If you are no longer allowed to stay in the Netherlands, but are unable to leave the country because you are undergoing medical treatment, you could, on certain conditions, apply for residency on medical grounds.
The conditions
Conditions for residency on medical grounds are:
- you are not fit to travel because of your or one of your family members’ health condition
- the cancellation of your treatment results in a medical emergency*
- if the medical treatment cannot take place in your country of origin
*As a medical emergency are considered death, disability or another form of serious mental or physical damage.
In order to assess whether the continuance of your medical treatment in the Netherlands is necessary, the IND (Immigration and Naturalization Service consults the Bureau Medische Advisering (BMA) (Committee of Medical Consultation).
Applicants whose situation does not come under a specific purpose of stay might qualify for immigration on humanitarian grounds. Their circumstances should be individual and distressing, also sometimes referred to as urgent humanitarian reasons.
Examples of such urgent humanitarian reasons can be found in case of victims of domestic violence or human trafficking, women who are left behind against their will in their countries of origin, foreign nationals who cannot leave the Netherlands through no fault of their own and/or any other situation in which there is not another clearly defined ground for residence. There should be a combination of special circumstances that make it impossible for the foreign national in question to go back to his country of origin.
Applications for immigration on humanitarian grounds are complex from both a legal and a factual point of view. As much evidence as possible should be collected of the special distressing circumstances.
For more information please contact Nikki Vreede or Lotte van Diepen.
