About the residence permit application

Steps of the residence permit application

The residence permit application process can roughly be divided into three steps: uploading your documents in our online system Osiris Online Application, awaiting the IND decision, and going to the necessary appointments once you are in the Netherlands.

Step 1: completing your application in Osiris

Complete your application in OSIRIS Online Application. We can start your residence permit application if you have been unconditionally admitted, or if the only condition you haven’t yet met is graduation from your current studies. You need to upload a scan of the following documents:

• Passport
• Proof of payment tuition fee*
• Proof of financial means
• Antecedents certificate
• TB declaration (if applicable)
• Proof of health insurance.

For more information on these documents and the requirements, please go to Preparing your application file.

We also need to have received the following payments:

• Tuition fee for the first year. You will receive an invoice in May.
• Residence permit application fee (€257). You will be asked to complete this payment in Osiris Online Application as part of the application form. We accept VISA, MasterCard (debit or credit card), iDEAL, Bancontact and Sofort.

*You do not need to pay the tuition fee if you are an exchange student.

Step 2: IND decision

Once your application is complete and all your documents have been approved, we will send your application to the IND. The IND takes approximately 2-5 weeks to process applications. Once your application has been approved, the IND will send us an official letter of approval by post. Unfortunately, we cannot say how long it will take for the letter to arrive at our office.

You will be notified by e-mail as soon as we have received the approval letter. Realistically it can take up to 6 weeks (about 1 and a half months) for you to receive confirmation from us that your application has been approved.

We strongly recommend that you not book your flight to the Netherlands until after you have received confirmation that your residence permit application has been approved.

Step 3: fulfilling obligations after arrival in the Netherlands

We will e-mail you after you have arrived in the Netherlands about the following required appointments:

• Submitting your biometric data (only if you don’t need an entry visa): the IND needs to register your fingerprints, photo and signature for your residence permit card. If you need an entry visa (MVV), your biometrics will already be registered at the embassy to issue the MVV.
• Registering with the municipality: For your residence permit to remain valid, you must register with the municipality in the city where you will be living. You can find more information on this government website: When do I have to register with a Dutch municipality? | Netherlands Worldwide
• Collecting your residence permit card: You will need to collect your residence permit from the IND once it is ready. The UU will inform you about where and when to pick it up.
• Tuberculosis (TB) testing: Only applicable to certain nationalities. Please check if this step applies to you.

Timeline: when to expect what if you are starting your study programme in September

Timeline: when to expect what if you are starting your study programme in February