Temporarily no decisions on asylum applications from Iranian nationals

From 19 March 2026, the IND will not decide on asylum applications from Iranian nationals for 6 months. This is because the armed conflict between Israel, the United States and Iran. That is why the Minister for Asylum and Migration has imposed a temporary decision stop (only available in Dutch). Also, forced departure to Iran is (still) not possible while this measure is in place.

The IND will not decide on applications for temporary residence. The current decision stop is for 6 months, but can be ended earlier. The decision stop can also be extended by 6 months. This completely depends on the situation in Iran. As a consequence, the IND will also have more time to decide on the asylum applications.

Consequences for your asylum application

You will only have a first interview (application interview) with the IND. You will not get a second interview (detailed interview) until the IND can decide again.

Consequences for family reunification 

Do you already have an asylum permit and a pending application to bring your family member to the Netherlands? The IND will still decide on applications for family reunification.

Situations in which the IND does decide

The decision stop does not apply in the following situations:

• Your asylum application is older than 21 months and the IND has sufficient information. At the moment, there are still many asylum applications that the IND has to decide on. As a result, it can take longer than 21 months before you receive a decision.
• You have told the IND that you have the Iranian nationality, but upon investigation, it turns out that you have another nationality.
• Another EU-country is responsible for your asylum application. For example, because you have already applied for asylum in that EU-country or have stayed there.
• You already have protection in another EU-country. Or you have been recognised as a refugee elsewhere and have a residence permit there.
• Your application will not be considered on the grounds of non-cooperation in the asylum procedure or because you have left without notice for a longer period of time. This means that the IND does not look at the content of the application.
• The IND has rejected the application because you are a danger to public order or national security.
• You applied for a permanent asylum residence permit, or you applied for an extension of your asylum residence permit.
• You applied for suspension of your departure on medical grounds according to article 64 of the Dutch Aliens Act (in Dutch: Vreemdelingenwet).