Ministerie van Justitie, Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst

Categories frequently asked questions: 

What can I do if I have a complaint?
If you are unhappy about the way in which you have been dealt with by the IND, then you can submit a complaint about this to the IND. 

What can I complain about?
You can submit a complaint if you are unhappy about the way in which you have been dealt with by the IND. Here are some examples:

• If you think that you had to wait too long for your application for entry into the Netherlands to be processed
• If you have a complaint about our procedures or about the organisation itself (for example accessibility, waiting times, calls, ambiguous letters)
• If you did not receive a response to your letter
• If you were informed incorrectly or you did not receive any information at all
• If you were made promises which were not fulfilled     

  
If you want to complain about the time taken to process your application, you must take the following into consideration. The Established Decision Period Act applies to most applications. This means that the IND has to have made a decision regarding the application within this period. If this statutory period has not yet expired, a complaint regarding the time taken to process the application will be deemed unfounded and will therefore not be dealt with.
You can, of course, request that your application be dealt with more quickly in very special circumstances. The correct route for this, however, is not via the complaints office but via the info line (which can be reached on the following number: 0900 1234561, at a rate of 10 euro cents per minute), or in writing to the IND unit in charge of the application. You must be able to give a good reason as to why your application needs to be processed more quickly.  Not all requests for quick process will therefore be met.

How do I submit a complaint?
You can submit a complaint verbally or in writing. A verbal complaint is submitted to a complaints office employee. Your complaint is then laid down in writing by the employee. 
You can submit a written complaint using the complaint form on the website. Print the form out, fill in the details and then send the form to:

Immigration and Naturalisation Service
Central Complaint Registration Bureau 
Postbus 5805
2280 HV Rijswijk

Where can I submit my complaint?
You can contact the Centraal Klachtenbureau directly, at the following address and telephone number:

Immigration and Naturalisation Service
Central Complaint Registration Bureau 
Postbus 5805
2280 HV Rijswijk
Telephone: 070 - 7795440

It is also possible to submit a complaint by fax. Print out the online complaint form and complete the details. Then fax this to the following number: (070) 779 36 07.

Can someone else submit my complaint for me?
If you would like to submit a complaint verbally, then it is possible for someone else to express this for you, for example an acquaintance, a family member or a friend. It must be clear that this person is speaking on your behalf. If this is the case, then you should identify yourself to the person on the telephone and tell them that you want someone else to speak on your behalf. If it is clear that you have given this person permission to submit the complaint, the complaint can be registered.
If it is insufficiently clear whether or not you have given permission for a third party to submit a complaint by telephone on your behalf, or if you would like someone else to submit the complaint in writing, then you should give the person your permission (authorisation) in writing to do this. A complaint cannot and will not be dealt with if this requirement is not met.

Example of authorisation
I (name, nationality, date of birth, address, IND file and v number) hereby authorise (name, address) to submit a complaint to the IND on my behalf regarding…….

Town
Date 
Signature of the person in question
Signature of the person authorised

What happens to my complaint once it has been submitted?
We first check to see if your complaint can be dealt with by the IND. If your complaint belongs somewhere else, for example the police or the council, then we will send your letter there. You will receive a letter from the IND informing you as to which body your complaint has been transferred.

If your complaint is processed by the IND, the following will occur:
If you have complained in writing, then in the first instance you will receive confirmation of receipt of your complaint. This will state your complaint number. If your complaint is made by telephone then you will not receive confirmation. You will however receive a complaint number for your reference. The IND will (regardless of whether your complaint has been made verbally or in writing) respond to the content of your complaint within six weeks.  
In some cases the IND will ask you if you would like to speak to someone about your complaint. 
The IND can then respond to your complaint either by telephone or in writing. If your complaint is valid, the IND will try to find a suitable solution.

Who can I contact about the status of my complaint?
To find out about the current situation please contact the complaints office on the following telephone number: (070)370 94 40. 
Please keep in mind that a statutory period of six weeks applies to the processing of your complaint and the fact that not the Central Complaint Registration Bureau, but a different IND unit will process your complaint with regard to its content.
If you contact us by telephone regarding the processing of your complaint, it is important that you keep your complaint number and if possible your IND dossier and/or V-number at hand.

What kind of response can I expect?
Your complaint may be dealt with either verbally or in writing.
The Personal Data Protection Act prohibits the provision of personal data to third parties. This means that if you make a complaint about the situation of a foreign national without being authorised to do this by the person in question, then you will not receive a response regarding the content of the complaint. 

If you make a complaint in the capacity of an interested or authorised party, the response to your complaint will state whether or not your complaint is founded, and how this decision has been reached. If a complaint is considered to be well founded, it will also state how and when your complaint will be resolved. If it is not possible to resolve your complaint in the short term, the response will at least give an indication of the steps that the IND will take to find a solution.

I am not happy with the response to my complaint. What further action can I take?
If you are not happy about the way in which the IND has handled your complaint, you can apply in writing to the National Ombudsman as an external complaints commission to carry out an investigation. This is only possible during the year following the processing of your complaint.

