Waiting for IND decision on your application for family reunification Article 8 ECHR

When the IND starts processing your application, more time may be needed for the assessment. For example, because something is still missing. Or because there is a lot of time between the application and the processing of your application.

In these cases, the IND will send you a letter. This is called 'herstel verzuim (remedial default). This is a letter asking you to supplement your application with specific documents that are still missing. You have 2 weeks to do so. Is your application for family reunification on the basis of Article 8 ECHR at the same time as the applications for post-travel asylum family reunification? Then you have 4 weeks to complete your application.

Sometimes the IND still asks questions in the 'herstel verzuim' (remedial default) letter. Those questions are then about you and your family members. So they are different for everyone. Examples are:

• Your application states that your family members lost the passport. A lot of time has passed in the meantime. The IND wants to know what you did in the meantime to get hold of identity documents.

• In your application, you mentioned that your family members never had documents. The IND wants to know why this is so and how he or she managed in the country of origin in daily life without documents.

• You provided a brief explanation of how your family member depends on you. The IND wants a more detailed explanation about this.

The IND may also take longer over your application if, in the IND's opinion, there is not enough evidence that your relatives are really your relatives. Or that they really depend on you (or you on them). If so, you will get a letter from the IND telling you how much extra time the IND needs. The IND will then perform a 'nader onderzoek' (detailed assessment). The letter from the IND will also tell you exactly what the detailed assessment entails. There are 2 options:

• The IND wants a

  DNA assessment
  to prove the family relationship between you and your relatives. You as the referent (the person who made the application for family reunification) must make your own appointment to give DNA samples at the IND office in The Hague
  . Your family members will be called by the
  International Organisation for Migration (IOM)
  or the Dutch Embassy to make an appointment to provide a DNA sample as well. Sometimes this is in the country of origin, sometimes in a neighbouring country.

• The IND wants to have a

  video interview
  with your family members. An appointment will be made for that. This video interview will take place at an office of the
  UNHCR
  or Dutch embassy. Your family members must travel there. Your family members will be asked questions, for example, about their daily lives, work and relationships, whether they can take care of themselves or not, why not, and what the main reason is for wanting to live in the Netherlands.

Questions?

• Do you have any questions about responding to a letter from the IND or the detailed assessment? Or are you unable to travel to a neighbouring country (in time) for the detailed assessment appointment? Then contact the IND. As of 1 December 2025 you can call the asylum family reunification telephone number of the IND: 088 043 04 00. You can also find this number on the IND website. Go to the 'Contact with IND' page and then choose 'Call the IND

  '.

• Do you have a lawyer? Then you can also ask your lawyer questions.

• Did you file your application for family reunification Article 8 ECHR before 1 December 2025? And are you still living in the central reception centre? If so, on this page of RefugeeHelp, you can make an appointment for an online interview with someone from

  VluchtelingenWerk Nederland (VWN)
  . If you already live in the municipality, you can contact VWN in your municipality.

After the IND has made a decision on your application, you will receive the decision in a letter. This decision is either positive or negative:

• Positive decision: your family member may come to the Netherlands.

• Negative decision: your family member may not come to the Netherlands.

This happens in the event of a positive decision from the IND

Has the IND approved your application for family reunification? If so, you will receive a letter from the IND. The letter will tell you what to do next. In your application for family reunification you have specified an embassy where your family members will travel to in case of a positive decision. Your family members must make an appointment with this embassy to pick up the visa. Once they have made this appointment, they will receive a confirmation email from the embassy stating exactly what they need to bring with them to the embassy. Read that carefully and do exactly what is asked. Continue reading this step-by-step plan for more information.

After arriving in the Netherlands, your family member will receive the residence permit.

This is what happens when the IND makes a negative decision

Has the IND not approved your application for family reunification? Then your family member will not receive a visa to come to the Netherlands. You can appeal the decision of the IND. This is best done with the help of a lawyer.

In objection to the IND decision

If you have received a negative decision, a lawyer can appeal on your behalf. Contact a lawyer as soon as possible. In fact, objections must be filed within 4 weeks after you receive the negative decision on your application for family reunification.

• Did you file your application for family reunification before 1 December 2025 and need a lawyer to appeal, but do not know where to find one? Do you live in a central reception centre? Then make an appointment for an online interview with someone from VWN. Do you have a home in the municipality? If so, make an appointment with VWN in your municipality. VWN may be able to refer you.

• Did you file your application for family reunification after 1 December 2025, and need a lawyer to appeal, but do not know where to find one? Do you live in a central reception centre or in a municipality where there is no VWN? If so, go to

  Het Juridisch Loket
  near you
  . Het Juridisch Loket can refer you to a lawyer
  .