Decision period extension for asylum applications repealed

The decision will affect several thousand asylum applications submitted between 27 September 2022 and 1 January 2024. The IND normally has six months to decide on asylum applications. The then-government extended the decision period to 15 months for applications submitted during the period from 27 September 2022 to 1 January 2023. And for applications that had not yet been decided on during this same period, and fell within the statutory decision periods. This action was taken because the number of asylum applications was rising faster than the IND could handle. Later, the government decided to also extend the decision period for all asylum applications received by the IND from 1 January 2023, as the situation had not changed. 

No impact on processing times

In the end, the decision periods were extended four times. The last two extensions were already repealed in 2025. Although the repeal of the extensions will not affect processing times, it may impact ongoing periodic penalty proceedings in a dozen cases. 

Previous European Court of Justice ruling

Responding to questions from the Council of State, the European Court of Justice previously concluded (only available in Dutch) that decision periods may only be extended if there is a sudden significant increase in the number of asylum applications over a short period of time. This led to the repeal of the decision period extension for asylum applications submitted from 1 January 2024.

In a ruling (only available in Dutch) published on 25 March 2026, the Council of State argued that there had been no sudden significant increase in asylum applications in the period from 27 September 2022 to 1 January 2023 either. After considering this ruling, the Minister decided to also repeal the extension for applications received from 1 January 2023. This means that, as of 1 June 2026, all decision period extensions have been repealed.