When the IND Is Late: What You Can Still Do After the Senate Scrapped Penalty Payments in October 2026

You applied for a residence permit, the date on your confirmation of receipt has come and gone, and there is still no decision. For many internationals in the Netherlands this is familiar. Some procedures, like highly skilled migrant applications through a recognised sponsor, often move quickly. Others, especially family reunification and asylum-related cases, can take a year or more.

This article starts from an IamExpat report of 16 October 2026 that the Dutch Senate (Eerste Kamer) had voted to end the penalty payments (dwangsommen) courts could order the IND (Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service) to pay for late decisions. We checked the Senate's own announcement, the government press release, the IND's guidance pages and the official gazette, and compared them with reporting by DutchNews, NL Times, DutchReview, Expatica, ACCESS, Xpat.nl and The Hague International Centre.

Main sources for this article

• Eerste Kamer, "Twee wetten aangenomen over terugkeer en vreemdelingenbewaring" (13 October 2026)
• Rijksoverheid (Dutch government), press release by Minister Van den Brink (13 October 2026)
• IND, "IND late with decision" (updated 23 October 2026) and "Judicial penalties and the IND"
• Staatsblad 2025, 96, the 2025 act that abolished the administrative penalty
• DutchNews (8 September and 14 October 2026) and NL Times (7 September and 14 October 2026)

1. What the Senate decided in October 2026

Two laws, one amendment

On 13 October 2026 the Senate passed two bills on return and immigration detention: the Return and Immigration Detention Act (Wet terugkeer en vreemdelingenbewaring, bill 34.309) and a follow-up bill amending it (a "novelle", bill 35.501). The end of penalty payments sits in the second bill, added through an amendment in the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer).

According to the Senate's announcement, the amendment abolishes the penalty payments a court can impose on the IND when it fails to decide an asylum application on time. The same measure had been part of the emergency asylum bill (Asielnoodmaatregelenwet), which the Senate rejected in April 2026. The SGP re-tabled it as an amendment to this bill.

The Senate's bill page records that the House passed it on 4 June 2026 and the Senate on 13 October 2026. Parties in favour included ChristenUnie, CDA, SGP, D66, FVD, VVD, PVV, JA21, BBB and 50PLUS. PRO, Volt, SP and PvdD were among those against.

Why the government wanted it

Asylum and Migration Minister Bart van den Brink (CDA) described the penalties as having a "destructive effect" and said the IND backlog had spiralled out of control, NL Times reported. IND director Rhoda Maas said the payments added pressure, cost and workload without speeding anything up.

The government press release adds that the penalties were a heavy drain on public money. Each penalty case also required IND staff to appear in court, time the agency wants to spend on processing applications instead.

The case against

Opponents argued that penalties are a consequence of the backlog, not its cause, and that no alternative means of pressure exists. DutchNews reported that an earlier attempt to scrap the penalties was struck down by the Council of State (Raad van State) in 2022 as a breach of EU law, and that refugee organisation VluchtelingenWerk told MPs it considers the new amendment unlawful on the same grounds.

Legal information foundation Stichting IPN raises a related question. If the IND ignores a deadline set by a court, what will make that ruling effective? The answer, it says, will come from future case law.

How much the IND has paid

To see why this became a political issue, look at the amounts. The table combines the IND's own annual report with dated press reports.

Payments tripled in two years, and 2026 overtook all of 2025 within seven months. DutchNews put the 2026 pace at around €14 million a month, against €6.6 million a month in 2025.

The outlets do not agree on the time frames

If you read several reports, you will notice the periods do not line up. DutchNews describes the roughly €99 million as the total for the first seven months of 2026, while NL Times, on 7 September, gave the same figure for the first half of the year. For 2024, the IND reports €36.8 million and NL Times rounds it to "under €37 million".

We have given priority to the IND's own figures and to reports that state a clear date. Whichever figure you take, the trend is the same: penalties rose very fast.

2. In force or not yet? Sorting out the dates

Passing a law is not the same as applying it

In the Netherlands a bill that passes both chambers still needs royal assent and publication in the official gazette (Staatsblad) before it takes effect. The Senate's bill page says this one enters into force at a time to be fixed by royal decree, possibly on different dates for different articles.

