Author: Maggie Bisschop

On 1 April 2024, the IND introduced a new procedure for so-called Treaty applications. These include, for example, the Japanese-Dutch Trade Agreement and the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty (DAFT). The IND approval notices in these application procedures now include the following remark (translated from Dutch): “In the case of applications for initial residence permits based on […]

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On December 15, 2025, the Canadian Citizenship Act was amended by Bill C-3. This amendment grants Canadian citizenship to so-called “Lost Canadians.” What does the amendment to the Canadian Citizenship Act entail? Before the new Canadian citizenship law (Bill C-3) was introduced, a Canadian citizen could only pass on Canadian citizenship to a child born […]

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On March 26, 2026, our colleague Hermie de Voer was interviewed for the NPO1 program EenVandaag. She briefly explained how problematic the Dutch ban on dual citizenship is in practice. The segment focused on soccer players and other top athletes. But of course, this affects far more people than just soccer players, marathon skaters, or […]

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Newspapers and news reports are full of stories about migration and migrants. They often talk about fortune seekers, people who take jobs and homes away from Dutch citizens, or alleged links to crime. But who are these migrants really? The human story behind the migrant is a series of stories from the daily practice of […]

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Today, the new salary thresholds for highly skilled migrants, intra-company transfers, Blue Card holders, and recent graduates in the Netherlands were published. The following salary thresholds will apply per January 1st, 2026: The above presents the minimum gross salary per month, excluding 8% holiday allowance. All applications received by the IND after 31 December 2025 […]

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From 1 January 2026, the administrative duty of recognised sponsors will be expanded. They will be required to include additional information in their records. This concerns proof that highly skilled migrants or EU Blue Card holders actually received their salary. For example, a statement from the business bank account or an overview of a batch […]

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Two years ago, the South African High Court ruled that the provision stating that South African nationality is automatically lost when you acquire another nationality is unconstitutional. At that time, we wrote that this did not change anything yet, because the South African Constitutional Court still had to look into it. On 6 May 2025, […]

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In its ruling of 22 October 2025, the Administrative Jurisdiction Division announced the revised assessment framework. The revised assessment framework contains a number of changes compared to the assessment framework set out in the Division’s ruling of 4 May 2022. The changes comprise the following five points. 1. Clarification of the concept of ‘further evidence’ […]

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Application fees for Dutch citizenship requests, by naturalization or option, are revised annually. As of 1 January 2026, the IND charges the following amounts: Category Application fees in 2025 Application fees in 2026 Single option request € 231 € 241 Option request with partner € 395 € 412 Child < 18 joining option request € 26 € 27 Single naturalization request € 1.091 € 1.139 Naturalization […]

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The Dutch Bar Association (NOvA) has once again set up an independent committee of academics and lawyers to assess election programs in terms of their constitutionality. The committee cites migration as the most worrying issue: a halt to asylum, austerity measures in reception facilities, and the abolition of priority for status holders in social housing. […]

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