The Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) has urged politicians to provide greater stability and room in implementing migration policy, arguing that this is essential to improve the effectiveness of the system and prepare it for future challenges. In its latest State of Implementation report, the IND highlighted the continued pressure on the asylum system and stressed that, with major changes expected in 2026, policymakers should avoid introducing further reforms or changing priorities. The report notes that asylum applications have remained high and unpredictable, and the IND has been operating at the edge of its capacity for years. The entry into application of the Pact on 12 June 2026 has led to the prioritising of applications submitted after this date to meet the Pact deadlines. The consequence is that the approximately 50,000 people who applied prior to 12 June 2026 face even longer waiting times. The IND noted that without recent changes to the procedure, the backlog would have taken over ten years to clear. With reforms that drops to about five years, which the IND still considers far too long.
The IND also drew attention to the rapid development of artificial intelligence, noting that current legislation is often unclear. It called for the European AI Regulation to be translated into concrete and applicable laws and regulations and for increased AI literacy in the central government. The IND sees AI opportunities in different tasks such as document screening and summarisation, supporting hearings (for example transcription and real-time translation), preparatory legal/country research, drafting documents, note-taking, and a staff chatbot. However, it noted that as a government body it must maintain safeguards and therefore meaningful human intervention remains required. For general questions, the IND plans to use an AI tool called Robin which is being developed and rolled out this year together with the Ministry of Justice and Security. It is also building a secure in-house tool for situations where the use of confidential data is necessary.
In addition, the IND called for a more flexible labour migration system that can respond to economic needs, a simpler civic integration system, and updated legislation that better reflects current practice.
- Immigration and Naturalisation Service | Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst (8 June, 2026), IND vraagt om ruimte voor uitvoering en koersvast beleid in tijd van veranderingen [IND asks for room for implementation and steady policy in time of change],
- Immigration and Naturalisation Service | Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst (8 June, 2026), Stand van de Uitvoering 2026 [State of Implementation 2026],