Arranging a return visa
After your first 3-month free travel period, a return visa is the only option to leave and return to the Netherlands without a residence card. A return visa can only be applied for when:
- You have a confirmed and approved application for a first residence permit but the final residence card is not yet ready.
- You have a confirmed application for an extension of a residence permit that has expired or will expire before your planned journey but the final residence card is not yet ready.
- You have a confirmed application for the replacement of a stolen or lost residence permit but the final residence card is not yet ready.
In that case, first call Dutch Immigration (IND) on 0900-1234561 to make an appointment. Waiting times may be very long, so we advise you to call between 16.00 and 17.00 hrs. Please state that you wish to make an appointment for a return visa at the Immigration Front Desk in Eindhoven. The appointment should be possible within 3 working days.
The IND will probably ask you for your V-number. This number can be found:
- In the lower three lines on the back of your current residence permit card after “VNR”
- In the e-mail the Maastricht University Visa Office sent you when your visa was approved
- By calling the Maastricht University Visa Office on +31 43 388 5261 (on work days between 9.30 and 14.30 hrs.
You will receive a date, time and code for the appointment. Directions to go there can be found here.
Please bring the following with you to the appointment:
- your passport
- € 140 in cash
- your travel itinerary
The return visa will be attached to your passport as a sticker.
