# Netherlands Residence Permit — Time Away Residency rule, Netherlands. Page: https://usecountr.com/trackers/residency-nl-permit/ ## Summary A regular Dutch residence permit, temporary or permanent, depends on your main residence being in the Netherlands. The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) in principle assumes that you moved it abroad when you were outside the Netherlands for more than 6 months in a row, or for more than 4 months in a row for the third year in a row. The IND can then withdraw the permit or refuse to extend it. Separate trips are not added together, and the IND counts the months inside one calendar year. - Limit: More than 6 months in a row outside the Netherlands - Second limit: More than 4 months in a row, for the third year in a row - Period: One absence, counted by the IND per calendar year (January to December) - If you go over: The IND can withdraw the permit or refuse to extend it - Law: Aliens Act 2000, articles 18, 19 and 22, and Aliens Circular B1/6.2.1 - Run by: Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) ## Who it applies to - People with a regular Dutch residence permit, for example for family, work or a permanent stay, who plan a long stay abroad. - People who care for a relative in another country for several months. - People who spend every winter or every summer outside the Netherlands. - People with a permanent residence permit who think the permit can no longer be lost. ## The rule The rule starts in the Aliens Act 2000 (Vreemdelingenwet 2000). Article 18, paragraph 1, letter a says that the extension of a temporary residence permit can be refused when the holder has set up the main residence outside the Netherlands. Article 19 allows the withdrawal of a temporary permit on the same ground. Article 22, paragraph 1, letter a says the same for a permanent permit. Main residence means the place where you really live and where your life is centred. The law gives no number of days. The numbers are in the Aliens Circular 2000, the policy rules that the IND follows, in paragraph B1/6.2.1. The IND in principle assumes that you moved your main residence when one of three things happened. You used a remigration scheme when you left. Or you stayed outside the Netherlands for more than six months in a row, unless you show that going over the six months was caused by things that were not your fault. Or you stayed outside the Netherlands for more than four months in a row for the third year in a row, unless you show that the centre of your activities did not move abroad. Paragraph B12/2.5 sends holders of a permanent permit to the same paragraph. The IND explains on its own page how it counts. It counts the six months, and also the four months, per calendar year from January to December, and it does not add up separate periods. So a trip that runs over New Year is cut in two parts, and each part is looked at in its own year. The months are the leading sign, not the only one. The circular says the IND judges the real facts and looks at what your behaviour shows about your plans. The IND also names other signs of a move: you are no longer registered in the Personal Records Database (BRP), you gave up your job, you closed your bank account, or your home is emptied or rented out. The IND looks at the whole situation, and the law says the permit can be withdrawn, not that it must be. Why it exists: A residence permit is given so that you can live in the Netherlands. The state does not want to keep permits alive for people who in fact live in another country. But it is hard to prove where a person's life is centred, so the IND uses clear periods as a starting point: six months in a row, or four months in a row year after year. The periods give you a line you can plan with, and they leave room for cases where a long absence was not your choice. ## Counting the days You look at each absence from the Netherlands by itself. What matters is how long you were away in a row, not the total of your trips. 1. List every trip outside the Netherlands with the day you left and the day you returned. 2. For each trip, count the months in a row that you were away. Do not add different trips together. 3. If a trip runs over New Year, split it at 1 January. The IND looks at the part in each calendar year by itself. 4. Check whether any part is longer than 6 months in a row. 5. Check whether you were away for more than 4 months in a row in this calendar year and in each of the two years before it. 6. If a long absence was not your choice, for example a stay in hospital, keep the proof. How Countr counts it: Countr counts the days in a row of your current absence from the Netherlands for Netherlands Residence Permit — Time Away and compares them with 180 days. Six calendar months are at least 181 days, so the card warns early, never late. It warns you 30 days before the limit. Countr counts the whole trip and does not split it at New Year, so for a trip over New Year it can warn although the IND's calendar-year count is not yet over the limit. The card does not track the second limit, more than 4 months in a row for the third year in a row. It watches your current absence only: check your History for a past absence that was too long. If the app cannot see where you were on a day, the count starts over, so gaps make the count smaller, never bigger. The card is not for highly skilled migrants, researchers, investors or holders of the EU long-term resident permit, who have other limits. ## Examples ### Seven months away in one year You leave the Netherlands on 2 March 2026 to care for your mother and return on 20 October 2026. You were away