How the New Dutch Asylum Laws Will Impact the International Community in the Netherlands

The Dutch Senate is due to vote on 21 April on three pieces of asylum legislation that would represent the most far-reaching overhaul of Dutch immigration law in decades. The bills were passed by the lower house in July 2025, originally drafted by former asylum minister Marjolein Faber of the PVV. The current Jetten cabinet has confirmed it will implement them if they are approved by the Senate.

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What the laws contain

The Asylum Emergency Measures Act contains eight measures aimed at reducing pressure on the asylum system and cutting the number of new arrivals. The validity of temporary asylum permits will be cut from five to three years. Permanent asylum residence permits will no longer be issued. Unmarried partners and adult children following a status holder through family reunification will no longer receive a derived residence permit.

The Two-Status System Act creates a formal distinction between two categories of protection. People fleeing individual persecution on grounds of race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion receive refugee status. People fleeing generalised war or violence receive subsidiary protection. The two groups will have different rights, particularly around family reunification. Under the new rules, fewer family members of status holders will be eligible to join them in the Netherlands.

Family reunification for all status holders will be restricted to the so-called core family: a legally married spouse and children under 18. Adult children, unmarried partners, and dependent adult relatives — including, for example, an adult child with a serious disability who is wholly dependent on their parents — are excluded from the definition.

Why it matters for the international community, not just asylum seekers

The abolition of the permanent residence permit has consequences that extend well beyond people currently in the asylum system. Under existing Dutch law, naturalisation — the route to Dutch citizenship — requires a permanent residence permit as a prerequisite.

If the Asylum Emergency Measures Act passes, asylum status holders will always have only a temporary permit renewable every three years. As a result, they will no longer be able to become Dutch citizens, since obtaining Dutch citizenship currently requires a permanent residence permit. The only exception is for stateless persons, who may apply after three years of residence.

This is directly relevant to people from countries such as Iran, Syria and Afghanistan who have been living in the Netherlands for years, often working, paying taxes and raising families. For many in these communities, the path to citizenship — and the security that comes with it — would be permanently closed under the new rules.

The Council for the Judiciary has warned that the laws could lead to nearly 20,000 additional asylum cases in the Netherlands, largely because an estimated 75 percent of applicants will receive the lower subsidiary protection status under the new system, creating both more appeals and more renewals at shorter intervals. The IND itself has acknowledged this will be the biggest reform of the asylum system in 30 years.

Where things stand

The Senate debated all three bills on 13 and 14 April 2026. The vote is scheduled for 21 April. However, the outcome is uncertain. The PVV has signalled it will vote against the accompanying amendment that softens the criminalisation of undocumented stay, while the CDA says it can only support the main bill if that amendment is included. If this disagreement is not resolved, the Asylum Emergency Measures Act risks failing.

Separately from the national bills, the EU Asylum and Migration Pact enters into force across all member states on 12 June 2026. The Dutch government passed the implementation legislation through the lower house in April 2026, and the Senate still needs to approve it. The pact introduces stricter external border controls, faster asylum procedures and restrictions on asylum seekers transferring their application to another EU country.

The broader climate for internationals

The Jetten I cabinet's coalition agreement, published when the cabinet was formed in February 2026, confirmed that most of the asylum measures from the previous government would be carried over. However, the plan to extend the naturalisation residence requirement from five to ten years for all migrants — not just asylum seekers — was scrapped by the new coalition. That proposal would have affected knowledge workers, students and other internationals on non-asylum routes who have been building their lives in the Netherlands.