Family members allowed to enter Netherlands immediately after reunification approval
If family reunification is approved, family members no longer have to wait to come to the Netherlands. The Council of State ruled that on Wednesday.
'Nareismaatregel'
Last summer, the Dutch cabinet decided that family members of
Family members were only allowed to come to the Netherlands earlier even if there was already housing for them.
Criticism from lawyers
The government devised the 'nareismaatregel' (after-travel measure) to combat crowding in refugee reception centres. The situation in asylum reception centres was so bad at the time that people slept on the streets near the application centre in Ter Apel for nights on end.
However, legal experts previously warned that this 'nareismaatregel' is not allowed. By law, you cannot make family members wait if their family reunification has already been approved. Nor is it allowed under European law.
Court agrees with status holders
That is why a number of status holders went to court late last year. They did not want their family members to have to wait a long time, even though family reunification had already been approved. They were proven right by several courts. After that, their family members were allowed to come to the Netherlands.
Eric van der Burg, State Secretary for Asylum and Migration, disagreed with the courts' ruling. He appealed. However, the
'Nareismaatregel' no longer allowed
The Dutch government may therefore no longer restrict family reunification for status holders. This applies to all cases: both for applications for family reunification that are already being processed, and for applications in the future.