Brussels tells the Netherlands to act on excessive residency permit fees
The European Commission on Thursday urged the Netherlands to stop charging ‘excessive and disproportionate fees for residence permits’ under EU legal migration rules.
While member states are allowed to charge immigrants for processing applications, excessive and disproportionate charges breach the rights of the applicants, the commission said in its letter.
The current fees for a ‘highly-skilled migrant’ amount to €582 followed by a further €355 if the permit is to be extended. A student permit is €285 but a permit to take up an internship in the Netherlands is €507, the same as for a non-EU national coming to the Netherlands to do seasonal work.
The Netherlands, which has been warned previously about excessive fees for students and researchers, now has two months to reply to the commission or face possible sanctions.
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