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Three months before a residence permit card expires you can apply for an extension.
Are you too late with your renewal application? Then you still have four weeks after the expiry date of your current residence permit to renew your permit. Required is that you must apply for renewal of the same purpose of stay.
Your new residence permit will in that case be granted without a residence gap and following up on the previous expiry date of your permit. Provided off course that you meet the others conditions for renewing your permit.
Be aware! A residence gap will arise if your application does not reach the IND on time. This can have undesirable consequences.
If the new permit card has not been consecutively issued, you have a residence gap. There is then a day or more between the end date of the old permit and the start date of the new permit. This means you no longer have an uninterrupted stay.
A residence gap has consequences for, for example, applying for a permanent residence permit or for becoming a Dutch national through naturalisation. The years of lawful residence start counting again as of the new residence permit. A residence gap therefore has major consequences for the accrued right of residence because you will lose the years before the residence gap.
Even after the four-week period, it may sometimes be advisable to challenge the IND’s decision and the residence gap. Our firm has successfully pursued several application for review and appeal procedures to repair client’s residency gaps.