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You are preparing for a holiday, a business trip or a visit to your partner in Europe. At the border, you discover that the Netherlands has issued an entry ban against you. Your journey ends before it begins, even though your destination is not the Netherlands, but Spain, France or another Schengen country.
An entry ban can seriously disrupt your personal and professional life. However, Dutch and European law provide several ways to challenge a ban or request its lifting. The appropriate route depends on why it was imposed, when you left the relevant European territory and your circumstances today.
A Dutch entry ban can affect travel beyond the Netherlands
An entry ban (inreisverbod) prohibits one from entry and stay for a specified period in the whole Schengen Area. An associated alert in the Schengen Information System, known as SIS, allows border authorities in other Schengen countries to identify the restriction. The Dutch authorities that can impose a ban include the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (KMar), the IND, the aliens police and the Seaport Police.
Entry bans concern people who do not have EU, EEA or Swiss nationality and are linked to a return decision (terugkeerbesluit). A return decision requires departure, An entry ban restricts subsequent entry and stay. A refusal at the border is another decision, so anyone stopped while travelling should obtain the written refusal and the underlying entry-ban decision.
A ban may follow failure to leave within a departure period or a decision requiring immediate departure. It can also arise in certain other situations involving unlawful stay. Article 66a of Immigration Act (Vw) provides the Dutch legal framework. In some situations, humanitarian and other circumstances can justify an exception.
Overstaying is one of the common reasons of receiving an entry ban. Many visitors may stay in Schengen for up to 90 days within any 180-day period, subject to the applicable entry conditions. Visa-free travel does not provide an unlimited right to remain. Residence permits, Withdrawal Agreement (Brexit) rights and other special circumstances may change which rules apply.
The length of the ban deserves careful examination
Dutch rules generally provide for a maximum of two years in ordinary cases. Certain overstays exceeding three days but not exceeding 90 days shall fall within a one-year category. Other circumstances can justify longer periods. For example, false travel documents or multiple return decisions may support a five-year ban, while serious public-order or national-security grounds can lead to substantially longer bans up to 10 or 20 years even. The authority must apply the correct legal category and assess the individual circumstances.
Consider a visitor who overstays for several weeks and is then told that they have received a five-year ban. That information should prompt a review of the written decision. The authority must have a sufficient legal basis for that duration.
The starting date also matters. The ban’s duration generally runs from actual departure from the territory covered by it (the EU/EEA, except Ireland, and Switzerland). Moving from the Netherlands to Spain does not start the clock. Passport stamps, tickets and other journey records can establish departure and help resolve an alert that remains because departure was not properly recorded.
To travel again as soon as legally possible: identify which legal route fits the case.
1. Challenge an incorrect or disproportionate decision.
A review should examine the alleged overstay, the legal basis for the ban, its duration and the assessment of personal circumstances. The EU Return Directive requires the duration to reflect the relevant circumstances of the individual case.
The decision should explain the available objection or appeal procedure and its deadline. If you discovered the ban only recently, obtain evidence showing how the original decision was notified. Defective notification may affect the time available to challenge it. Simply being unaware of the ban does not automatically establish defective notification.
2. Request early lifting following departure and compliance.
The Dutch Immigration Act grants permanent or temporary lifting, including specific rules concerning departure, time spent outside the relevant territory and other conditions.
For some ordinary bans, an uninterrupted period outside that territory of at least half the ban’s duration can support early lifting. A person with a two-year ban may therefore have a route after one year, provided the remaining conditions are satisfied. Previous return procedures, criminal proceedings and public-order concerns can affect eligibility. Therefore, reaching the halfway point does not automatically cancel the ban.
3. Present compelling new humanitarian or family circumstances.
Personal circumstances may have changed since the ban was imposed. A sudden serious illness of a family member who lives in the Schengen Area, a documented need to provide care or an approaching birth may justify a fresh assessment. Depending on the facts, the request can involve humanitarian grounds, proportionality and the right to family life under Article 8 ECHR.
For example, an expectant father whose partner lives in Spain should explain the relationship, the pregnancy, why his presence is necessary and any obstacles to meeting elsewhere. Medical evidence, the expected delivery date and evidence of the support he will provide can strengthen the request. Pregnancy does not automatically require the authorities to lift the ban.
A lifting request also has a different purpose from an appeal against the original decision. Dutch policy generally excludes reopening circumstances that were, or could have been, considered when the ban was imposed. Later developments should therefore be identified clearly.
4. Examine temporary permission where travel is urgent.
Dutch Immigration Law allows temporary lifting in very exceptional and urgent cases. The Dutch scheme concerns necessary presence in the Netherlands, such as certain important family situations or court proceedings. A temporary lifting leaves the SIS alert in place and should not be assumed to authorise travel to another Schengen country.
An inability to leave can be legally relevant, but it needs evidence
Consider a crew member whose planned return journey was disrupted during the COVID pandemic. Cancelled flights, quarantine requirements, employer correspondence and records of attempts to return may help explain the delay.
For instance, the European Commission’s guidance of 17 April 2020 advised Member States to refrain from imposing, or withdraw, an entry ban where pandemic restrictions prevented compliance with a voluntary-departure period for reasons outside the person’s control. That guidance supports a properly evidenced argument. It does not excuse every overstay during the pandemic though.
For seafarers, the case law from the European Court of Justice has ruled that overstay calculation itself may also require investigation. Signing onto a vessel does not necessarily constitute departure from Schengen. Voyage records, crew lists and actual departure dates can therefore be important.
Urgent travel to another Schengen country may require action there as well
If the immediate purpose is to visit a pregnant partner in Spain, Spanish authorities may need to assess a request for exceptional admission. The Schengen Borders Code permits a country to authorise entry on humanitarian grounds or because of international obligations despite certain unmet entry conditions. Nonetheless, this permission concerns that country and does not itself cancel the Dutch ban. The permanent lifting could only be enforced by the member state which imposes the entry ban in general.
A separate procedure applies where another participating country considers granting a residence permit or long-stay visa. The EU Regulation provides for consultation with the Netherlands and removal of the SIS refusal alert following the prescribed positive notification. The relationship or proposed move alone does not establish eligibility for residence.
A request to lift a Dutch entry ban is submitted to the IND with a reasoned letter. Useful documents usually include:
- The entry-ban decision and any subsequent border refusal;
- Passport copies and evidence of departure and residence abroad;
- Relevant criminal-record documents and declarations;
- Evidence supporting the humanitarian circumstances and urgency.
Where travel is urgent, explain the relevant dates and request expedited consideration. Submitting an application does not itself give permission to travel. Before departure, obtain confirmation of the lifting and relevant alert removal, or the specific authorisation permitting the intended journey.
Have you received an entry ban from the Dutch border police, the IND or another Dutch authority? Contact Pathway Partners.
We may be able to help you review the decision, challenge an incorrect ban, request its lifting or identify an appropriate route for urgent travel. Send us the decision, any refusal received from another Schengen country and your intended travel dates so that we can assess the available options.