No-fault residence is the no-fault residence permit, narrowly granted.

Who can apply

The no-fault residence permit is for foreign nationals in the Netherlands without lawful residence whose return is genuinely not possible despite their cooperation. Typical situations: the country of origin will not issue a travel document, no other country will accept the applicant, statelessness is unresolved, or the applicant is medically unfit to travel and the underlying condition cannot be treated in the country of origin.

The four criteria

• The applicant has cooperated fully with the Dutch Repatriation and Departure Service (DT&V). Documented willingness to return, attempts to obtain travel documents, attendance at consular appointments.
• Return has been genuinely attempted and demonstrably failed. Refusal letters from the embassy, travel-document denials, formal refusals of re-admission from third countries.
• No other country will accept the applicant. Demonstrated lack of any alternative destination.
• The applicant is not responsible for the inability to return. The "no-fault residence" (no fault) test. The applicant's own actions did not create the impossibility.

All four must be met. The evidentiary bar is high. Most no-fault residence applications are refused on the first or second criterion.

The procedural framework

The application is filed at the IND as a regular residence-permit request under Vw 25, with the no-fault residence grounds named in the cover letter. The IND consults with DT&V (the Repatriation and Departure Service) on the cooperation criterion. The statutory term under Vw 25 is three months. The same Awb 4:13 / 4:17 mechanics apply: if the IND does not decide within three months, the Notice of Default opens the 14-day window and the daily penalty (dwangsom) follows.

Evidence the applicant must collect

• All correspondence with embassies and consulates regarding travel documents.
• Documentation of cooperation with DT&V (meeting minutes, signed agreements, attendance records).
• Any formal refusal letters from third countries.
• Medical records if a medical-fitness argument is part of the case.
• Statelessness documentation if the case involves the lack of any nationality.
• Personal-history affidavit setting out the timeline of attempted returns.

Common refusal reasons

• Insufficient cooperation. The IND finds that the applicant did not pursue every available option for return.
• One untried country. The IND identifies a country the applicant could try and has not.
• Recent change in circumstances. The IND finds that the impossibility-of-return is now resolved.
• Applicant fault. The IND finds that the applicant created the impossibility (e.g. destroyed travel documents, criminal record blocking re-admission).

The procedural lever when the IND delays

No-fault residence files are commonly delayed because the IND needs DT&V's input on cooperation, which can take many months. The statutory term in Vw 25 (3 months) still applies. The DT&V consultation does not formally suspend the clock unless the IND has invoked an Awb 4:5 request for missing information from the applicant. Most DT&V consultations are internal to the State and do not pause the clock.

When three months have passed, the Notice of Default opens the procedural route in the standard way. The IND's internal pressure to decide is significant in no-fault residence files because of the social and humanitarian profile.

Where MigrationProvision sits

No-fault residence files are a niche of our caseload. The substantive case is built by the applicant with NGO support (typically INLIA or Defence for Children). Our role is procedural: when three months have passed without a decision, we draft the Notice citing Vw 25, the Vc B14/3 paragraph, and Awb 4:17. The Notice itself does not argue the substantive case; it pushes for the decision so the substantive arguments can be made in objection or court appeal if the decision is refused.