Highlights of short stay in the Netherlands

_{By Thomas van Estrik and Muhyadin Mohamud}

If you are a citizen of a country outside of the European Union or the Schengen area and you come to the Netherlands for a short stay, for example for a family visit or for work, you should consider a number of things. In this blog, we list these matters and discuss the consequences if you do not leave the Netherlands in time.

Options for short stay

First, it is important to determine whether you need a visa to travel to the Netherlands. The European Union has concluded Visa Agreements with several countries. These agreements stipulate which nationalities can travel to the European Union, and thus to the Netherlands, without applying for a visa if they intend to stay for a maximum of 90 days within a period of 180 days. This is also known as the “visa-exempt term”. If you have a nationality that is not in the visa agreement, you need to apply for a Schengen visa. A Schengen visa can be issued for the same period as the visa-exempt term and depending on the intended stay, it can also be shorter. In addition, a Schengen visa can be issued for a single visit (“single entry visa”) or for multiple visits (“multiple entry visa”) within a certain period. More information about applying for a Schengen visa can be found here.

Counting your days

After you have legally entered the Netherlands, it is important to keep track of exactly how many days you stay in the Netherlands. In addition, it is important to know how many days you have stayed in other Schengen countries in the past period. The reason being that the visa-exempt term and the issued Schengen visa applies to visits to all countries within the Schengen area.

The visa-exempt term is a period that is flexible. Therefore, you can keep track of the number of remaining days of legal stay within the Schengen area you have using a tool: the Schengen-calculator or Schengen Visa Calculator. The period you have stayed within the Schengen area can be determined with the entry and exit stamps in your passport. A digitized system to determine the number of days within the Schengen area does not yet exist. The European Union plans to implement such a system, called: Entry/Exit System (EES), in October 2025.

Exceeding visa-exempt term or visa duration

Sometimes, it is not possible to leave the Schengen area on time. This could be the case for seafarers, if they have been discharged from the vessel in the Netherlands and due to unforeseen circumstances cannot leave before the expiration of the visa-exempt term or visa duration. In some situations, it is possible to apply for a one-time extension of the visa-exempt term or visa for another maximum of 90 days.

Extension of visa-exempt term or visa duration

To be eligible for an extension of the visa-exempt term or visa duration, you must file an application with an IND desk before exceeding the maximum duration of stay. This application must demonstrate that there is a special and unexpected situation, making it impossible to leave the Netherlands.

Are you at risk of exceeding the maximum duration of your visa or visa-exempt term and are you a citizen of one of the following countries: Australia, Canada, Chile, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, the USA, or South Korea? Then you might be lucky. Thanks to bilateral agreements that the Netherlands has concluded with these countries, persons from these countries can be eligible for a one-time extension without being in a special and unexpected situation. For this extension, you need to show that you did not spend the entire visa-exempt term or visa duration in the Netherlands, but (also) in other Schengen States. Every day you stayed in the Netherlands during the visa-exempt term or visa duration will be deducted from the extension period. To be eligible for an extended visa-exempt term or visa duration this way, you will need to submit a request with evidence at an IND desk, where the application will be assessed. If the extension is granted, you will receive a residence sticker in your passport, demonstrating your extended legal stay.

You need to remember that an extension of the visa-exempt term or visa duration always applies to your stay in the Netherlands only. This means that you cannot travel to other Schengen countries during the extension.

Return decision

If you cannot leave the Schengen area on time and have not obtained an extended visa-exempt term or extended visa, you risk obtaining a return decision by the authorities (Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, police, or IND) for a so-called “overstay”. A return decision obliges you to leave the Schengen area within a specified period. This period is normally 28 days but can also be zero days. This means that you must leave the Schengen area immediately. If you do not comply, you can be expelled from the country.

Often, a notice of intent to impose an entry ban is issued simultaneously with a return decision for a departure period of zero days. Depending on the number of days of the overstay, this involves a proposed entry ban of one or two years for the entire Schengen area. You can respond to this notice within four weeks by submitting a statement of views. In this statement, you must carefully explain why the imposition of an entry ban is not appropriate. We strongly recommend hiring a professional for this. We are happy to assist you with this.

You received an entry ban. What’s next?

If you do not submit a response against the notice of intent to impose an entry ban, or if the response is unsuccessful, the proposed entry ban will be imposed. The entry ban takes effect from the moment you leave the Schengen area. To ensure that all countries within the Schengen area are aware of the entry ban, a so-called alert will be entered into the Schengen Information System (SIS). This makes it practically impossible to enter the Schengen area during the entry ban. You can file an appeal against an entry ban with the courts within four weeks.

Do you have questions about short stay in the Netherlands or a (possible) overstay? Please feel free to reach out to us.