The Bottom Line
- Certainty for International Hires: Companies relocating international talent to the Netherlands can expect more predictability. The court has confirmed that the immigration authority cannot indefinitely delay family reunification visas due to internal backlogs.
- “First-In, First-Out” Policy is Not a Blank Check: The government’s strategy of processing applications in the order they are received (FIFO) does not grant it the right to miss statutory decision deadlines by months or even years.
- Legal Challenges are Effective: This ruling reinforces that businesses and their employees can successfully challenge processing delays in court, obtaining firm deadlines and financial penalties for non-compliance by the authorities.
The Details
In a significant decision for any company reliant on international talent, the District Court of The Hague has ruled against the Dutch immigration authority’s handling of visa application backlogs. The case involved an application for a family reunification visa submitted in June 2024. Despite a legal deadline that expired in December 2024, the applicant was informed that due to the authority’s “first-in, first-out” (FIFO) processing policy, their file would likely not be reviewed until June 2026—a two-year wait. The applicant challenged this failure to provide a timely decision.
The court rejected the government’s defense outright. While acknowledging the operational pressures and significant backlogs faced by the immigration service, the judges determined that internal administrative policies like FIFO cannot legally justify ignoring statutory time limits for decisions. Citing established precedent from the Netherlands’ highest administrative court, the ruling emphasizes that procedural fairness and legal certainty for applicants outweigh the government’s internal processing challenges. The delay was therefore deemed unlawful.
Consequently, the court ordered the Minister of Asylum and Migration to issue a decision on the application within eight weeks. This period can be extended to twenty weeks only if the authority formally notifies the applicant that further investigation is required. Furthermore, the court imposed a standard penalty of €100 for each day the new deadline is missed, up to a maximum of €15,000. It notably dismissed the government’s request for a lower penalty, stating that an anticipated failure to comply is not a valid reason to reduce the incentive for timely action. This ruling sends a clear message: administrative backlogs are the government’s problem to solve, not the applicant’s burden to bear indefinitely.
Source
District Court of The Hague
