During your stay in the Southeast Netherlands, you might want to enjoy the company of your family members. Just like you, they may need to apply for an authorisation for temporary stay (MVV) and/or a resident permit. Before bringing them over you will need to choose the right procedure. As is the case with the residence permits and Authorisation for temporary stay (MVV), there are several grounds on which partners and family members of expats can get a residence permit or an MVV (authorisation for temporary stay). If you are an EU citizen, other rules apply and this information is not applicable.

Difference between partner reunification and establishing a family
If the marriage took place or the (registered) partnership was formed at a time when the principle applicant had his or her main residence in The Netherlands, this is classed as ‘establishing a family’. All other cases are classed as family reunification.    
The main difference in the procedure is the fact that for establishing a family, the required sufficient means of support are higher than in the case of family reunification. See for more information the IND webiste.  

Registering a foreign marriage and legalising foreign documents
An important factor in the procedure of bringing family members is the legalisation of documents and the M46 declaration (an investigation by the immigration authorities to determine if a marriage or relationship is genuine). Information about the M46 declaration is available below. See for more information the paragraph Legalisation of Documents.

In this section, we will describe the following procedures:

• Family reunification or establishing a family of a knowledge migrant or of a researcher and family reunification or establishing a family in general

• The M46 procedure for registering a foreign marriage

For more information about bringing your family, please check the Residence Wizard on the IND website.

Family reunification or establishing a family: Specific rules for knowledge migrants or researchers in accordance with EU regulation 2005/71/EC.

Procedure for Highly Skilled Migrant or Scientific Researcher
If a highly skilled migrant or knowlede migrant has a (marriage) partner and/or minor children who also wish to come to The Netherlands, it is possible that the employer submits an application on behalf of these family members and makes use of the accelerated procedure.

The employer who has an agreement the IND to apply the knowledge migrant procedure can use the forms on the internet to also submit an application on behalf of family members that wish to travel to The Netherlands with a highly skilled migrant (at the same time as submitting the application for the highly skilled migrant).

If the highly skilled migrant already holds a residence permit and his or her family members travel to The Netherlands at a later date, the employer can also submit the application on behalf of the highly skilled migrant using the form on the internet.

The employer will be responsible in the first instance for paying the applicable fees. If he/she is not able or willing to do so, the highly skilled migrant will be requested to pay the fees.

The advantage of bringing your family under the knowledge migrant procedure or researcher procedure is that it is much faster than the regular procedure. The IND aims to achieve advice on the MVV (which allows you to enter The Netherlands) in 2 weeks. However, you should bear in mind that the residence permit for family members cannot be issued until there is proof that the marriage is registered with the Municipal Administration (Gemeentelijke Basisadministratie or GBA). Moreover, family members must be registered at the same address as the highly skilled migrant. Besides that, partners of knowledge migrants and researchers are free to work on the Dutch labour market during the period of the valid residence permit of their spouse.

Partners/spouses of highly skilled migrants and scientific researchers (following the directive) are not subjected to a civic integration examination abroad.

If you wish to stay in the Netherlands, you will need to meet the following requirements.

Conditions the partner/spouse must meet:

• You are married to, or are the (registered) partner, of someone in The Netherlands who holds the status of a knowledge migrant or a researcher under the EU directive 2005/71/EC.
• You are both aged 21 or over
• You have a legalised marriage certificate, birth certificate(s)  or a certificate of non marriage (deeplink naar legalisatie website)
• Your husband or wife or (registered) partner has sufficient long-term means of support check the Residence Wizard on the IND website for more information.

A minor child must meet the following conditions (if the child wants to live with his parent(s) in The Netherlands):

• He/she is not married, and has never been married
• He/she is an actual part of the family
• He/she has a family relationship with the parent(s) in The Netherlands with whom he wants to stay
• He/she poses no danger to the public order
• He/she will live with his/her parent(s) as soon as he/she arrives in The Netherlands
• He/she he will register at the same address as his/her parent(s)
• He/she he has permission to come to The Netherlands from the parent who is staying behind in his/her country of origin.

 
The parent(s) must meet the following conditions:

• He/she has sufficient income in The Netherlands

     
A child of age must meet the following conditions:

• He/she is 18 or older
• He/she has a family relationship with the parent(s) in The Netherlands with whom he/she wants to stay
• He/she is an actual part of the family (this includes not having been separated for more than one year)
• He/she poses no danger to the public order
• He/she will live with his/her parent(s) as soon as he/she arrives in The Netherlands
• He/she will register at the same address as his/her parent(s)
• He/she must take the basic integration exam (Note : this does not apply to people with Australian, Canadian, Japanese, New Zealand, South Korean, or US nationality).

Family reunification or establishing a family if you are not a Highly Skilled Migrant or a Scientific Researcher following the directive 2005/71/EC
If you want to bring your family members and you are not a highly skilled migrant or a scientific researcher additional rules apply, especially when your partner requires an MVV. One of the conditions to obtain an MVV is that before a positive advice is given by the IND the marriage already needs to be registered in the Municipal Administration of the place of residence. This means the M46 declaration has to issued beforehand. Please read the next section for more information.

Please check the Residence Wizard of the IND website for more details.

The M46 procedure for registering a foreign marriage
If you want to get married or are married and you are not an EU citizen and do not have a permanent residence status, the 'M46 declaration' from the IND is needed to get your marriage approved and registered at the municipality. Without this approval and registration, a residence permit on the basis of family reunification or establishing a family will not be issued.

The M46 procedure was introduced to prevent the use of marriage which is entered into for the sole purpose of obtaining right of residence. This kind of marriage is sometimes termed a marriage of convenience or a bogus marriage.

On the basis of the information provided by you on the M46 application form, the IND determines your residence status in The Netherlands and investigates whether your marriage is genuine. The IND will then notify the municipality of your residency after which your marriage can be registered. This procedure takes about five to ten weeks.

Legalised documents
For the application of the M46 Declaration, you need to have legalised copies of birth certificates and marriage certificates of both you and your spouse. If you are not married, you need an unmarried status. For the legalisation of foreign documents see the paragraph Legalisation of Documents.

More information on the M46 can be found in this section of the IND website.

  Print this page