IND annual report 2024: more penalties because of more legal proceedings

The IND is able to process most applications in time. Unfortunately, this is not always possible for a large share of asylum applications, applications for asylum family reunification and objection procedures. Because of this, a lot of people are still waiting for a decision. As a result, more people are starting legal proceedings and the IND has to pay more penalties. The number of default notices increased in 2024 to almost 30,000, resulting in the IND having to pay 36.8 million euros in penalties. 
These statistics can be seen in the annual report of the IND. According to Managing Director Rhodia Maas, they underline that the challenges for the IND remain considerable. ‘Although we are working hard, a large number of outstanding applications is waiting for us. An increasing number of applicants must wait long for a decision. Not only has the amount of work become greater in recent years; also, the work itself has become increasingly complex because of legislation, court rulings and internal work instructions. All of this is a thorn in my side. Therefore, we must simplify our work and work smarter. Especially now that we are preparing for large changes in the asylum and migration system, for example as a result of the bills announced by the government and the European Asylum and Migration pact.’ 

Family reunification: a lot more applications and longer waiting times

The number of applications for family members coming for reunification with people with an asylum status has increased considerably in recent years. Although the IND is taking more decisions on these applications than previous years, we cannot keep up with the number of applications. The total number of people waiting for a decision is more than 75,000. Last year, the average waiting time was 70 to 84 weeks.

More legal proceedings and more penalties

An increasing number of people begin legal proceedings because they do not agree with the decision the IND has taken on their residence application. But a large proportion of proceedings has to do with the fact that the IND has exceeded the decision period, particularly for family reunification applications. This requires a lot of effort from our staff. 
Last year, around 68,000 legal cases were handled. This number has almost doubled compared to two years ago (35,390). In 2023, the number was 53,360. Despite the large number, the IND was present at almost 100% of the hearings. It becomes evident from the decisions upheld by the court that IND staff make thoroughly substantiated decisions: 87% in asylum cases and 86% in regular cases.
The IND paid 36.8 million euros in penalties in 2024. In our opinion, penalties do not contribute to faster decisions. Therefore, we are not in their favour. Last year, the House of Representatives agreed to abolish administrative fines in cases involving foreign nationals, but judicial penalties remain in force. We have been advocating for a longer period that judicial penalties should also be abolished. This way, we can focus completely on processing new applications.
Naturalisation: increasing number of applications, reduction of outstanding applications
Last year, the IND received a lot more applications for naturalisation: 54,780 compared to 43,390 in 2023. In this area, the IND made almost 900 more decisions than the number of applications made. Because of this high productivity, the number of outstanding applications decreased to 16,590. The top-3 new Dutch citizens in 2024 formerly had Syrian, Indian or Turkish nationality.

Regular migration: stable, number of objection cases slightly decreasing 

A large share of the work of the IND consists of processing applications by people who want to come to the Netherlands for work, study or love. For the majority of these categories, the number of applications decreased in 2024. The only exception is labour migrants: there, the increasing trend of recent years also continued in 2024. In 2024, the IND processed around 6,600 of these applications. To all regular applications for residency applies that the IND is keeping up with the number of decisions. Because of this, the number of applications to be processed remains stable. 
Because of the use of extra capacity when processing objection cases (for regular migration), the number of decisions has increased considerably: 27,780 compared to 19,770 the year before. The number of outstanding applications has decreased as a result. The IND will continue to use more capacity for this in the coming year.

Asylum applications, less applications, more decisions, but increasing waiting times

In 2024, 32,180 asylum seekers submitted a first asylum application in the Netherlands. This is a reduction of the number of new asylum seekers who submitted an application in the Netherlands compared to the two preceding years: 38,380 (2023) and 35,540 (2022). 
The most asylum applications by far are processed in the general or extended asylum procedure (track 4). In 2024, the IND made 33,160 decisions on this. Again, this is more than the year before. Still, the number of outstanding applications increased because last year the number of applications to be processed was higher also than the number the IND can handle. The number of applicants waiting for a decision has grown to almost 51,000 as a result. Last year, the average waiting time in the general or extended asylum procedure was 53 weeks. The percentage of granted applications of these asylum applications decreased to 58% last year, from 61% and 78% in 2023 and 2022 respectively.

Opportunities

The IND sees opportunities to reduce waiting times. By simplifying work processes, working smarter and more efficiently, and using capacity as effectively as possible, the organisation expects to increase productivity sustainably and provide clarity to applicants sooner. ‘Of course, we do need time, scope and stable funding for this,’ Rhodia Maas emphasises. Big changes, such as the European Asylum and Migration Pact and the plans of the government programme, offer additional opportunities to further improve processes and optimise services to applicants. The European Migration Pact, which will come into force in June 2026, will have major consequences for the work of the IND. At the same time, the Pact will give us the chance to reshape the asylum process and make it more efficient. The government programme also allows for this. But it is essential that as many changes as possible are implemented simultaneously, together with the introduction of the Pact.’

Services

Despite the large number of applications the IND receives for processing, the IND is committed to being a good service provider and remaining easily accessible. In 2024, the number of desks visits increased again. Almost 600,000 appointments were made with the IND desk and other IND service points for taking biometrics, issuing residence documents or information about residence processes, among other things. The IND saw the number of complaints reduce to 3,920 in 2024.