No maximum stay for foreign students

2009-05-05/ 2009-10-02  On April, 16th 2009 the municipal court of Amsterdam has decided that foreign students in The Netherlands should be given permission to extend their residence permit in order to be able to finish their studies even in case the fixed term to remain has expired. The court ruling was provoked by Florimond Wassenaar in an actual case of a student confronted with a ' deadline' on his legitimate stay.

According to vast Dutch policy rules, foreign students in The Netherlands receive permission to remain only during the curricular term of their studies added with an extra fixed term of one or two years in case of any delay.  The decision has put a stop to this policy and decided that students should be given a residence permit as long as universities or education colleges do not deregister them due to lack of progress within the curriculum. In that case the student should be given a residence permit to finish his or her studies regardless the fact the fixed extra term has expired..

2009-10-02 The Secretary of Justice has not filed an appeal against this ruling of the court. We consider the IND does not dispute the opinion of the court, but legally the IND can decide differently in other cases. The maximum stay for students will be abolished definitly if the IND anounces officially a change of regulations.

If you would like to obtain more information or to be informed wether this new case law would apply to your situation, do not hesitate to contact one of our immigration lawyers