How does Dutch family reunification work from Pakistan? (2026)

Why does your family member file the application?

Dutch family reunification is built around the sponsor. In the ordinary route, the person already living in the Netherlands applies to the IND for your entry and residence in one procedure, and you wait in Pakistan until the decision comes.

The TEV procedure

The application is called Entry and Residence, and it covers both the provisional residence permit, the MVV, and the residence permit itself. That is why the application is not two separate processes with two separate waits.

What the sponsor’s status decides

Whether your sponsor is Dutch, another EU national, or a third country national holding a Dutch residence permit changes the rules that apply, the fee charged and sometimes the test itself. Family members of EU citizens who have used free movement rights are assessed under EU rules rather than the ordinary national ones. Establish this at the first conversation, not after the fee is paid.

What you do in Pakistan

Your side is the exam, the documents and, once approved, collecting the MVV at the Dutch mission named in the decision. That is real work, but it is not the application.

How much does the sponsor have to earn?

The IND publishes required amounts for each half year, and they are the single most common reason a family application fails before it has properly started.

What counts as the income

The IND measures the SV salary, the social security salary shown on the payslip, which is the gross salary used to calculate wage tax and national insurance contributions. Own funds can also be used, supported by a tax statement or assessment and documentary evidence of the funds.

Read the period, not just the number

The amounts above are stated for 1 July 2026 up to and including 31 December 2026. A new period brings a new figure. A sponsor whose income sits a few euros above the line in one half year can be below it in the next, and the IND applies the amount in force when the application is assessed.

The civic integration examination abroad

Before the MVV can be applied for, the family member abroad normally has to pass the civic integration examination, or hold an exemption.

Where, what and how much

The exam is taken at a Dutch embassy or consulate general, and it costs 150 euros in total, paid to DUO. It has three parts, covering spoken Dutch, reading and knowledge of Dutch society.

The one year clock

A pass is valid for one year. You or your sponsor have that year to apply for the residence permit and the MVV. Miss the window and the exam is taken again, at the same cost, with the same preparation.

That clock is the reason the exam should not be the first thing you do. It should be done when the sponsor’s income is already evidenced and the documents are nearly ready, so the application follows quickly behind it.

What an MVV actually is

The MVV is a provisional residence permit. It is a visa that allows you to travel to the Netherlands for a stay longer than 90 days, and once issued it is valid for 90 days and can only be used to travel.

It is not the residence permit

The residence permit card is collected in the Netherlands after you arrive. Treating the MVV as the end of the process is how people miss the registration and collection steps that follow.

Who needs one

Nationals of a short list of countries, such as Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States, are exempt from the MVV requirement. A Pakistani passport holder joining family is not in that group, so the MVV stage applies.

What does it cost?

The IND fee is published per category, and it is paid when the application is filed. The IND states that fees are changed each year on 1 January.

What the fee does not cover

Translations, legalisation of Pakistani documents, travel to the mission for the exam and for collection, and the tuberculosis examination where it applies, are all separate. An agent’s package price that does not separate the IND fee from their own charge is not a quote, it is a number.

How long does the decision take?

The IND says the procedure takes a maximum of 90 days for an application with an MVV, and that it usually decides within 90 days. It also says that it can take longer where documents are missing.

What makes it longer

• documents that are not legalised or translated as required;
• income evidence that does not match the period being assessed;
• a civic integration pass that has already expired;
• names spelled differently across a passport, a CNIC and a Nikah Nama.

None of those are decisions about your marriage. They are avoidable paperwork failures, and they are what turns a three month process into a six month one.

The age rule, 18 or 21

There are two age thresholds, and which one applies depends on when the relationship began.

• Where the marriage or partnership existed before the sponsor obtained lawful residence, both of you must be at least 18.
• Where the relationship arose afterwards, which is treated as family formation, both of you must be at least 21.

This catches young couples who married recently while one partner was already settled abroad. It is better to know in advance that the application cannot be filed yet than to pay a fee and be refused on a date of birth.

What happens after you arrive?

The MVV gets you into the country. Three things follow quickly.