Your application must include your name and address, a description of the complaint, the form in which your complaint was submitted and the findings of the IND regarding your complaint. The postal address of the National Ombudsman is:

Nationale Ombudsman
Postbus 93122
2509 AC Den Haag.

You can also contact the Appeals Commission of the Upper or the Lower House.

My question has not been answered by these frequently asked questions. Where can I resolve an unanswered question?
If you have an unanswered question about complaints then you can contact the complaints office: 
Telephone: (070)779 54 40.

Frequently asked questions about penalty payments and the notice of default procedure

When am I entitled to a penalty payment?
If you have submitted an application or objection to the IND, we will notify you as to when you can expect us to make a decision. In a lot of cases, our letters refer to a statutory or reasonable deadline for making a decision. This indicates the deadline by which the IND must have made a decision regarding your application or objection. This deadline can be postponed, for example if we have requested information from you. If you have not received notification of a decision by this deadline (including any postponements), you may be entitled to a penalty payment. However, you first have to declare the IND to be 'in default'.

What is a notice of default?
A notice of default is a written notification from you that the IND has exceeded the deadline for making a decision and that you still want to receive a decision at the earliest opportunity. You can use the form on this site to submit a notice of default.

How can I declare the IND to be in default?
You can declare the IND to be in default by informing the IND in writing that the deadline for making a decision has been exceeded. The simplest way of doing this is to complete the notice of default form on this site and to send it to: IND Centraal Klachten Registratiebureau [Central Complaints Registration Office], P.O. Box 5805, 2280 HV Rijswijk, The Netherlands Fax: +31 (0)70-7794607

When is a decision not on time?
An authority that does not decide on time, will have exceeded the deadline for making a decision. This can be a statutory deadline, meaning that the law sometimes specifies a deadline for making a decision. If there is no statutory deadline, a ‘reasonable’ deadline will apply. The definition of reasonable depends on the kind of decision.

Can someone else submit a notice of default on my behalf?
Yes, that is possible. You then have to include a written authorisation in which you authorise the other person to submit a notice of default.

What happens to my notice of default once I have submitted it?
After the IND has received your notice of default, you will be sent a confirmation of receipt. You may also be contacted by telephone. If the statutory deadline for making a decision (including postponements) has passed, the IND will still have two weeks to take a decision regarding your application.

What happens if the IND has not taken a decision within two weeks of my notice of default?
If you have still not been notified of a decision regarding your application, request or objection two weeks after submitting your notice of default, two things can happen:

• The penalty payment will automatically start to increase*.
  If you have declared the IND to be in default and a decision has still not been taken two weeks thereafter, you will be entitled to a penalty payment for each day that the deadline for making a decision is exceeded. The penalty payment will apply for a maximum of 42 days (and can increase to a maximum of € 1,260). Whether you are entitled to this automatic penalty payment depends on the kind of application, request or objection you have submitted.

• You can lodge an appeal immediately.
  If you have declared the IND to be in default and a decision has still not been taken two weeks thereafter, you can immediately appeal to the court. You therefore no longer have to lodge an objection first (as is currently the case) to the lack of a decision. If the court declares the appeal to be founded, the IND is obliged to decide within two weeks. If the IND fails to do this, the IND will have to pay the penalty payment specified by the court.
   

* This applies only to requests and objections on the grounds of the Netherlands Nationality Act [Rijkswet op de Nederlanderschap] (excluding the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba), requests within the framework of the Government Information (Public Access) Act [Wet openbaarheid van bestuur], requests within the framework of the Personal Data Protection Act [Wet bescherming persoonsgegevens], requests for the refunding of fees or claims for damages on the grounds of the Netherlands Nationality Act (excluding the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba) and applications for a work permit with regard to which the IND has to decide.
The automatic penalty payment applies only to applications, requests and objections which have been submitted on or after 1 October 2009.

Who can I contact regarding the status of my notice of default?
If you have any questions about the status of your notice of default, you can write to the IND's Central Centraal Klachten Registratiebureau [Complaints Registration Office], P.O. Box 5805, 2280 HV Rijswijk, The Netherlands or telephone them on working days from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. on +31 (0)70 – 779 5440.
In the event that you have already had contact with someone who has started processing your notice of default, you must contact this same person.

Is a notice of default also a complaint?
In principle a notice of default is also a complaint because, by submitting a notice of default, you indicate that you are unhappy with the way in which the IND is acting.
If you do not want the notice of default to be treated as a complaint, you can indicate this on the 'notice of default in the event of delayed decisions' form by ticking the appropriate box.
If you do not explicitly select this option, the IND will treat your notice of default as a complaint as well in accordance with the applicable regulations. More information on this can be found in the 'Complaints' section of this Internet page.

I cannot find an answer to my question in the frequently asked questions. Who should I submit my question to?
If you have a different question about submitting a notice of default you can contact the IND on working days from 9.00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on 0900-1234561 (€ 0.10 per minute plus the costs for calling with your mobile telephone). If you are abroad you should telephone +31 20 8893045.