IamExpat's report of 16 October said the change had not yet taken effect, the government had not confirmed a date, and it was unclear how the rules would apply to cases already in progress. NL Times reported that the minister intended to implement it within a week.

The IND now uses 16 October as the cut-off

The IND's page on late decisions, updated on 23 October 2026, is more specific. If the IND misses a court-set deadline, the court can order a periodic penalty only if you lodged your appeal before 16 October 2026. For appeals lodged on or after that date, a penalty is no longer possible. Existing rulings ordering the IND to pay remain in force.

When we checked on 24 October 2026, we could not find the gazette publication setting the date. Once it appears on officielebekendmakingen.nl, the date is settled. Until then, treat 16 October as the working cut-off the IND uses, and check the gazette for the formal date.

The differences mostly reflect when each piece was written. With only days between the vote and the IND's cut-off, each source captured a different moment.

What happens to cases already running

According to the IND, rulings that already order a penalty stay valid. For appeals lodged before 16 October, the court can still attach a penalty. Stichting IPN likewise says that appeals filed before the new provisions take effect stay under the old regime.

Which side of the line you are on depends on three things: the date you filed your appeal, whether a ruling has already been given, and the formal entry-into-force date. If a lawyer is handling your case, ask them to check all three.

3. Asylum only, or every kind of permit?

The official wording differs

Many readers will want to know whether this affects work, study and family permits. The sources do not say the same thing.

The Senate's announcement refers to late decisions on asylum applications (asielaanvraag), and DutchNews and NL Times both reported it as a measure on asylum seekers. The government's press release, however, says the bill abolishes court-ordered penalties "in immigration law" (vreemdelingenrecht), without narrowing it. The IND's guidance page sets the 16 October cut-off without distinguishing between application types. IamExpat's headline also speaks broadly of "permit decisions".

Because the sources differ, we will not pick a side. In practice, plan as if no court penalty will be paid in any type of case, including highly skilled migrant, family and extension applications. The exact scope will be clear from the text published in the gazette.

Most penalties were in asylum cases anyway

Whatever the legal scope, most of the money paid out related to asylum procedures. The IND's background article, Judicial penalties and the IND, deals with asylum decisions, and DutchNews built its reporting around the six-month asylum deadline.

Appeals against late decisions have also been used in regular (non-asylum) cases, and the judiciary's case law database contains such rulings. If you have been waiting a long time on a family or extension application, the change still matters to you.

4. How the system works when the IND is late

Four steps

The route has four steps: the deadline passes, you send a notice of default, you appeal, and the court sets a new deadline. All of that survives the change. What disappears is the money paid if the IND then misses the court's deadline.

Only the last row changes. Rows one to four work as before, and you cannot get to a court-ordered deadline without completing them properly.

Statutory decision periods (beslistermijn)

Dutch law sets a deadline for the IND to decide, called the beslistermijn. It differs by application type and is stated on your confirmation of receipt (ontvangstbevestiging).

The IND can extend the period if documents are missing or more research is needed, and will tell you by letter. Its after-application guidance says the extension is six months at most. The 2025 act (Staatsblad 2025, 96) also allows an exceptional extension of up to three months in duly justified cases. While the IND waits for documents it has requested, the clock stops, and if you do not send them, the application is rejected.

Sending a notice of default (ingebrekestelling)

Once the deadline has passed, the first step is a notice of default (ingebrekestelling), a written demand that the IND decides within two weeks. The IND's page sets out the rules:

• Use form 9001, which is in Dutch only
• Send it by post to the IND's PO box in Ter Apel, or through the secure email button on the IND website, with your case number or V-number in the subject line
• Notices sent any other way are invalid and will not be assessed
• A representative such as a lawyer can send it with your authorisation; a representative who is not a Dutch lawyer also needs authorisation declaration 7645

The most common mistakes are sending the notice before the deadline has actually passed, and sending it through ordinary email or a contact form. In court, the IND sometimes argues that a notice was premature or went to the wrong address. Check the date and the channel carefully.

Appealing against a late decision (beroep niet tijdig beslissen)

If there is still no decision two weeks after the notice, you can appeal to the district court (beroep niet tijdig beslissen). The procedure runs through rechtspraak.nl, in Dutch.

