Bringing your partner or children to the Netherlands (family reunification)

According to the IND, the main conditions are:

• Age: you and your partner are generally both 21 or older; the IND lists exceptions.
• Relationship: you are married, in a registered partnership, or in a durable and exclusive unmarried relationship that you can document. Foreign marriage and partnership certificates must be legalised and, if necessary, translated.
• Sponsor status: the sponsor has Dutch nationality or a valid Dutch residence permit, and you will live together at the same address registered with the municipality.
• Income: the sponsor has independent, sustainable and sufficient income (see below).
• Civic integration exam abroad: your partner has passed it before applying for the entry visa, unless exempt.
• Public order: everyone aged 12 or older fills in an antecedents certificate, and the partner must not be a danger to public order or national security.
• Valid travel documents for both partners.

The IND publishes the required gross monthly income twice a year. From 1 July to 31 December 2026 the amounts are:

• €2,337 gross per month without holiday allowance (€2,523.96 including holiday allowance) for a sponsor who is married, in a registered partnership or living together;
• €1,635.90 without holiday allowance (€1,766.77 with) for a sponsor who is a single parent.

The IND uses the social security wage (SV-loon) shown on the payslip. Income must also be sustainable: an immigration law firm writing for IN Amsterdam explains that the IND usually looks for an employment contract that runs for at least a year from the application, otherwise it looks at past income, and that self-employed sponsors are assessed on earlier profits. The IND has to consider individual circumstances, and some sponsors are exempt, so use the IND's income test or ask for advice if your situation is borderline.

If your partner needs an MVV entry visa to join you, they usually have to pass the basic civic integration exam abroad (Basisexamen inburgering buitenland) first. It tests reading and speaking Dutch at a basic level and knowledge of Dutch society. According to the government's information site for the exam, a full exam costs €150. Your partner registers with the Education Executive Agency (DUO) and then books the exam at a Dutch embassy or consulate. DUO sends the result within eight weeks, and the result is valid for one year: the MVV must be applied for within that year.

The IND lists exemptions, for example for nationals of EU/EEA countries, Australia, Canada, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vatican City; for people under 18 or of state pension age; for holders of certain Dutch diplomas; for applications to join a sponsor with a temporary purpose of stay; and on medical grounds.

1. Collect and legalise documents. Birth, marriage and other civil status documents usually need an apostille or legalisation in the country that issued them, and a sworn translation into Dutch, English, French or German if they are in another language.
2. Pass the exam abroad or document the exemption.
3. Apply. The sponsor can apply in the Netherlands (online or on paper), or the partner can apply at the Dutch embassy or consulate. If an MVV is needed, the MVV and residence permit are applied for together. The fee is €254 for an adult and €85 for a child under 18 (2026).
4. Wait for the decision. The IND has 90 days to decide.
5. Travel and collect the residence document, register together with the municipality within five days, and take a TB test within three months if the IND says it is required.

A minor child can get a residence permit to live with a parent in the Netherlands. The family relationship is proven with a legalised and, where needed, translated birth certificate. The fee is €85 per child under 18 in 2026, and children under 18 are exempt from the exam abroad. The IND page for minor children lists the further conditions, which depend on the parent's own residence status.

If the sponsor comes to the Netherlands as a highly skilled migrant, the employer, as recognised sponsor, can apply for the partner and children at the same time as the main application, using the IND form for family members via a recognised sponsor. IN Amsterdam notes that this keeps the process in one procedure. Whether the exam abroad applies depends on nationality and on the sponsor's purpose of stay, so check the IND exemption list. See highly skilled migrant permit.

If your partner or parent is an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen who lives in the Netherlands (and is not Dutch), EU free-movement law applies. There is no civic integration exam abroad and no fixed income requirement of the kind above. Family members who need a visa first apply for a facilitation visa at a Dutch embassy. In the Netherlands they apply for verification against EU law, which costs €85 (€46 for a child under 18) in 2026. Unmarried partners can qualify if the relationship is durable; IN Amsterdam's partner law firm notes that the IND usually accepts this if you have a child together or have lived together for at least six months. See EU citizens in the Netherlands.

Dutch citizens who have lived with their family in another EU country can sometimes use the same EU-law route when they return.

• Work: if the sponsor is Dutch, the IND says the partner may work freely without a work permit. Otherwise the partner's right to work follows the sponsor's situation; it is printed on the residence document.
• Civic integration in the Netherlands: family migrants who join a sponsor with a non-temporary residence purpose are often required to integrate under the Civic Integration Act 2021. DUO sends a letter if this applies. See civic integration in the Netherlands.
• Keep living together. The permit depends on the relationship and on a shared registered address. Report changes to the IND.
• Longer term: if the sponsor is Dutch or has permanent residence, the IND issues the partner's permit for five years; after that the partner can apply for an extension or a permanent residence permit if the conditions are met.