Residence permit for partner

Conditions you must meet

• A verifiable relationship — married, registered partnership, or unmarriedNote that being unmarried is explicitly allowed. The test is that the relationship is verifiable, not that it is formalised.

  You have a verifiable relationship with your partner. You are married, you have a registered partnership, or you are unmarried.

• Both 21 or older — or 18, if you were already married while both living outside the NetherlandsThe lower bar is easy to miss and applies to a large group: couples already married before either moved to the Netherlands qualify at 18.

  You are both 21 years or older. Were you already married to your partner when you both (still) lived outside the Netherlands? Then you also meet the requirement when you are both 18 years or older.

• Live together and be registered at the same address with the municipalityMunicipal registration is the proof, and it happens at the municipality rather than at IND.

  In the Netherlands, you live together with your partner. You and your partner are registered at the same address with the municipality.

• Sponsor in the Netherlands: meet the income requirementsTHE SPONSOR'S OBLIGATION, and IND publishes NO FIGURE on this page — it links an income test instead. No amount is recorded here for that reason; a number invented or recalled for this field would be the most damaging possible error on this page.

  You meet the income requirements. Do you want to know whether your income is sufficient? Take the income test.

• Sponsor in the Netherlands: hold Dutch nationality or a valid Dutch residence permit

  You have Dutch nationality or you have a valid Dutch residence permit.

• Seven permit purposes that disqualify you from sponsoring a partnerA hard exclusion rather than a hurdle: au pair, working holiday, cultural exchange, work experience, seasonal work, seafaring service, and the EU-UK trade agreement permit. Someone in the Netherlands on any of these cannot bring a partner at all.

  You cannot have your partner come join you in the Netherlands if you have a residence permit for one of these purposes of stay: Au pair Working Holiday Cultural exchange Work experience (intern or apprentice) Seasonal work Seafaring service as a crew member on board a seagoing vessel EU-UK Trade Agreement

• If you must integrate in the Netherlands: one year of residence before you can bring a partnerA waiting period that applies only to sponsors under a civic integration obligation. IND names one exception: where it is in the interest of the sponsor's minor children that the partner comes sooner.

  Are you obliged to integrate in the Netherlands? Then you must have lived for at least 1 year in the Netherlands with a valid residence permit, before you can bring your partner to the Netherlands. This does not apply when it is in the interest of your minor children that your partner already comes to the Netherlands now.

• Partner passes the civic integration exam abroad BEFORE the MVV is applied forNothing else in this registry looks like this: a language-and-society exam sat at a Dutch embassy overseas, before the application. The timing is the trap — it must be passed before applying for the MVV, not before travelling. Exemptions and dispensations exist and are handled on a separate IND page.

  Before you apply for the MVV, your partner has passed the civic integration exam abroad. Sometimes your partner does not have to take the exam.

• Partner takes a tuberculosis test AFTER arriving in the NetherlandsUnusual timing: this obligation falls after entry, not before it, so it is easy to treat as done once the permit is granted. Five exemptions apply, including nationality of a listed country and a TB test taken in the Netherlands within the last 6 months; the country list is a separate IND appendix.

  After your partner arrives in the Netherlands, your partner must take a TB (tuberculosis) test.

• No danger to public order or national security — antecedents certificate for everyone over 12The age threshold is 12, not 18, so children of secondary-school age must complete the certificate themselves.

  Your partner does not pose a danger to public order or national security. Everyone over the age of 12 must completely fill in an Appendix Antecedents Certificate and enclose it with the application.

Documents you must provide

• Both of you hold a valid passport or other travel document

  You and your partner have a valid passport or other travel document.

Steps in the process

• Sponsor in the Netherlands: declare sponsorship on the application formNot a formality — IND states it carries obligations and responsibilities, which it details on a separate page.

  You declare that you are a sponsor for your partner in the application form. This means that you have obligations and responsibilities.

• Have foreign documents legalised and translated into Dutch, English, French or GermanLegalisation is separate from translation and both are required. IND's own video warns this step can take a long time.

  Have official foreign documents legalised and translated into Dutch, English, French or German.

• Apply for the MVV and the residence permit at the same timeOne application, not two. The partner may alternatively apply at a Dutch embassy or consulate abroad.

  You apply for the MVV and the residence permit at the same time. You can apply online or in writing by post.

Government fees

• Application fee EUR 254,00EUR 254Paid immediately via iDEAL or Wero when applying online; written applicants are billed by letter afterwards. Exceptions exist and are on IND's fees page.

  The application costs € 254,00. For all fees and exceptions, visit our web page Fees: application costs.

Also stated by the authority

Not requirements in themselves. These are alternatives, exemptions, rights and warnings the authority publishes alongside the requirements — quoted here because they can change what applies to you.

• IND decides within 90 daysNot a requirement — the authority's own decision period, recorded because it sets expectations and because IND says it sometimes uses the full period and may extend it when asking for more information.

  The IND must take a decision within 90 days. This is called the decision period.