Ministerie van Justitie, Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst

11 december 2006

The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst, IND) will with immediate effect adopt a more stringent approach with regard to the ordinary admission procedure.  Every year, there are about ten thousand applications from foreign nationals who submit an admission application in the Netherlands without having applied for a mandatory Provisional residence permit (Machtiging tot Voorlopig Verblijf, MVV).  They then request exemption from the requirement to obtain a Provisional residence permit requirement, even though at least 60 % of them currently do not have good reason to do so.  

In order to prevent fraud, foreign nationals who are required to obtain a Provisional residence permit must submit their application directly to the Immigration and Naturalisation Service, rather than to the municipality.  The establishment of these Immigration and Naturalisation Service offices also concludes the first part of the phased takeover by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service of front office tasks from the municipalities. 

If it transpires at the Immigration and Naturalisation Service office that somebody has submitted an unjustified application for exemption from the Provisional resident permit requirement, a negative decision will be issued forthwith.  In such instances, it will be possible for an individual to be handed over to the Aliens’ Police immediately. The Aliens’ Police can subsequently place the individual in question in detention, in order to prepare for repatriation to the country of origin.  

Children under the age of twelve who were born in the Netherlands will be given residence permits more quickly than before at these Immigration and Naturalisation Service offices. A child that is younger than twelve years of age and has at least one parent who is in the Netherlands legally will automatically become eligible for exemption from the Provisional residence permit requirement, which means that the application can be granted immediately.  

Source: Pressrelease Ministerie van Justitie