# How long does the MVV procedure take?



## sickofwaiting

Hi, 

First of all, thanks for taking the time to read this.

Unfortunately, I'm from one of those countries that require an MVV in order to get a Dutch Residence Permit.
I have been married to my husband for 2.5 years, we got married in my country and our marriage is already registered in the Netherlands. 

I have already done the Inburgeringscursus in the Netherlands (A2 level) and passed all parts of the exam and have the diploma.

So here's the thing. My husband has submitted all of my documents in IND in Eindhoven, and it has been exactly 30 days today since the submission. I'm just waiting for the Positive Advice from the IND, how long does this normally take? 

I have been told that it takes 3 months but is it usually shorter than that? I am currently staying in London because the Dutch law requires me to stay outside the Netherlands as long as the procedure is taking place and I am allowed to stay in the United Kingdom for 6 months on Tourist visa. I couldn't afford to travel all the way back to my country for so long and I have no place to stay there. I also plan to apply for my MVV in the embassy here in London.

So, how long does it take to receive Positive Advice from the IND? And how long does the MVV application itself take?

Hope to get some answers, thank you in advance.


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## cschrd2

Unfortunately the time spends case by case and on the number of applications. 3 months seems like a standard time.


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## cschrd2

Sorry the complete answer: 
Unfortunately the time spend depends case by case and on the number of applications. 3 months seems like a standard time. Also depends on your background. People from US will get less checked then people from poorer countries to prevent fake marriages. Also the process is not very controllable by outsiders (to make it independent). Only thing to do is stay put unfortunately.


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## Donutz2

The TEV procedure (Toegang & Verblijf - Acces & Residency) takesa maximum of 3 months. How long it takes in individual cases is anyones guess,some people get an answer in 1-2-3 weeks, rarely even within days, others have to wait the full 3 months or even longer if the IND somehow has forgotten about the application and allowed it to collect dust in the corner. A good avarage is around 1,5-2 months but it's really just random. Country of origin, marital status etc. have close to zero relevance to the processing time. A bunch of IND officials all look at part of the application, see if you meet the requirement they need to check, throw it back into the digital computer system and your application lays around for an other officer to pick it up again. 

Usually but not always, one gets a letter confirming that the TEV is being processed and this letter contains a date 3 months from the day the IND received the application.

If any documents are missing or payement hasn't been completed yet (officially you can pay at an IND office if you decide to deliver your application there) you will receive a letter that the processing will be delayed with 2 weeks. This is actually false, they should say that the processing is delayed with a maximum of 2 weeks, the law (Vreemdelingencirculaire B) says that the processingtime will be extended by the number of days between the IND sending the letter and the day you submitted the required evidence or payement. So if you act quickly the delay should only be a few days ontop of the 3 month limmit.It's sad that the don't make this clear but I guess they hope to buy themselves some extra time this way. 

Once the TEV is found positive they will sent a letter in which the IND officer says that (s)he has no objections against giving you residency (MVV and VVR). You will then be able to collect the MVV from either the embassy where you did the Inburgeringsexamen Buitenland (A1 level) or if there is no such embassy, the one which you have legal residency in and requested to issue the MVV. I guess London should be fine. 

And btw actually the law (Vreemdelingenwet 2000) does not say you cannot stay in NL at all during the TEV, it says that those who require an MVV are not allowed to stay in the Netherlands with the purpose of bypassing the MVV requirement. So a short holidayshould be fine aslong as you return to the embassy where the MVV is waiting. The IND website used to indicate it aswell but since a year or so the FAQ has been updated and it (incorrectly!) states you cannot be in NL at all. I guess this is just to make things easier for the IND and not have any debate about the alien trying to avoid the MVV system by stating in NL for some limmited amount of time. So to avoid argueing with the IND it's indeed best to stay out of NL during the processing.

