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The Dutch Senate has passed a law that ends the financial penalties courts can impose on the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) when it fails to decide asylum applications on time. Approved on 13 October, this change affects many people in the Dutch immigration system and has received both criticism and support.
What changes
Until now, if the IND did not decide an applicant’s case within the legal deadline, the applicant could go to court. A judge could set a new deadline and, if the IND missed it again, impose a financial penalty called a dwangsom. This was meant to encourage faster decisions.
The new law changes this in one way. Applicants can still challenge a delayed decision in court, and judges can set a new deadline for the IND. However, judges can no longer add a financial penalty if the IND misses the deadline. This rule applies specifically to asylum decisions.
Why the government wants it
The main reasons for the change are money and capacity. According to NOS, the IND paid about 79 million euros in penalties in 2025 and over 112 million euros in 2026 up to October. The service has a large backlog and is deciding many asylum applications late. People who applied before the EU migration pact on 12 June may have to wait up to three years.
The asylum minister, Bart van den Brink (CDA), said the IND’s backlog has “completely got out of hand” and cannot be cleared in time. He argued that the penalties punished delays the service could not avoid. The IND welcomed the change, saying the penalties had a “destructive effect.” They did not speed up decisions, and handling court cases took staff and money away from processing applications. The service says removing the penalties will free up time and resources for this work.
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The criticism
The Senate debated the decision. It passed with a broad majority, but several parties, including PRO (GroenLinks-PvdA), Volt, the SP, and the Party for the Animals, voted against it. Opponents say the penalty is a result of the backlog, not its cause. They argue that removing it takes away an important legal safeguard for applicants without solving the delays. One senator mentioned a warning from the Council of State that, without another solution, the law could conflict with the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The wider context
Ending the penalties was part of a larger package. Parliament passed the change as an amendment to the Return and Immigration Detention Act (Wet terugkeer en vreemdelingenbewaring). The Senate also approved a related measure that allows people who have been refused a residence permit and refuse to leave the Netherlands to be detained so they “remain available for deportation.” The Senate previously rejected the asylum emergency law of former minister Marjolein Faber (PVV), which included both measures, in April before the measures were reintroduced this way.
What it means for applicants
For now, nothing has changed in practice. Although the Senate has approved the law, it is not yet in force and the government has not set a start date. The minister has said he wants it in place soon, but it is still unclear how it will affect ongoing cases. Applicants waiting for a decision can still go to court and have a new deadline set. Once the law takes effect, however, they will lose the option to have a fine imposed if they miss the deadline.