Closure of Dutch embassies and consulates - update
Visas and Authorisations for Temporary Stay can no longer be applied for in all countries as Dutch embassies and consulates have closed or will be closing in a number of countries. Several other offices are no longer performing these tasks. In both cases, other Dutch offices in the region will be taking over these tasks.
The following offices have since closed:
- Asmara (Eritrea): applications in Khartoum (Sudan), Cairo (Egypt), Nairobi (Kenya);
- Barcelona (Spain): applications in Madrid;
- Montevideo (Uruguay): applications in Buenos Aires (Argentina);
- Quito (Ecuador): applications in Lima (Peru);
- Yaoundé (Cameroun): applications in Cotonou (Benin).
The following offices will be closed over the course of 2013 (dates are indicative):
- Guatemala (Guatemala): applications to San José (Costa Rica) from 01 February 2013;
- La Paz (Bolivia): applications to Lima (Peru) from the end of 2013;
- Lusaka (Zambia): applications to Harare (Zimbabwe) from 01 March 2013;
- Managua (Nicaragua): applications to San José (Costa Rica) from 01 June 2013;
- Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso): applications to Bamako (Mali) from 01 April 2013.
Applying for an Authorisation for Temporary Stay
In the event an office is closed, applications for an Authorisation for Temporary Stay may be submitted to an office in the nearest country (or to a designated office in the region). There is space on the application form for applicants to indicate the office from which they would like to pick up the Authorisation for Temporary Stay. If there is any doubt, the Loket Studie Verkort will contact the education institute.
Applications for a short-stay visa
In most cases, short-stay visas will be issued by an office of another Schengen state in the same country.
Authorisations for Temporary Stay and visas are not always issued on the day of application.
An overview of the embassies, consulates and other representations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists the offices that are open. If you enter a country where the office has closed, you will be automatically referred to the post that has taken over responsibility for handling applications.
Regionalisation
In some cases, applications can still be submitted to and documents picked up from specific offices (front offices) although they are actually handled by another office in the region (back office). We refer to this way of working as ‘regionalisation’. One consequence of this is a small increase in waiting times.
Regionalisation has already been introduced in:
- North and Central America
- South America
- Southern Africa
- Southeast Asia
- West Europe