A Schengen visa application for the Netherlands, applications can be submitted no earlier than 6 months and no later than 15 calendar days before the intended date of entry. It then takes a maximum of 15 days for the assessment of your visa application. Unfortunately, due to circumstances, the waiting time for applying for a visa for the Netherlands is currently longer than normal.
Our advice is therefore to submit an application for a visa well in advance of the intended departure date. At the moment (July 2022) there are significant waiting times with the third party service provider such as VFS Global. We have reported on this before, see: https://schengenvisum.info/lange-wachttijden-vfs-global-aanvraag-schengenvisum/
Waiting times are especially longer in the following countries: Suriname, Morocco, India, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Iran, Algeria and Pakistan. The longer waiting times will most likely last until the end of 2022.
Urgency and priority for urgent reasons
Visa-required travelers who urgently need to travel to the Netherlands, for example due to the death of a first- or second-degree relative in the Netherlands, are given priority when applying for a visa. They must then send an email to VFS Global with a clear explanation and substantiation of their situation.
Two types of waiting times for a visa application for the Netherlands
Those applying for a short-stay Schengen visa for the Netherlands are faced with two different waiting times:
- Waiting time for an appointment with the external service provider.
- Waiting time for the decision period on visa granting.
Waiting time for an appointment with the external service provider
Anyone applying for a visa for the Netherlands must first make an appointment with an external service provider (VFS Global). They use so-called time slots on an appointment calendar for this. You can make an appointment on the next available calendar date. Unfortunately, this can now take up to 6 weeks or more before you can make an appointment. Officially you should always be able to go within a maximum of 15 days, but that is temporarily not the case.
Once you have an appointment, you must travel to the VFS Global office to appear on the agreed date. VFS Global takes the visa application form and supporting mandatory documents, such as proof of a medical travel insurance, in. They check whether the application is complete and send the documents, together with the passport of the visa applicant, to the CSO in The Hague for assessment. The Consular Service Organization (CSO) processes all visa applications and applications for Dutch travel documents abroad.
Waiting time for the decision period on visa granting
After receiving the visa application at the CSO in The Hague, they legally have 15 days to assess and approve or reject the visa application for the Netherlands. this is laid down in the European Visa Code (term Regulation (EC) 810/2009). The legal decision period starts on the day the visa application is received by the CSO.
Extension decision period
In some cases, more time is needed to assess a visa application. In that case, the decision period can be extended to a maximum of 30 days. If this is the case, you will be notified by the IND. If additional documents are required, this period may be extended to 60 days in exceptional cases.
Deadlines for submitting/handling objections or appeals
If your application for a short-stay Schengen visa in the Netherlands has been rejected, you can object to the IND's decision. This must be done within 4 weeks after the date of the rejection. You can then submit a letter of objection. A decision on the objection must be made within 12 weeks. This decision period of 12 weeks always starts on the last day on which you can submit an objection. Even if you submit an objection earlier.
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