How to extend your residence permit in NL

A Dutch residence permit is issued for a fixed period, and the document on your card carries an end date. Extending it is a separate application to the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND), and it is not one single procedure: what you do depends on which permit you hold, and in several categories you are not the person who submits the application at all. This guide covers extending a regular temporary permit, and points you to the different routes for changing your residence purpose, replacing a lost document, and renewing a permanent residence document.

Check the type and end date printed on your residence document, because the whole procedure hangs on them. Extension applies where you still meet the conditions of the permit you already hold. If your situation has changed and you no longer meet them, for example your studies have ended or a relationship has ended, the IND route is a change of residence purpose, not an extension. A small group of permits cannot be extended at all. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens do not hold the kind of temporary Dutch residence permit that the extension procedure applies to, so the extension steps below are not for them. They can hold a permanent residence document for citizens of the European Union (type EU/EEA), and UK nationals can hold a Withdrawal Agreement document; those documents are renewed through the IND renewal procedure set out in the branch below.

The IND treats these four situations differently, and picking the wrong one wastes the application fee and the waiting time.

• You extend it yourself

  For most regular temporary residence permits the IND states that you can usually apply for the extension yourself. You submit the application to the IND, pay the fee for your permit category, and the IND has a decision period of 90 days. You can apply from 3 months before the permit expires.

• Only your recognised sponsor can apply

  The IND states that if you hold a residence permit as a highly skilled migrant, researcher or student in higher education, only your recognised sponsor (erkend referent) can submit the extension, through the IND Business Portal. That means your employer, research institution or educational institution has to act, and you cannot repair a missed deadline yourself. Ask them in writing well before the 3-month window opens who is submitting and when.

• Your permit cannot be extended

  The IND lists permits that cannot be extended: Working Holiday Programme, Cultural exchange, Au pair, a permit for a work placement as an intern or trainee, and the orientation year. If you hold one of these and want to stay, the route is a change of residence purpose to a permit you do qualify for, or departure at the end of the permit.

• You hold a permanent document

  A permanent regular residence permit (type II), a long-term resident EC permit (type V), a permanent asylum residence permit (type IV), a permanent residence document for citizens of the European Union (type EU/EEA) and a Withdrawal Agreement document all use a different procedure: you renew the document rather than extend a permit. The IND states you can submit that application from 3 months before the current document expires, that renewal of the residence document costs €85 (2026), and that the IND must decide within 8 weeks.

1. 1

   Work out which procedure you actually need

   The IND separates four things that people tend to lump together: extending or renewing a permit that is about to expire, changing your residence purpose because your situation has changed, applying for permanent residency, and replacing a document that was lost, stolen or damaged. Extension keeps you on the same grounds. A change of residence purpose is for when, in the IND's words, your situation has changed and you no longer meet the requirements for your current residence permit, for example because a relationship ended or your studies finished. Replacement is about the plastic card only and does not move the end date.

   Do this: Read the end date and permit type on your residence document and match your situation to one of the four IND procedures before you fill in anything.

   Documents needed

   • Your current residence document

   Processing time

   15 minutes, and worth doing 4 months before the end date on your card

   Common mistake: Applying to extend a permit whose conditions you no longer meet is the most expensive mistake here: the fee is not refunded and the time spent waiting is time in which you could have applied for the right thing. If your grounds have changed, the change of residence purpose route is the one the IND points to.

   Official source

   IND · Replace, extend, renew and change
2. 2

   Check whether you or your sponsor submits the application

   For most regular temporary permits the IND states you can usually apply for the extension yourself. There is a clear exception: if you hold a permit as a highly skilled migrant, researcher or student in higher education, only your recognised sponsor (erkend referent) can submit the extension, through the IND Business Portal. Some permits cannot be extended at all, and the IND names the Working Holiday Programme, Cultural exchange, Au pair, work placement as an intern or trainee, and the orientation year.

   Do this: Confirm in writing with your employer, research institution or educational institution who is submitting the extension and on what date, if you are in a sponsor-led category.

