Dear all,
I have a question regarding the status while waiting for the permanent residency decision.
This is my situation:
1. I’m an Indonesian citizen. I came to the NL in August 2005 to pursue my Master degree and finished my study in August 2007. In August 2007, I got a contract as a junior scientist (there is 2 weeks gap in my resident permit). I kept this work until I got my contract as a phd.
2. I had a phd contract from Jan 2009 until Dec 2012. Recently, my contract is extended until April 2013.
3. I hit my 5-consecutive year in Sept 2012. I am planning to take my inburgeringexamen this month. Assuming that I will pass all the tests (I took some Dutch lessons already) and assuming I will get the diploma in February 2013, I’m now preparing for my Permanent Residency (PR) application.
My question: what is my status during the PR application process?
If I (hopefully) submit my PR application in Feb 2013, I would expect to hear from the INDwithin 6 months, which is in August 2013. My current contract ends in April 2013. At the moment, I’m looking for a job. But in a worst-case scenario, how can I cover myself (in terms of residency permit, not financial) between April t/m August 2013?
My thoughts on this are:
I realize that my knowledge on Dutch regulations is very limited. Therefore I would really appreciate any advices or suggestions applicable in my situation.
Thank you in advance.
riverbanks said:
Dear all,
I have a question regarding the status while waiting for the permanent residency decision.
This is my situation:
1. I’m an Indonesian citizen. I came to the NL in August 2005 to pursue my Master degree and finished my study in August 2007. In August 2007, I got a contract as a junior scientist (there is 2 weeks gap in my resident permit). I kept this work until I got my contract as a phd.
2. I had a phd contract from Jan 2009 until Dec 2012. Recently, my contract is extended until April 2013.
3. I hit my 5-consecutive year in Sept 2012. I am planning to take my inburgeringexamen this month. Assuming that I will pass all the tests (I took some Dutch lessons already) and assuming I will get the diploma in February 2013, I’m now preparing for my Permanent Residency (PR) application.
My question: what is my status during the PR application process?
The important thing to remember about any application under Dutch immigration law (Note! This is as opposed to applications under Dutch nationaity law, i.e. applying to become a naturalized Dutch citizen) is that if your application is approved, it is approved retroactively to the date your application was received, assuming you gave the IND everything it needed to approve your application at the time you sent it in. Therefore, if you qualified for a permanent residence permit on the day that the IND received your application, and you submitted all the necessary documentation, then nothing that happens after that point in time (well: virtually nothing, I would not advise doing on a killing spree, for instance) can affect what the IND's decision on your application will be.
As soon as the IND has received your application, even if your current residence permit is about to run out, you are legal to stay in the Netherlands because you have the legal residence status of 'waiting for an answer on an application'. In other words, you don't necessarily need to switch to unpaid researcher status. You can call the IND and make an appointment to get a sticker proving that you have the legal residence status of 'waiting for an answer on an application'. However, you may find that the UWV (the agency that gives unemployment benefit, i.e. WW) might not find that to be sufficient to pay you unemployment benefit. Apply for it anyway, and if the UWV rejects you for it on those grounds, get that in writing. Then you can appeal the decision and once you get your permanent residence permit, you can get those months of WW retroactively.
Let me underline once more what I said about the IND approving an application retroactively: this is only if you sent the IND absolutely everything it needed at the time you sent in your application. If the IND gets around to deciding on your application 3-4 months after you sent it in, and there is one thing missing from the application, and the IND has to send you a letter asking you for that one thing, then your application can only be approved as of the day that you sent the IND that one missing thing. That means that if some other circumstance intervened in the 3-4 months since you sent in your application (like, for instance, you no longer have the right kind of residence permit) that means your application can no longer be approved.
That is why, especially if you are trying to make an application in this "down to the wire" kind of way, you should hire a legal professional to help you put together your application for a permanent residence permit and make sure that it is complete. Lucky for you, there was one to answer your (rather complicated) question on this forum ;-) But I remain surprised how many people trust extremely important issues like this to internet forums. You get what you pay for...
Jeremy Bierbach, LLM
www.immigrate.nl
riverbanks said:
Dear all, thanks for your responses. It does sound like a good idea to prepare my PR application with the help of a lawyer. Regarding the WW, I discussed with some friends and they warn me that asking for WW might be disadvantageous for my PR application. Does this make sense? Should I just use my reserve to support myself until my PR application is approved?
No. It makes no difference. It's just your guilty conscience bothering you ;-)
In general, collecting WW is never something to feel guilty about -- it's an insurance scheme that you paid into with the withholdings from your salary, not a need-based social benefit.
expatican said:
@ avacado, Does claiming unemployment benefit affect the decision of naturalisation? (Assuming I have no permanent residence) Does the answer change if I have permanent residence? Thanks.
While you are waiting to get naturalized, it is your responsibility to make sure that your residence permit is valid up to and including the moment that the decision is made to naturalize you. Otherwise you cannot be naturalized. (In other words, unlike a decision to grant a permanent residence permit, a decision to naturalize you does not have retroactive effect to the moment you applied for it, but only effect as of the moment the decision is made, once subsequently activated by your participation in a naturalization ceremony.) So whether you can collect WW while you are waiting to get naturalized all depends on whether or not and for how long you are allowed to be unemployed under the terms of your residence permit without it being revoked. (Note how I said that-- collecting WW, in and of itself, is almost never prohibited for immigrants. But when you collect WW, you are admitting that you are unemployed, which might not be permitted under the terms of your residence permit, depending on the conditions under which your work was terminated, etc.)
BuiXuanHoa said:
So my question is: 1. When should I start to send my application for Naturalization? 2. Should I ask for PR as the same time with Naturalization? Or i should wait for Naturalization result? Thank you in advance!
If you wait to be naturalized first, you won't need a permanent residence permit ;-)
But it is wise to apply for a permanent residence permit when you reach the 5-year point, then to file your naturalization petition afterwards, as soon as 1 day afterwards. That way you are guaranteed a stable right to stay as of the day you applied for the permanent residence permit (because the approval of that will have retroactive effect to the day you applied for it, regardless of anything happening after that point, such as you losing your job), and nothing can threaten your naturalization petition.
