Dear editors,
I have a girlfriend who lives in Thailand. We have known each other for 2 years, and in December 2017 I went to see her, and it clicked very well. Now this year (2018) she has been with me for 3 months, and we have talked a lot, and want to continue together. I want to bring her to the Netherlands for good.
However, I have a permanent job of 24 hours a week, in addition to a social assistance benefit. Can I bring her to NL? (due to an additional social assistance benefit).
Regards,
Rudy
Dear Rudi,
Unfortunately not, if there are no special circumstances such as permanent disability, you will simply have to meet the requirement of a 'sustainable and sufficient income'. Calling on public funds (read: Social Assistance) is not accepted by the IND under normal circumstances.
I quote from the IND website with requirements:
“Your partner has sufficient income. This income is independent and sustainable.
This condition does not apply in the following situations:
– Your partner has reached state pension age. Calculate whether your partner has reached state pension age.
– Your partner is permanently and completely incapacitated for work. Contact the IND for more information.
– Your partner is permanently unable to meet the obligation to work. Please contact the IND for more information.”
Source: ind.nl/Paginas/Algemene-voorwaarden.aspx
And yes, from my own experience I know that not everyone can easily meet the income requirement. I also spent months looking for a better job (with more hours) to meet the 1% minimum wage requirement. Fortunately, my late partner supported me in that, in case of a rejection she said '(that) doesn't matter honey, สู้สู้ [sôe sôe]' . Which means something like "Doesn't matter, keep fighting!"
So I hope you will manage to meet the requirements. If that does not work within a few months, she will have to stay on a short-stay visa for the time being. But perhaps you can use that time to teach her enough Dutch for the Civic Integration Abroad exam at the embassy. For more information see my files for the Schengen visa (short stay) as well as those for immigration (the TEV procedure) in the menu on the left here on the blog.
Success!
Regards,
Rob V