March 4 is the last date that third-country nationals from Ukraine will be allowed to stay in the Netherlands, as a ruling by the Council of State has decided.
According to a press release by the national government, around 2,760 people who do not have Ukrainian nationality but were staying there with a residence permit will have 28 days left to leave the country after March 4, as they no longer are eligible to benefit from the Temporary Protection Directive (RTB).
The majority of third-country nationals can safely return to their country of origin. Unless they fear violence or persecution there, they can apply for asylum here. It is good that after a long period of uncertainty, there is now clarity for this group of third-country nationals.
Those who have a pending asylum claim or received a regular residence permit are exempted from the requirement to leave the Netherlands.
About 740 individuals have already informed the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) that they intend to apply for asylum.
This group is also eligible to be admitted to the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) after March 4. Municipalities have been asked to continue to offer shelter to third-country nationals with pending asylum applications until they can be transferred to the Agency.
For those third-country nationals who have not expressed their intent to apply for asylum to the IND, they are entitled to submit a new asylum application. This applies if they believe it’s unsafe to return to their home country. While they maintain the right to reception at the COA, they are not allowed to work in the Netherlands during the first six months of their reception.
Those who do not plan to apply for asylum or those with rejected applications have to leave the country by April 1, 2024, the farthest.
In the meantime, municipalities will continue to provide accommodation for third-country nationals at this period.
In addition, the government has notified host households that accommodate third-country nationals from Ukraine who had a work or study permit there before the war that they will no longer receive temporary protection in the Netherlands as of March 5, 2024.
This means that continuing to offer accommodation to these nationals can lead to consequences for host households, such as childcare benefits, healthcare benefits, and child benefit budgets.
