10,000 International Students Receive Residence Permits in Netherlands

A total of 10,000 international students collected their Dutch residence permits from The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst, IND) last Saturday, IND has informed.

In a statement published on its website, IND stated that students collected their residence documents at The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS), home to nearly 26,000 international students, Erudera.com reports.

“To study in the Netherlands, students from outside the EU need a residence permit. It is advantageous for students as well as the IND to organise the issuance of these residence documents centrally,” the statement reads.

The Dutch agency highlighted that over the recent months, students had faced long wait times to collect their residence documents. This year, the collection of residence permits has been organized centrally in The Hague for two days, where the majority of students from outside the EU go to study, IND said.

THUAS offered to assist with the central issuance of residence documents at its main campus, which is also close to Train Station Hollands Spoor in The Hague. To make this possible, IND cooperated with 26 educational institutions, dividing students into two groups and scheduling appointments to collect residence permits between two Saturdays.

IND services manager, Merel Hekker, said that the agency has now adopted a new approach on the matter in order to ensure that all students receive their residence documents in the Netherlands during September.

“To make sure that students will still obtain their residence document in September, we have adopted a different approach. Central issuance allows us to deploy our staff as effectively as possible and prevent others from having to wait longer because of the student peak,” Hekker said.

Meanwhile, the Registrations and International Office team leader at THUAS, Marlies Rexwinkel, said that receiving the residence permit quickly eases the burden of international students, and the latter can continue to focus on their education and fellow students.

“If this allows us to help as many international students as possible start to their time here in the Netherlands smoothly, we are happy to play our part,” Rexwinkel said.

According to IND, many students were satisfied with the service while collecting their residence permits at THUAS, describing it as a “quick and pleasant service.”

This year, 16,630 applications for residence permits from students were submitted to the IND until July, an increase compared to last year, especially from Chinese, Indian and US students, many of whom choose the Netherlands as their study destination.

IND is a Dutch government agency under the Ministry of Security and Justice that assesses the applications of everyone who wants to stay in the Netherlands. With a residence document, international students in the Netherlands can demonstrate their permission to stay in the country.

Earlier this month, it was reported about a housing crisis in the Netherlands, which has also affected international students. However, the government introduced the National Student Housing Action Plan, which is expected to fix this issue by building 60,000 student homes in the Netherlands in 8 years.

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