Family reunification

If you wish to live in the Netherlands with your non-European spouse, (unmarried) partner or child, you need a residence permit.

A number of conditions apply:  you and your family member need to have a long-term and exclusive relationship, you need to have sufficient income for at least one year and your partner must have passed the civic integration examination abroad.

However, in some situations these conditions do not apply. The (minor) child is not required to take this integration exam and partners who come from certain countries, as well as partners who already have a Dutch residence permit are exempt from taking this examination. An exemption from the civil integration examination also applies if your partner has certain diplomas or is able to demonstrate that he or she is unable to pass the exam due to very special individual circumstances. As a result of decisions of the European Court and the national Courts, both the integration requirement as the income-requirements are less restrictive than before.

The requirements can be much less strict – no integration requirement nor a strict income requirement – if the family member has an EU-nationality from another member state, is a Dutch citizen who has lived together with the family member in another EU-member state or if there is a minor Dutch child involved you care for and which child depends on you.

Even if one or more conditions are not met, the IND will always have to weigh up interests and assess whether the residence permit should nevertheless be granted.

Looking for an experienced residence permit lawyer?

To have more information or guidance about the conditions, exceptions and possibilities in your specific case, please contact Scheers Advocatuur.

Publications

For a list of publications in Dutch please refer to the Dutch family reunification page.