• Registration. Register with the municipality where you will live, which is how you enter the Dutch personal records system.
• The residence permit card. Collect it from the IND desk named in your decision letter.
• The tuberculosis examination. Where your nationality requires it, the IND form states the test must be carried out within four months of the residence permit being issued.

Integration obligations continue after arrival for many permit holders. Treat the exam abroad as the start of learning Dutch, not the end of it.

How do you apply, step by step?

The sequence below puts the exam in the right place, which is later than most families assume.

1. 1

   Confirm who the sponsor is and what they hold

   The person in the Netherlands is the sponsor, and in most family cases they file the application with the IND rather than you filing in Pakistan. Their status, Dutch, EU or a residence permit, decides which rules apply, what they must earn and which fee is charged.

2. 2

   Check the income against the published amount

   The IND publishes required amounts for each half year. For a residence permit to stay with a partner, the amount for the period from 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2026 is 2,337.00 euros gross a month without holiday allowance, or 2,523.96 euros including it. The figure is measured on the SV salary shown on the payslip.

3. 3

   Pass the civic integration examination abroad

   Before the MVV application can be made, the family member abroad normally has to pass the civic integration examination at a Dutch embassy or consulate general, or hold an exemption. The exam costs 150 euros, paid to DUO, and a pass is valid for one year.

4. 4

   File the TEV application with the IND

   The sponsor files the Entry and Residence application, which covers the MVV and the residence permit in one procedure. The IND decides within a maximum of 90 days, and longer where documents are missing. Pay the fee when the application is filed, because an unpaid application is not processed.

5. 5

   Collect the MVV and travel within its validity

   Once approved, the MVV is collected at the Dutch mission named in the decision, and it is valid for 90 days. It is a travel document only, so plan the flight inside that window rather than treating it as a residence permit.

6. 6

   Register, collect the permit and do the TB test if required

   After arrival, register with the municipality, collect the residence permit card from the IND desk and, where your nationality requires it, complete the tuberculosis examination. The IND form states the test must be carried out within four months of the residence permit being issued.

What goes wrong most often?

Sitting the exam too early

A pass lasts one year. A family that sits the exam, then spends fourteen months gathering documents, pays for it twice.

Comparing the wrong salary figure

The IND measures the SV salary on the payslip. Comparing take home pay against the published amount makes a sponsor look short when they are not, or qualified when they are not.

Using a figure from the wrong half year

The required amounts are published per period. The amount quoted here is for 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2026 and will change. Always read the current period.

Treating the MVV as a residence permit

It is valid for 90 days and only for travel. Registration and collection in the Netherlands still have to happen.

Coming on a short stay visa and hoping

A Schengen visit visa is for a short stay. Arriving on one with the intention of staying is both a weaker route and a credibility problem, and the Schengen visit visa guide explains what that visa is actually for.

A realistic example

This is a hypothetical illustration, not a real client. Bilal works in Eindhoven on a Dutch residence permit. He married Hira in Multan last year and wants her to join him.

• The age question. They married after Bilal already had lawful residence, so this is family formation, and both have to be at least 21. Hira is 23, so they are clear.
• The income. Bilal photographs his payslip and reads the SV salary line. It is above 2,337.00 euros gross a month, which is the figure for the period to 31 December 2026.
• The documents. Hira gets the NADRA marriage registration certificate and birth certificate, with translation and legalisation, while Bilal collects his employment contract and payslips.
• The exam. Only when the rest of the file is close does Hira book the civic integration examination at the Dutch mission, for 150 euros, knowing the pass runs one year.
• The application. Bilal files the Entry and Residence application with the IND and pays 254.00 euros. The IND decides inside the 90 day period.
• Travel and arrival. Hira collects the MVV, travels inside its 90 days, registers with the municipality, collects her residence permit and completes the tuberculosis examination inside four months.

The version that goes wrong

Hira’s cousin sits the exam first, on an agent’s advice, before anyone checks the sponsor’s payslip. The sponsor turns out to be on a contract that pays below the published amount in that half year. By the time he changes jobs and the income is solid, the exam pass has expired and must be retaken. Nothing about that was the Dutch system being unfair. The steps were simply done in the wrong order.

Key takeaways

Frequently asked questions