Your employee's residence-permit decision is past three months. The procedural lever is yours to pull.

Where HR sits in the procedure

Most highly-skilled migrant and ICT-permit files are filed by the recognised-sponsor employer, not the employee. That gives HR direct standing on the procedural side. The employee remains the substantive applicant, but the employer is the formal counterparty for the application and receives the correspondence. When the term has passed, HR can act in three ways.

• Direct. Send the Notice of Default in the employer's name as the recognised sponsor.
• Together. The employee signs the Notice; the employer co-signs and attaches the mandate.
• Indirect. The employee mandates an outside service (us, a lawyer) to file. The employer is informed but not the signatory.

HR has standing. The recognised-sponsor relationship means the employer is named on the procedure and entitled to act. The Notice of Default in the sponsor's name is procedurally clean.

What this does to the IND

The Notice of Default starts a 14-day clock. If no decision arrives in 14 days, a daily daily penalty begins under Awb 4:17. The recognised-sponsor relationship usually means the IND escalates the file internally as soon as the Notice arrives, because sponsor relationships are tracked. The decision usually arrives within the 14-day window. If it does not, the daily penalty is paid by the IND to the employee (not to the employer).

Practical workflow for HR

1. 1
   Confirm the term has passed

   The clock starts on the date the IND received the complete application. Look at the ontvangstbevestiging and any Awb 4:5 request for more information. Subtract suspension periods. The term for highly-skilled migrant is three months under Vw 25.
2. 2
   Pull the file

   Application receipt, any extension letter (genuine Awb 4:14 or not), the IND case-reference, the employee's V-number, and the recognised-sponsor reference.
3. 3
   Decide who signs

   The employee, the employer, or both. The signed Notice plus mandate is a one-page document. The Notice is sent by registered mail to the IND business unit named in the acknowledgement letter.
4. 4
   Keep the employee productive

   Most kennismigrants are allowed to continue working under the previous permit during a pending extension (the so-called "verlengingsaanvraag indien tijdig ingediend" rule under Vw 14). Confirm with HR-legal that the file qualifies.
5. 5
   Track and escalate if needed

   If the IND remains silent after the 14-day Notice window, the next steps are the daily penalty claim and the court appeal under Awb 6:12. The recognised-sponsor relationship is rarely tested by Awb 6:12 cases, because the IND usually decides before then.

The employee can keep working under the previous permit

Under Vw 14 and IND working-instructions, a highly-skilled migrant whose extension was applied for before the previous permit expired generally retains lawful work rights during the IND's processing. The IND sticker (in the passport) or the email confirmation of timely receipt is the proof. The continued-work rule is independent of how long the IND takes.

What the recognised sponsor avoids by acting

• Loss of confidence. Employees who feel the company is doing nothing during a delay become flight risks.
• Administrative penalty risk. Recognised sponsors that fail to follow up on stuck files can find their status reviewed (rare, but on record).
• Recruitment freeze. Cohort delays sometimes cascade. A clean Notice-of-Default routine prevents the queue from growing.

Where MigrationProvision sits for employers

Most HR teams do not want to invoice their employment-law firm €1,500 for a one-page procedural letter. Our €8.75 file fee covers the audit, the Notice drafting and the postage. The €12.40 escalation step covers the Ombudsman complaint and the court-appeal bundle if needed. We hand back a clean file for the employee. The employer keeps the receipts.