Apply for your visa earlier
31 Jan 2012
Are you planning to apply for an entry visa to come to Holland in the coming months? Make sure you start on time, as it may take longer than before!
In some countries, the visa application has recently become more time consuming. This is partly due to the closing of embassies, but also due to the introduction of more time consuming procedures in certain regions.
Five embassies closed
Some Dutch embassies and consulates have been or will be closed down. The duties of these representation offices will be taken over by other Dutch representations in the region as mentioned in the table below:
| Closing down or closed |
Duties taken over by |
|---|---|
| Asmara (Eritrea) | Khartoum (Sudan), Cairo (Egypt), Nairobi (Kenya) |
| Quito (Ecuador) | Lima (Peru) |
| Yaoundé (Cameroon) | Cotonou (Benin) |
| Montevideo (Uruguay) | Buenos Aires (Argentina) |
| Barcelona (Spain) | Barcelona (Spain) |
Two extra weeks for visa applications
In addition, certain tasks of Dutch embassies or consulates in other countries have been centralised to other Dutch representations in the region, also known as Regional Support Offices (RSO’s):
- Washington (now covering The United States, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico);
- Pretoria (now covering South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Zambia);
- Berlin (now covering Denmark, Finland);
- Vienna (no covering Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia)
You can still go to the Dutch representation in your own country to submit a visa application. However, visa applications for long stays (longer than 90 days) submitted in these countries will take longer to be processed.
Your passport will be sent to the RSO. After processing the application, the RSO will return your passport to the Dutch embassy or consulate in the country of your origin. This could take up to two weeks, so we advise you to start applying for your entry visa at least two weeks earlier.
In most cases visa handling for short stays (up to 90 days) is being adopted by another Schengen country which has representation in your country of origin.
More information
For more detailed information on the different Dutch embassies and consulates abroad, please check the website of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.