The 2025 reform made this appeal available again in all immigration cases, not only asylum, according to the Senate's page on bill 35.749. If the appeal is well founded, the court orders the IND to decide by a set date. In asylum cases, the IND says, courts often allow about eight weeks to schedule an interview and another eight weeks for the decision.

How the penalty worked

Until now, if the IND missed the court's deadline, it owed the applicant a penalty set by the court. The IND explains that penalties are capped per case: usually €15,000 on a first appeal, sometimes €7,500, and €37,500 where the judge wants strong pressure.

Daily rates vary by source. DutchNews reported a usual rate of €100 a day up to €15,000, or €250 a day up to €37,500. A recommendation by the national consultation body of administrative judges (LOVB), dated 21 May 2026, is described as setting €50 a day with a €15,000 cap. Such recommendations change over time and do not bind individual judges, so amounts naturally varied between cases.

Applicants could, in principle, appeal again and again, with higher penalties on later rounds. DutchNews reported that 143,190 people appealed late decisions between early 2024 and 11 May 2026, and 16,570 of them won two or more times. By 29 July 2026, 46 people had received over €80,000 in total and nine more than €100,000 each.

5. Two penalties: one already gone, one going now

The administrative penalty ended on 15 April 2025

There used to be two kinds of penalty. The administrative penalty (bestuurlijke dwangsom) ran automatically if the IND had not decided two weeks after your notice of default. The court penalty (rechterlijke dwangsom) was ordered by a judge after an appeal.

The administrative penalty was abolished by the act of 2 April 2025 (Wet herziening regels niet tijdig beslissen in vreemdelingenzaken). The IND's news item explains that it had already been switched off for asylum, and that for notices received from 15 April 2025 it no longer applies to regular permits either. Older articles quoting "€20 to €40 a day, up to €1,260", such as a DutchReview piece from around 2018, describe this administrative penalty and are out of date.

The notice of default has changed role: it used to be a way to get money, and it is now the step you need before going to court. It is still worth sending.

What changes for you, and what does not

The main change is that you will no longer receive money when the IND ignores a court deadline. Using penalties to offset legal fees stops being an option, and there is less reason to file repeated appeals.

What stays is the court's power to say "decide by this date". What happens when the IND misses that date will be shaped by case law, as Stichting IPN points out. It is also worth watching how other aspects, such as compensation for legal costs, are handled in late-decision cases.

6. Staying and working while you wait

Apply on time and you can stay until the decision

For most people, the bigger worry is not the penalty but whether life and work grind to a halt during the wait. Here, the key question is whether you applied in time.

The IND's extension page says you can apply once your permit expires within three months. If you applied before it expired, you can normally stay in the Netherlands and keep working under the conditions on your current card until the IND decides. For highly skilled migrants, the IND says that if your employer applied for the extension in time, you can keep working with your expired document.

Late applications can leave a gap

If your permit has already expired, the IND says that applying within four weeks of the expiry date avoids a gap in residence. After four weeks you need to include a letter explaining the delay, and you may have a gap. After two years or more you cannot extend at all, and you need a new application, possibly with an MVV (provisional residence permit) from abroad.

ACCESS warns that a gap restarts the five-year count of continuous residence needed for permanent residence or naturalisation, and that an employer's oversight or illness is generally not accepted as an excuse. Note that your card is valid "till" the stated date, not "up to and including" it.

The residence endorsement sticker

If your card has expired and you need to prove your status to an employer or at the border, book an IND appointment for a residence endorsement sticker (verblijfsaantekening) in your passport. It states that you may await the decision in the Netherlands and whether you may work.

Whether a delay disrupts your life depends almost entirely on how and when you applied. An application filed in time keeps your status intact while you wait.

Travelling while your application is pending

If you want to travel during the wait, an expired card on its own can cause trouble on re-entry. Before you go, check with the IND whether you need a sticker or a re-entry document. The rules depend on your application type, so there is no single answer.

7. Planning by situation

Highly skilled migrants

Highly skilled migrant permits are applied for by a recognised sponsor (erkend referent). The IND's highly skilled migrant page gives a 90-day statutory period and a fee of €423, paid by the employer by direct debit. In practice these decisions are often fast, but missing documents extend the clock.

