Bringing your “young adult child” to the Netherlands

Currently, family reunification in the Netherlands is only possible for members of the core family unit. The core family unit are the partners/spouses and children under 18. Adult children are not part of the core family unit. However, it is possible to bring your young adult child to the Netherlands in some cases.

They can only come if more than normal emotional ties (in the sense of article 8 of the ECHR) exist between the parents and their adult child.

To comply with rulings from among others the European Court on Human Rights, in late 2016 the IND introduced the following policy for ‘young adults’:

It is not necessary to prove the existence of more than normal emotional ties if the adult child is:

• a young adult
• who has always belonged to the family of their parents
• and continues to do so

According to the IND policy, the IND considers a young adult to be someone between 18-25 years old.

In order to determine whether the young adult has always belonged to the family of their parents and continues to do so the IND will always examine the following factors:

• the young adult does not live independently
• the young adult is not able to provide for themselves
• the young adult is not married or in a committed relationship

Whether or not a young adult can be seen as living independently from their parents or not being able to provide for him/herself, is a factual determination and is always dependent on the facts and circumstances of the case. The policy of the IND is not as clear cut as it seems. We therefore advise to contact our team for further inquiries.