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Permanent residency Brexit

Last update: 27 June 2022

You want to apply for a residence document for permanent residency and you fall under the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. Find out what the requirements are and how you can apply for the residence document.

Requirements

  • You meet the general requirements that apply to everyone.
  • You are a UK citizen or family member of a UK citizen and you have a different nationality yourself. You are one of these family members.
    • Married or registered partner.
    • Unmarried partner in a real, long-term relationship. This means that you must have been living together with your British family member in a row for at least 6 months or you have a child together.
    • Parent or parent-in-law, grandparent, child, grandchild, or great-grandchild.
  • You fall under the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.
    • You were living legally in the Netherlands before 1 January 2021; or
    • You already have a temporary Brexit residence document; or
    • You came to the Netherlands after 1 January 2021 for family reunification with a UK national. And the UK national in the Netherlands has a residence document based on the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.
  • When you apply, you have been living in the Netherlands for 5 years or more according to the EU rules or the Withdrawal Agreement. Sometimes you can apply for permanent residency if you have been living in the Netherlands for less than 5 years. Do you already have a temporary Brexit residence document and do you meet the requirements for permanent residency? Then you can apply for permanent residency even if your residence document has not yet expired.
  • You have carried out genuine and effective work as an employee or self-employed person for at least 5 years. This is certainly the case in one of these situations.
    • Your income is at least 50% of the social welfare level. On the Government of the Dutch website, you can find out the level of Social welfare benefits in the Netherlands (in Dutch only).
    • You work at least 40% of the full working week. 
  • If you do not work;
    • you have healthcare insurance; 
    • your income is enough to provide for you (and your family). It does not matter where your income comes from. The IND checks whether you have enough income in your situation. This is certainly the case if the level of your income is as high as the Dutch minimum wage with holiday pay. On the Government of the Netherlands’ website, you can read the amounts of the minimum wage. 
  • You do not pose a risk to public order. 
  • Do you have no Brexit residence document yet? Submit your application in time.

Applying for permanent residency after less than 5 years of stay

In certain situations, you can apply for permanent residency if you have been living in the Netherlands for less than 5 years. This is the case in these situations.

You have retired at pension age or earlier

  • You have been living in the Netherlands 3 years in a row; and
  • You have worked the last 12 months. You stopped working because you retired on a state pension. Or you retired early.

You are permanently unfit to work

  • You have lived in the Netherlands for 2 years or more and worked before you became unfit to work; and
  • You stopped working because you were permanently unfit to work.

You are permanently unfit to work because of an accident at work or work-related illness

  • You stopped working because you had an accident at work or work-related illness that has made you permanently unfit to work. For this reason, you are receiving a benefit (WAO or WIA).

You are living in the Netherlands but are working as a frontier worker in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland

  • Before you started working in the other country, you worked for 3 years in a row or more in the Netherlands. You are still living in the Netherlands and return to your house in the Netherlands at least once a week.

Applying too late and illegal stay

Do you have no temporary Brexit residence document yet? And are you applying for a residence document on or after 1 October 2021? Then, your application is too late. The IND does process late applications. If your application is late, but before 1 October 2022, you do not need to explain why you are late. If your application is late, your stay in the Netherlands becomes illegal. Illegal stay has serious consequences for you, such as losing work, benefits and subsidies. Does the IND grant a late application? Then your stay will have been legal from 1 October 2021.

Process and costs

These are the steps in the application process for the residence document.

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Application forms

You can submit this application online. To do so, you need DigiD with SMS verification and internet banking (iDEAL).

Online form

Online application form permanent residence document WA

Apply online

Written application forms

Download the form if you prefer to fill in the application in writing and send it by post.

The residence document

Find out what else you need to know about the residence document.

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