Can the new family reunification rules apply to past applications?
In the media image: Sandy Millar on Unsplash
A decision by the District Court of The Hague says that stricter family reunification rules can be applied to applications submitted before those rules entered into force. In ‘NRC’ newspaper, assistant professor Mark Klaassen calls the judgment ‘extraordinary’.
Many family members of recognised refugees have already spent a long time waiting abroad for a decision on their reunification with their relatives in the Netherlands. They submitted their applications before the stricter rules entered into force on 12 June 2026, when the previous family reunification scheme was still in effect.
According to the court, applying the stricter rules to pending applications is not incompatible with either superior legal norms or general legal principles. The court further held that EU law does not oblige the Netherlands to apply the former family reunification regime to these cases. Klaassen disputes that interpretation, stating that ‘a right that existed under EU law in the Netherlands cannot, in my view, be revoked retrospectively.’
It remains to be seen whether the court’s interpretation will be upheld. In a pilot procedure, the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) is putting the question of the immediate application of the stricter rules before several courts and, ultimately, the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State.
More information?
Read the full article in NRC (in Dutch)