   Processing time

   Do this at least 4 months before expiry, so there is time to escalate inside the organisation

   Common mistake: In sponsor-led categories you cannot rescue a missed deadline yourself, because the IND will not accept the application from you. Assuming HR has it in hand without a named person and a date is how highly skilled migrants end up with a residence gap.

   Official source

   IND · Regular temporary residence permit extension
3. 3

   Apply inside the 3-month window before expiry

   The IND opens the extension window 3 months before your permit expires and states that if your permit is still valid for more than 3 months you cannot yet submit an application. Apply while the permit is still valid. If it expired very recently, the IND states you must submit no later than 4 weeks after expiry. Between 4 weeks and 2 years after expiry you should apply as soon as possible, you may have a residence gap, and you must enclose a letter explaining why you did not apply in time. After 2 years the permit can no longer be extended and you would need a new residence permit application, which may mean applying from abroad with a provisional residence permit (mvv).

   Do this: Submit the extension application to the IND as soon as the 3-month window opens, not on the last day of the permit.

   Documents needed

   • Valid passport or travel document
   • Evidence that you still meet the conditions of your permit
   • A letter explaining the delay, if the permit expired more than 4 weeks ago

   Cost

   Fees vary by permit type and are published on the IND fee page

   Processing time

   The window opens 3 months before the end date on your permit

   Common mistake: A residence gap is not a paperwork detail. The IND states that with a residence gap it takes longer before you can apply for a permanent residence permit or become a Dutch citizen, and the permanent residence conditions include that you have always extended your residence permit in time.

   Official source

   IND · Regular temporary residence permit extension
4. 4

   Show that you still meet the conditions, and pay the fee

   Extension is a fresh test, not a formality. The IND requires that you still meet the requirements for your residence permit, that you hold a valid passport or travel document, that your main residence is in the Netherlands, that you are not a danger to public order or national security, and that you did not give false information or withhold information in the earlier application. What that means in practice differs by category, so a salary criterion, a sponsor relationship, insurance or an integration condition attached to your specific permit is tested again against the requirements published for that permit. Fees differ by permit type: the IND publishes the amounts per category and states they are valid from 1 January to 31 December and change every year on 1 January.

   Do this: Gather current evidence for each condition attached to your own permit category and pay the IND fee for that category.

   Documents needed

   • Valid passport or travel document
   • Current income, employment or enrolment evidence, depending on your permit
   • Evidence of your main residence in the Netherlands

   Cost

   Fees vary by permit type. The IND publishes the current amounts on its leges page and changes them on 1 January each year.

   Processing time

   Pay when the IND asks; online applications are paid at the time of submission and postal applications get payment instructions by letter

   Common mistake: People assume nothing is re-tested because they are already here. The IND checks that you still meet the requirements of the permit, so a drop in income, a change of employer or a lapsed main residence in the Netherlands can surface at extension rather than at first application.

   Official source

   IND · Leges: kosten van een aanvraag
5. 5

   Wait out the decision period, and plan any travel around it

   For extension of a regular temporary residence permit the IND has a legal decision period of 90 days. An incomplete application adds 2 weeks, and the IND can extend the period by several weeks up to a maximum of 6 months. Renewing a permanent residence document and replacing a lost or stolen document both carry an 8-week period. Travel is the part people get wrong: the IND states that if your residence permit is temporarily no longer valid, or expires during your trip, you need a return visa (terugkeervisum) to travel back to the Netherlands, and that you use the residence permit to show you are allowed to be in the Netherlands.

   Do this: Arrange a return visa before leaving the Netherlands if your permit will be expired or will expire while you are away.

   Processing time

   90 days for extension of a regular temporary permit; 8 weeks for renewal of a permanent document or replacement of a lost document

   Common mistake: Do not assume a document will cover you during the wait. The Foreign Nationals Identity Document (type W and W2) is not a residence permit, cannot be used to travel abroad, and is issued in asylum and a few other specific situations, not for a regular extension. The IND's extension pages do not describe how you prove your position between the expiry date and the decision, so if you need certainty before booking travel or signing anything that depends on your status, put the question to the IND directly and keep the answer in writing.

