term EU residents.

Did you apply for an asylum residence permit before 12 June 2026? Then different rules apply to your asylum procedure. The law states that the IND normally has 6 months to decide on an asylum application. Usually, it takes longer to receive a decision.

The decision is usually made later 

Many asylum applications from before 12 June 2026 are still waiting for a decision. And from 12 June 2026, the IND will deploy more employees for the new asylum procedure. As a result, waiting times increase and the IND is often late with a decision. We cannot tell you exactly when it is your turn yet. It depends on your situation and the capacity of the IND. If your application is complicated, an employee with additional knowledge will be needed. If you have an interview, the right staff member and interpreter have to be available. As a result, it is possible that the application of someone who has been in the Netherlands for a shorter period will be processed before yours.

Submitting a new asylum application will not affect your waiting time 

There is no point in withdrawing your asylum application from before 12 June 2026 and submitting a new application. The date of your previous asylum application determines when we process your application.

The IND will process asylum applications differently from 1 October 2026

We want to stop the further increase in waiting times, making sure that everyone with an asylum application from before 12 June 2026 receives a decision within 3 years. We will do this by processing applications of the same type at the same time from 1 October 2026. Some people flee for the same reasons. For example, because of war in the same country. Or because they have a certain background, which means that they are not safe in their own country. We aim to have employees decide, wherever possible, on applications with similar grounds at the same time. As a result, these employees know a lot about the situation in a particular country and can decide faster. Are you younger than 18 years old and did you arrive in the Netherlands without parents? Then your application will have priority, just like now.

We cannot yet tell you when we will decide on your application

The IND needs time to determine which asylum applications can be processed at the same time from 1 October onwards. When we have more information about the waiting times and the order in which we will process applications, we will put it on our website. When we are ready to assess your application, you will receive a letter from us. In this letter, we invite you to visit the IND, and we will explain what you need to do. Until 1 October 2026, the IND will continue to process applications. Have you not yet had an interview? Then you may receive an invitation for this. 

The rules for family reunification have also changed. Due to the new rules, the IND is temporarily not deciding on certain applications for family reunification.