These are the various application options to bring your relatives or family to the Netherlands
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There are several ways to bring your family members or relatives to the Netherlands. Depending on your situation, you have to submit a certain type of application to the IND. Below we explain which application you have to make.
Post-travel asylum family reunification
'Family reunification for asylum seekers (post-travel)'
Do you have an asylum residence permit, do you live in the Netherlands, and do you want to bring your family members who have remained behind to the Netherlands? If so, you should apply for ‘family reunification for asylum seekers (post-travel)’. From 12 June 2026, it will matter whether you have a
From 12 June 2026, the new
Unmarried partners, adult children and foster children who were part of your family in your home country are no longer permitted to come to the Netherlands under the family reunification scheme. Unless your adult child was still a minor when you came to the Netherlands.
Stricter requirements for beneficiaries of subsidiary protection
If you have a residence permit as a beneficiary of subsidiary protection, additional requirements apply to family reunification:
You must wait two years before you can submit your application for family reunification. Applications are then processed by the
From 12 June, you must also have suitable accommodation. This means you must have a place where your family can live (the transit centre also counts as a home). You will no longer be allowed to live in a reception centre if you wish to bring your family to the Netherlands.
You are allowed to submit your family reunification application whilst you are still living in a reception centre, but by the time the IND has made a decision on your application, you must be living in your own home or in a transit centre.
There is also an income requirement that applies to you. You must have sufficient income (at least €2,294.40 gross per month) to support your family members who are coming to the Netherlands.
If you hold a ‘asylum residence permit as a refugee’, these three requirements do not apply. In that case, only the post-travel deadline applies. This means that you must apply for family reunification within three months of being granted your asylum permit.
You are applying for 'family reunification for asylum seekers (post-travel)' for your spouse and your minor child or children. If you entered the Netherlands as an
Family reunification asylum under Article 8 ECHR
Do you have an asylum residence permit, do you live in the Netherlands, and do you want to bring other family members who have remained behind to the Netherlands? If so, you should apply for ‘family reunification based on
Regular application for family reunification
There is also a third type of application: the 'reguliere aanvraag gezinshereniging' (regular application for family reunification).
Please note: for this application, the
You have previously submitted an application for ‘family reunification for asylum seekers (post-travel)’, but you submitted it more than three months after receiving your asylum residence permit,
and the IND has informed you that you did not have a valid reason for submitting your application late. Your 'application for family reunification (post-travel)' has therefore been rejected.
In that case, you can submit a standard family reunification application. Stricter rules apply to this than to ‘family reunification (post-travel)’.
Please note: Only do this if you have received a letter from the IND stating that you were late and that the IND considers you have not provided a valid reason for this.
If you, as the applicant, do not have an asylum residence permit but a standard residence permit (for example, for work or medical reasons), or if your family is formed after you have arrived in the Netherlands (for example, you enter into a relationship with a partner who is living in your country of origin after you have come to live in the Netherlands), you must also submit a standard application.