   Official source

   IND · Decision periods
6. 6

   Collect the new document at the IND desk

   The decision does not arrive as a card in the post. The IND states that you receive a letter when the residence permit is ready at an IND desk, and that you must make an appointment to collect it. Collection is by appointment only. Check the end date and the wording on the new document against what you applied for as soon as you have it, because the endorsement on the back is what employers and the municipality read.

   Do this: Book the collection appointment as soon as the IND letter arrives, and check the new card's end date and endorsement before you leave the desk.

   Documents needed

   • The IND letter
   • Your old residence document
   • Valid passport or travel document

   Processing time

   By appointment, after the IND letter arrives

   Common mistake: Leaving the card uncollected for months is a common slip. Until you have it you have no current document to show an employer, a bank or the municipality, and you cannot use it to travel back into the Netherlands.

   Official source

   IND · Regular temporary residence permit extension

• Your current residence document, so you can read the exact permit type and end date
• A valid passport or other travel document
• Your DigiD, if you are applying online yourself
• Evidence that you still meet the conditions of your permit, for example current employment or income evidence, or proof of enrolment
• A written explanation of why you did not apply in time, if your permit has already expired by more than 4 weeks
• A certified copy of the police report, if you are applying to replace a lost or stolen document instead

• There is no single extension fee. The IND publishes the amounts per permit category on its fee page (leges), and states that the amounts are valid from 1 January to 31 December and are changed every year on 1 January.
• Extension of a family or partner permit: €254 (2026), as published on the IND fee page.
• Extension of a student permit: €254 (2026), as published on the IND fee page.
• Extension of a highly skilled migrant (kennismigrant) permit: €423 (2026), as published on the IND fee page. Other work-related categories carry their own amounts, so check the fee page for the figure that applies to your category before you pay.
• Renewal of a permanent residence document: €85 (2026).
• Replacement of a lost, stolen or damaged document, or a change of the details on it: €171 (2026) for a regular permit, with lower amounts for children and for some categories.

You can apply from 3 months before your permit expires, and not earlier: the IND states that if your permit is still valid for more than 3 months you cannot yet submit an application. For extension of a regular temporary residence permit the IND has a legal decision period of 90 days. For renewing a permanent residence document, and for replacing a lost or stolen document, the period is 8 weeks. An incomplete application adds 2 weeks, and the IND can extend a decision period by several weeks up to a maximum of 6 months.

Requirements depend on your situation. Check the latest requirements with the relevant authority.

• Waiting for the IND to remind you. The 3-month window opens on the end date printed on your own document, and nothing starts it for you.
• Assuming you submit your own extension when you are a highly skilled migrant, researcher or student in higher education. In those categories only your recognised sponsor can apply, through the Business Portal, and a sponsor who forgets is the reason the permit lapses.
• Applying too early. If your permit is still valid for more than 3 months the IND states you cannot yet submit the application.
• Letting the permit expire and treating a few weeks as harmless. The IND states you should submit no later than 4 weeks after expiry, and that a residence gap makes you wait longer before you can apply for permanent residence or Dutch nationality.
• Filing an extension when your circumstances have actually changed. If you no longer meet the conditions of the permit you hold, the IND route is a change of residence purpose, and an extension application on the old grounds can be refused.

• Put the date 3 months before your permit expires in your calendar now, and a second reminder 6 weeks before it, so a sponsor-submitted application can still be chased.
• Collect the new residence document in person at the IND desk once the letter arrives, and check the end date and the wording on the back of the card against what you applied for.
• If you are travelling around the expiry date, arrange a return visa before you leave, because the IND states you need one to travel back if your permit is temporarily no longer valid or expires during your trip.
• Once you have 5 consecutive years of Dutch residence permits with no gaps, look at the permanent residence permit. The IND requires that you have always extended your residence permit in time, that your main residence was in the Netherlands for the whole 5 years, and that you have passed the civic integration exam at level A2 or been exempted from it.