This is what you can do if the IND is late in deciding your asylum case

Last updated: 23/01/2025, 13:49

The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) must decide on your application in time. If this does not happen, you can officially ask the IND to make a decision within 2 weeks. This is called 'in gebreke stellen' (notice of default).

The IND now has 15 months to decide on your asylum application

The law states that the IND has 6 months to decide on an asylum application. But that has not worked out in recent years. There are more applications than the IND can process. As a result, it takes longer and longer before the asylum procedure can begin. And waiting times are increasing. It currently takes on average 5 weeks before you have the 1st interview with the IND. And more than 60 weeks for the 2nd interview that starts the asylum procedure.

The Dutch government decided at the end of 2023 that the IND will have an additional 9 months as long as necessary to decide on an asylum application. As a result, the IND now has 15 months. And in exceptional situations, the IND can also extend this period once or twice by 3 months.

Ask the IND officially to make a decision anyway

Is the

Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND)

too late in deciding on your application? Then you can declare the IND in default. By doing so, you are officially letting the IND know that they are not keeping to the agreement to make a decision within 15 months at the latest. You can use the form in the link below and send it to the following address:

Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst Postbus 14 9560 AA TER APEL

After receiving the notice of default, the IND has 2 weeks to make a decision on your application.

Form: IND notice of default

Use this form to ask the IND to make a decision within 2 weeks.

More information

Your application must be complete

If your application was not complete, the IND can reject your application. So make sure your application was complete at the time you declare them in default.

This is what you can do if the IND still will not make a decision

If the IND still does not make a decision after your notice of default, the IND is obliged to pay you a fine. And you can appeal to the courts.

Appealing to the court

To start the procedure, you file a notice of appeal with the court. A notice of appeal is a document you use to start proceedings against the government within administrative law.

Usually the court decides without you there needs to be a tribunal

The court often decides these types of cases by just looking at the documents. The court asks the IND to send all the documents of the case and explain why they have not made a decision yet. Then there does not need to be a tribunal.

If there does need to be tribunal, you will receive a letter about this from the court.

This is what happens if the court decides you are right

If the court decides that you are right, the IND must make a quick decision regarding your application. Usually, the court gives the IND 2 weeks to do this. If the IND does not decide within this time frame, the court can impose an additional fine on the IND for each day they are late according to the time limit set by the court.

If there is no hearing, the court issues a ruling within 8 weeks of receiving the notice of appeal. If there is a hearing, the court will issue a ruling within 6 weeks of the hearing. If the court needs more time, they will inform you. The ruling will be sent to your address.

You can get legal help

You can seek legal advice from a lawyer before you decide to force the IND to make a decision. This will increase your chances of a positive outcome. You can also go to

VluchtelingenWerk Nederland (VWN)

if you have any questions.