Following a ruling by the European Court, the Council of State (RvS) has also decided that the deadline for processing asylum applications should not have been extended. In 2022, State Secretary Eric van der Burg (VVD) extended the standard six-month decision period by nine months. He did so because the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) was struggling with a growing backlog.
A Turkish applicant challenged the decision in court and was proven right. Van der Burg then appealed the ruling. In November 2023, the Council of State asked the Court of Justice of the European Union for clarification on the applicable procedure.
That clarification was given in May 2025. The European court ruled that an extension of up to nine months is only allowed if a very large number of people apply for asylum within a short and unexpected period. This was not the case here, as the number of applications was foreseeable and did not rise sharply. Staff shortages and existing backlogs are also not valid reasons for extending the deadline.
Based on this ruling, the Council of State again ruled in favour of the Turkish applicant.
Despite the decision, waiting times remain long. A total of 36,580 people have already been waiting six months or more for a decision from the IND.
@anp | NEWS BRAINPORT
