What can you do if the IND is late in making a decision on your asylum application?

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Ask your lawyer to help you check which decision deadline applies to your asylum application. You can also check this on Mijn IND. It states when the IND must decide on your application in accordance with the statutory deadline. This link takes you to the Mijn IND login page.

You may have to wait a long time for your interviews with the IND. This may make it seem as though your asylum procedure has not really started yet. However, the decision period may already be underway. That is why it is important to consider not only your interviews with the IND, but also the decision period that applies to your application.

Has the deadline for a decision passed and has the IND still not made a decision? In that case, you and your lawyer can ‘

You do this as follows:

1. Ask your lawyer to assist you with this and to complete the IND form.

   
   The IND will only process the notice of default if it is received by post. Send the printed and completed form, by registered post to:
   Immigration and Naturalisation Service  
   PO Box 14  
   9560 AA TER APEL 
   

Secure emailing

You can also send the form and the authorisation securely via email to the IND.

Please note: Make sure you have completed all the fields on the form. If your application is incomplete, the IND may reject it. You should therefore ensure that your application is complete by the time you serve notice of default on the IND.

If the IND responds to your ‘ingebrekestelling’ (notice of default) and makes a decision on your asylum application within two weeks, the asylum procedure is complete. You will have received a decision. Your asylum application will either be approved or rejected. Read more about this on Refugeehelp

After your notice of default, does the IND still not make a decision within 2 weeks? Then you can go to court. This is called 'going to appeal'. Ask your lawyer for help with this too. You can appeal as follows:

1. To start a procedure, your lawyer must lodge an appeal with the court. By lodging an appeal, you are asking the court to review a decision by the IND with which you disagree. In this case, therefore, the decision not to make a decision.

2. Sometimes you have to come to court with your lawyer, but usually not. The court often decides these types of cases by looking only 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. You then do not have to go to court. If you do have to go to court, you will get a letter about this from the court.

The court will make a decision no later than 8 weeks after receiving your notice of appeal. If the court needs more time, the court will inform you. The ruling will be sent to your address.

If the court decides that you are right, the IND must make a quick decision on your application. In most cases, the court will grant the IND additional time to do this. If the IND still fails to make a decision within that timeframe, the court may impose a fine on the IND. The IND must then pay this to you. This is known as a 'dwangsom' (penalty payment). In this way, the court hopes to compel the IND to make a decision on your asylum application as soon as possible.

It is unclear whether this penalty payment will remain in place. The

The penalty payment may be abolished if the Senate also passes the law. You will still be able to take legal action against the IND for failure to act, even though the IND may no longer be liable for a fine. We will provide further information on this on RefugeeHelp at a later date.

The question is whether the court also agrees that the penalty payment should be abolished. The penalty payment is an important means of ensuring that the IND complies with the rules and that the waiting time is not extended.

The amount of the penalty payment may vary, but there is usually a minimum of €100 per day, with a maximum of 7,500 or 15,000 euros.

If the court finds that additional pressure is indeed required because the IND has failed to reach a decision, the amount may even exceed 100 euros per day, up to 250 euros per day and a maximum of 37,500 euros.

A penalty payment may have financial consequences for you

• For your benefits
  
  If the IND has to pay you a penalty payment, the money you get is considered your own. If you receive

  welfare benefits
  , this may then affect the amount of your
  benefits
  . Your benefits may then go down. It may also affect the amount of money you can get for furnishing your home. A penalty payment you receive for a late decision by the government is not immediately deducted from your welfare benefits. Your benefits will be reduced only if, as a result, your assets as a single person exceed 8,000 euros (this is the amount that applies since 1 January 2026). For a family, double the amount applies: 16,000 euros. Whether your benefits will be reduced also depends on the municipality where you live. It varies from municipality to municipality how they handle this.

• You may have to contribute payment for your reception centre
  
  You may (still) be living in the reception centre if the IND has to pay you a penalty. You may then have to help pay for your reception centre. Or you may receive less or no weekly allowance. How much you must pay depends on how large your family is and how much weekly allowance you receive. Do you have more than €8,000 (if you are single) or €16,000 (if you have a family)? Then you probably have to make a contribution to the payments. You must report this to the

  Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA)
  . These amounts apply as of 1 January 2026. It is important to check with COA. If you are working, receiving the penalty payment has no consequences unless you receive benefits. You will receive a letter from COA with the amount you must pay.