For extensions, make sure your HR department actually tracks your expiry date. Because the employer files the extension, people sometimes discover too late that the deadline is close. Be especially careful when a job change overlaps with an extension.

Partners and family members

The IND's partner page gives a 90-day statutory period and a fee of €254. Where the sponsor holds an asylum permit, the statutory period is nine months. The IND's 2024 annual report put the average wait for asylum-related family reunification at 70 to 84 weeks, with more than 65,000 people waiting.

If your family applies from abroad, the MVV and residence permit are requested together. After approval they must enter within 90 days, so plan around school terms and notice periods.

Extensions, permanent residence and naturalisation

Permanent residence has a six-month statutory period. If you are heading towards permanent residence or Dutch nationality, avoiding gaps between permits matters more than anything else, because a gap resets the five-year count.

What a delay costs you depends on your situation, and so does the decision whether to send a notice or appeal. If there is real urgency, an early conversation with a lawyer is worthwhile, penalty or not.

8. How long are the waits?

The asylum backlog

The amendment is a response to the asylum backlog. DutchNews reported an average wait for an asylum decision of 67 weeks in 2025, up from 53 weeks in 2024 according to the IND. DutchReview reported that more than 54,000 people were waiting for an IND decision in June 2026. NL Times reported that people who applied before the EU Migration Pact took effect on 12 June 2026 face waits of up to three years.

Court cases surged too

The IND's annual report counted almost 30,000 notices of default and around 68,000 court cases in 2024, almost double the 35,390 cases of 2022. NL Times reported that in recent years more than 200 late-decision appeals were filed every working day.

Most of these figures describe asylum procedures. Highly skilled migrant and regular family applications are not delayed to the same degree. Still, the same IND staff handle everything, so the overall backlog can spill over into regular procedures.

9. Common pitfalls

Myths worth dropping

Because the rules changed twice in eighteen months, old and new information get mixed up easily. These are the misunderstandings we see most.

The first two rows are opposite errors that the reform makes easy to fall into. A simple way to remember it: no more money, but the procedure is still there.

Ignoring a document request ends your application

If the IND asks for more documents, send them by the date given, or your application will be rejected. Sometimes a decision that seems late is actually on hold because the IND is waiting for you. Read every IND letter, even if it is in Dutch.

10. What to do this week

1. Check the expiry date on your residence card and add a reminder three months before it
2. If you have a pending application, find the decision deadline on your confirmation of receipt and write it down
3. Check your post and MijnIND for any request for documents
4. If the deadline has passed, send a notice of default using form 9001, by post or IND secure email
5. Record the date you sent it and the date two weeks later
6. If there is still no decision after two weeks, discuss an appeal with a lawyer
7. If your card has expired, book an IND appointment for a residence endorsement sticker
8. Share your expiry date and extension status with your employer's HR team

11. Three scenarios (fictional)

The following examples are fictional and only illustrate how the rules apply.

Scenario 1: A highly skilled migrant waiting on an extension

Maria works for a company in The Hague. Her employer filed her extension two months before her permit expired. It is now past 90 days, there is no decision, and her card has expired. Because the application was filed in time, she can keep working on the same terms. She books an IND appointment for a sticker and shares it with HR. She may also send a notice of default.

Scenario 2: Bringing a partner and child from abroad

Daniel has applied for an MVV and residence permit for his partner and child, who are still abroad. He wants them to arrive before the school term. He knows the route: a notice after 90 days, an appeal two weeks later. He has told his family not to resign from jobs or commit to schools until the decision arrives.

Scenario 3: An appeal filed before 16 October

Amina's family application was delayed and she filed an appeal in September 2026. According to the IND, because her appeal predates 16 October, the court can still attach a penalty. If a ruling with a penalty already exists, it stands. Her lawyer will check how the formal entry-into-force date affects her case.

In none of these cases does the penalty decide what the person can do next. The difference lies in how the application was filed and how carefully dates were recorded.

12. What not to do

None of these mistakes has anything to do with the penalty reform. In a period of rule changes, getting the basics right matters even more.

