The Directorate strives to handle applications for residence permits as quickly as possible for the benefit of all applicants. The goal is to process applications within 90 days from the day all required documents have been submitted.

The team working on family reunification permits is now extremely busy. 200 applications for first permits and 190 for renewals now need to be processed. The earliest applications still to be processed were submitted in late December.

For the next two weeks, emphasis will be on processing those applications in order to shorten the waiting time for applicants. Unfortunately, this will affect personal communication with applicants for family permits during this period, April 16 to 26. Case workers will not take telephone calls and e-mail will not be answered daily.

The applications will be processed as quickly as possible and enquiries by telephone, e-mail or at the front desk will not shorten the processing time. If further documentation or information is needed, the applicant or his/her representative will be contacted by a case worker.

General questions will still be answered as usual during the switchboard telephone hours.

Information on which applications are currently being processed is updated regularly here.

The Directorate of Immigration is obliged to accord equitable treatment when processing applications. Applications are therefore processed in the order of their submission. If an application for a residence permit is processed ahead of other applications that were submitted earlier, this will cause an unfair delay in the processing of those applications. For this reason, an accelerated procedure is only granted in exceptional unforeseen circumstances. The fact that an application was submitted too late for renewal, a planned trip abroad, whether for a holiday or for business, are not considered valid reasons for accelerated processing.

Please note that this does not apply to the expedited processing of applications for residence permits based on work in return for a service fee, see here. 

Due to technical problems there was no telephone connection to the Directorate's switchboard between 9:00 and 9:12. 

We apologize for the inconvenience that this caused.