for more than 7 months in a row, all inside the calendar year 2026. This is over the six months. The IND in principle assumes that you moved your main residence and can withdraw the permit, unless you show that staying longer was caused by things that were not your fault. ### A trip over New Year You are away from 15 October 2025 to 10 May 2026, almost 7 months. The IND counts per calendar year: 2 and a half months fall in 2025 and a little over 4 months fall in 2026. Neither part is more than 6 months, so the six-month ground does not apply. Countr counts the whole trip and reaches 180 days in April 2026, so it warns here although the IND's count is under the limit. The part in 2026 is longer than 4 months, so 2026 counts as one year for the second limit. ### Every summer abroad In 2024, 2025 and 2026 you are outside the Netherlands from 1 June to 15 October, 4 and a half months each time. No trip is near six months. But 2026 is the third year in a row with more than 4 months in a row abroad. The IND in principle assumes a move, unless you show that the centre of your activities stayed in the Netherlands, for example with your job, your home and your family there. Countr does not track this limit. ## Exceptions - The six-month ground does not apply when you show that going over six months was caused by things outside your control. The IND calls this force majeure. - The four-month ground does not apply when you show that the centre of your activities did not move abroad. - Highly skilled migrants, scientific researchers and foreign investors may be outside the Netherlands for at most 8 months per 12 months, with separate periods added together. - Students in higher education may study abroad for at most one year in a row when this is needed to complete their studies in the Netherlands. - The EU long-term resident permit has its own limits: more than 12 months in a row outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland, or more than 6 years in a row outside the Netherlands. - Asylum permits have no fixed number of months. The IND judges case by case whether the holder still needs protection. ## Common misconceptions - "A permanent residence permit cannot be lost by staying abroad." It can. Article 22 of the Aliens Act 2000 allows the withdrawal of a permanent permit when the holder has set up the main residence outside the Netherlands, and the same six-month and four-month periods are used. - "The IND adds all my trips in a year together." Not for a regular permit. The IND says that it does not add up separate periods. Only one absence in a row of more than 6 months, or of more than 4 months in three years in a row, starts the assumption. - "If I come back for a weekend every five months, I am always safe." That keeps you under six months in a row, but there is a second limit. More than 4 months in a row abroad for the third year in a row is also a ground, and the IND can also decide from other signs that you live abroad. - "The permit ends by itself on the day I pass six months." It does not. The IND must decide to withdraw it or to refuse the extension, and you can give your reasons first. But passing six months gives the IND the ground to start. ## Questions and answers ### How long can I stay outside the Netherlands with a residence permit? With a regular permit, stay under 6 months in a row, and do not be away for more than 4 months in a row in three years in a row. Some permits have other limits, for example 8 months per 12 months for highly skilled migrants. ### Does time in another EU country count as time outside the Netherlands? Yes. The rule is about the Netherlands, not about the EU or the Schengen area. Six months in Germany or Spain count the same as six months on another continent. ### Does a short visit to the Netherlands start a new six months? For the count of months, yes: the IND looks at months in a row and does not add separate periods. But the IND judges the real facts. If you only pass through while your home, work and family are abroad, it can still decide that your main residence moved. ### Do I have to tell someone before I leave for a long time? The rules on this page set no general duty to ask the IND for permission. But deregistering from the Personal Records Database (BRP) is one of the signs the IND names for a move abroad, so think about what your registration shows. ### I was stuck abroad because of illness. Will I lose my permit? Not on the six-month ground, if you can show it. The circular makes an exception when going over six months was caused by things that were not your fault. Keep the papers that prove it, such as hospital records. ### Why does Countr warn me when the IND's count is still under six months? Countr counts the whole absence and does not split it at 1 January. The IND counts per calendar year. For a trip over New Year the app is stricter than the IND's count, so it warns early. ## Sources - [IND, Main residency](https://ind.nl/en/living-in-the-netherlands-with-a-residence-permit/main-residency) - [Aliens Circular 2000 (B) (Vreemdelingencirculaire 2000 (B)), paragraphs B1/6.2.1 and B12/2.5](https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0012289/2026-10-01/0/tekst) - [Aliens Act 2000 (Vreemdelingenwet 2000), articles 18, 19 and 22](https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0011823/2026-09-01) --- Countr is an app for iPhone that counts your days in every country for visa, tax and residency rules, from the photos on your phone and your location. It explains rules and counts days. It does not give legal or tax advice. https://apps.apple.com/app/country-days-tracker-countr/id6810720800