UK national in the Netherlands: How to become a permanent resident?

With Brexit, the United Kingdom (UK) left the European Union (EU) on the 31st of January 2020. However, UK citizens and their family members who moved to the Netherlands before the 1st of January 2021 were still granted a residence permit under the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement. Those who had already lived in the Netherlands for 5 years, received a permanent residence permit based on the Withdrawal Agreement. Those who had been living in the Netherlands for less than 5 years, received a temporary residence permit based on the same Agreement. The temporary residence permit was valid for 5 years.

Applications for a residence permit under the Withdrawal Agreement had to be received by the IND (Dutch Immigration Service) before the 1st of October 2022. In some exceptional cases, the IND also approved residence permit applications under the Withdrawal Agreement which were received on or after the 1st of October 2022. In those cases, the applicant’s legal residence in the Netherlands under the Withdrawal Agreement started on the 1st of October 2021.

Many UK citizens who received a temporary residence permit under the Withdrawal agreement have legally resided in the Netherlands for 5 years by now or are about to reach this point. If you are about to reach it within the next 3 months, can now apply for permanent residence. Under certain conditions, UK citizens with a temporary residence permit under the Withdrawal Agreement who have retired, who have been declared unfit to work, or who are considered as frontier workers, can even apply for permanent residence after less than 5 years of legal stay in the Netherlands.

Requirements and supporting documents

The main requirements for permanent residence based on the Withdrawal Agreement are:

• You are a UK citizen or a family member (a spouse, (registered) partner, parent (-in-law), grandparent, child, grandchild, or great-grandchild) of a UK citizen.
• You fall under the Withdrawal Agreement.
• You have been legally residing in the Netherlands for (almost) 5 years based on EU law or the Withdrawal Agreement.
• You do not pose a risk to public order.
• You have had healthcare insurance for the last 5 years.
• Your income has been sufficient to provide for yourself (and your family members) for the last 5 years.

If you have worked as an employee or as a self-employed person for at least 5 years and either worked at least 40% of a full-time work week or for an income of at least 50% of the social welfare level, you will meet the income requirement. If you have not worked for the full 5-year period, you will still be considered to have had sufficient income if you had a different source of income which was above the Dutch minimum wage with holiday allowance. If this is not the case either, the IND can still decide that you have had sufficient means to support yourself (and your family), if you can show this.

You will need to include supporting documents with the application to prove that you had sufficient income or means, such as an employment agreement, employer’s declaration, annual accounts or tax reports. If you have been registered as a resident on a Dutch address in the BRP (Personal Records Database) since your arrival before the 1st of January 2021, you will not need to include proof of your registration. The IND will be able to verify this directly in the BRP. If you have not always been registered as a resident for the last 5 years, the IND may ask for additional documents that prove that you were living in the Netherlands. You can provide rental agreements, bank statements with your Dutch address, utility bills, or other official documents that show your address in that case

Stay in the Netherlands while application is being handled

We advise to submit the application well on time: around three to two months before your temporary residence permit under the Withdrawal Agreement expires. The IND will have 3 months to decide on the application. You are allowed to stay in the Netherlands if the application is still being handled after your current residence permit expires. However, the IND does not issue endorsement stickers to applicants who applied for permanent residence under the Withdrawal Agreement.

Need assistance?

If you have any questions, or need assistance with filing the application, please feel free to contact us!