After the processing is complete you get your MVV, the IND's decision is final, it's not just an advice. The embassy must issue the MVV ASAP and legally has nothing to say on the matter anymore since the law was changed in june 2013. Some embassies refuse to accept this new law and make requests and instructions of their own ontop of what the IND may ask of you. Legally you are only required to do what the IND asks of you, which will depend on your unqiue situation and how keen the IND officer is to double or tripple check paper work, some officers ask very little, some really love bureaucracy and paperwork... And the embassy may thus have some silly requests of it's own. The most practical would be to just do as they say unless it costs you time and money to be able to do what the embassy may unrightfully request of you.

With the MVV you can travel to NL (or any other Schengen nation, handy incase you live near the border and a ticket to Brussels, Düsseldorf etc. are cheaper and better for you). Once here you:
- need to register with the Gemeentehuis (townhall) within 5 days. The letter from the IND and passport with MVV should be enough to show that you have legal residency in NL (right of residency starts as soon as you land on a valid MVV), and need to register you in the BRP database. 
- the gemeentehuis may ask for several certificates, these should already be known in their systems (archives) since you registrated the marriage in NL already so they should have a copy of the marital paper and birtcertificate already. If they would ask these regardless then legally there is no such requirement: a birthcertificate is one out of 3 ways that allowed registration in the BRP, the other two are simply you applying in person at the counter or "ambtshalve" (decision of officials). 
- After 2 weeks or so you can collect the VVR residence card at the IND, they will tell you when and where. This card is just to show that you have legal residency but as said you legal status as soon as you set foot on Dutch soiland anyone that deals with aliens proffesionally should be aware of this by now since the law changed in 2013. 
- You may be required to to a TBC (TB, Tubercolosis) test.Go to the GGD and get it done there, in most GGD offices it's free, if not, find an other GGD if it's not too far away. You only need to do a test once, unless ofcourse the find TB. Some GGD's ask people to return for additional tests up to 5 times but this is not a legal requirement if you are not suffering from TB.
- Get your healthcare sorted out as soon as the gemeentehuis sents a letter with your BSN (burger servicenummer, citizens servicenumber). This number is enough to arrange the healthinsurance (zorgverzekering) but some insurancycompanies (incorrectly) ask for evidence such as the VVR card.


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## sickofwaiting

Thank you for the tips. 



Donutz2 said:


> And btw actually the law (Vreemdelingenwet 2000) does not say you cannot stay in NL at all during the TEV, it says that those who require an MVV are not allowed to stay in the Netherlands with the purpose of bypassing the MVV requirement. So a short holidayshould be fine aslong as you return to the embassy where the MVV is waiting. The IND website used to indicate it aswell but since a year or so the FAQ has been updated and it (incorrectly!) states you cannot be in NL at all. I guess this is just to make things easier for the IND and not have any debate about the alien trying to avoid the MVV system by stating in NL for some limmited amount of time. So to avoid argueing with the IND it's indeed best to stay out of NL during the processing.


Yes, exactly. I don't want to risk it either by staying in the Netherlands during this period. The staff at the IND also said that there is a chance that the application can get rejected if they find out that I'm in the Netherlands during the procedure but it really is *very* impractical for me and my husband. Currently my husband and I are apart and I'm staying here in London with his sister *only* because I'm waiting for a letter from the IND so that I can reply for an mvv here.

It has been 33 days since my husband submitted my documents. I did get a couple of letters from them saying that they received the payment and that they're still reviewing it and that the process can take until July! I really don't want to be stuck here for that long but I guess there is nothing I can do but wait. 

I also do hope that the Dutch embassy here in London doesn't make a big fuss because I'm not a British citizen and I'm asking to apply for an mvv here instead of going all the way to my country. However, I am legally allowed to stay in the UK up to 6 months on Tourist visa which I get on-arrival. Just hope they accept me!

I think I will be more relaxed once I have the advice from the IND, thank you so much for your advice and taking the time to reply


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## Yuna S

hello did you receive the approval?


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