13. Checklist

• I know my card's expiry date and the date three months before it
• I have kept my confirmation of receipt and noted the decision deadline
• My employer (sponsor) and I agree on who files the extension and when
• I check IND letters and MijnIND regularly
• I know where to find form 9001 and the valid ways to send it
• I know how to book an appointment for a residence endorsement sticker
• My family abroad knows the timeline and the deadline
• I have contact details for an immigration lawyer or legal advice service

14. Summary

• On 13 October 2026 the Senate voted to abolish court-ordered penalties for late IND decisions
• Entry into force is set by royal decree; IamExpat reported no date on 16 October, and the IND now cites appeals from 16 October 2026. We could not find the gazette publication as of 24 October
• The Senate frames the measure around asylum, while the government and IND use broader wording; do not count on a penalty in any type of case
• The administrative penalty ended for notices from 15 April 2025, so older penalty figures no longer apply
• The notice of default, the appeal against a late decision and the court-set deadline remain
• If you apply for an extension before your permit expires, you can normally stay and work until the decision
• Record every date and keep your family and employer informed

This article reflects public information as of 24 October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice. For your own case, contact an immigration lawyer (advocaat) or the free legal advice service Juridisch Loket.

Sources

Official and primary sources

• Twee wetten aangenomen over terugkeer en vreemdelingenbewaring — Eerste Kamer: the 13 October 2026 vote, the amendment and party positions
• Novelle Wet terugkeer en vreemdelingenbewaring (35.501) — Eerste Kamer: House and Senate vote dates, entry into force by royal decree
• Wet herziening regels niet tijdig beslissen in vreemdelingenzaken (35.749) — Eerste Kamer: the 2025 reform
• Staatsblad 2025, 96 — Officiële bekendmakingen: end of the administrative penalty, extension rules, transitional provisions
• Officiële bekendmakingen: official gazette search, where the entry-into-force date will appear
• Minister Van den Brink breidt mogelijkheden uit voor het afdwingen van terugkeer — Rijksoverheid: government explanation
• IND late with decision — IND: notice of default, appeal, the 16 October cut-off
• Judicial penalties and the IND — IND: penalty caps and court deadlines
• Abolishing administrative fines for IND a 'step in the right direction' — IND: end of the administrative penalty
• IND annual report 2024 — IND: 2024 penalties, case numbers, waiting times
• Applied for a residence permit: what happens next? — IND: extensions and document requests
• Regular temporary residence permit extension — IND: when to apply, 90-day period, late applications
• Highly skilled migrant — IND: period, fee, working during an extension
• Residence permit for partner — IND: period, fee, nine months for asylum sponsors
• Aanbeveling rechterlijke dwangsom in vreemdelingenzaken — Rechtspraak: judges' recommendation on penalty amounts
• Rechtspraak and case law database: filing an appeal, published rulings

Media for internationals

• Dutch Senate ends IND fines for late permit decisions — IamExpat: the starting point for this article (16 October 2026)
• Senate votes to axe penalty payments for asylum applicants — DutchNews.nl: the vote and its scope
• IND pays out €99m in seven months for missing asylum deadlines — DutchNews.nl: 2026 payments, daily rates, appeal numbers, Council of State
• Dutch immigration service no longer has to pay fines for too long asylum procedures — NL Times: minister and IND director, implementation intent
• Slow asylum procedures cost immigration service €99 million in fines in 6 months — NL Times: payment time frames
• Dutch agencies stop paying fines for lengthy decisions — NL Times: other agencies, the 2009 origin of penalties
• 140,000 Ukrainians are still stuck in Dutch asylum limbo — DutchReview: number of people waiting
• IND Paid over 1 Million Euros to Asylum Seekers — DutchReview: old administrative penalty amounts
• Dutch visas: how to immigrate to the Netherlands — Expatica: MVV and extension basics
• Mind the gap in residence permit — ACCESS: residence gaps and the five-year count
• Refugees in the Netherlands — Xpat.nl: the asylum procedure
• Work and residence permits — The Hague International Centre: residence permit basics for the Hague region
• Nieuwe fase bij te late IND-besluiten — Stichting IPN: transitional rules and legal questions

All sources were checked on 24 October 2026. The entry-into-force date and the exact scope will be fixed by the text published in the gazette. Check the IND's latest guidance before you act.

Original article

Dutch Senate ends IND fines for late permit decisions — IamExpat