What Happens if the IND Rejects a Startup Visa Application?
A refusal means the IND did not grant the start-up residence permit. Read the decision letter. You can usually object within the period stated in that letter. The application fee is not refunded.
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What a refusal is
It is a written IND decision. It will state reasons. Typical themes on this route, based on the published tests rather than on unpublished statistics, are means, the RVO advice (innovation, plan, facilitator), or general admission conditions. We do not publish a rejection-rate number because the IND does not give us one to cite.
Government fees are not refunded if the IND refuses. See the IND FAQ on fees and the fees page.
What to do in the first week
- Read the whole letter, including the objection (bezwaar) deadline and how to submit.
- Check IND after your application for process steps that apply after a decision.
- Separate “RVO did not support the business” from “the IND found a document or means problem.” Those are different repairs.
- Do not book a flight on the assumption that an objection pauses every consequence. The letter tells you what is suspended and what is not.
Dutch administrative law generally allows objection to an IND decision. The exact period and form are in your letter. Do not copy a deadline from an article.
What not to do
- Do not invent a “start-up interview” as a missed step unless the IND asked you for one.
- Do not immediately refile the same innovation story and hope for a new RVO mood.
- Do not treat a competitor’s “we always win appeals” claim as a source. They are not the IND.
Can you apply again?
Sometimes, on a repaired file or a different purpose of stay (self-employed, DAFT if you are eligible, employment). A second start-up application that ignores the first refusal’s reasons wastes another fee.
NLVentureDesk will be honest in the first Strategy Session if the case looks too weak to file. That is cheaper than a refusal. We still cannot guarantee that a filed application will be granted, and we cannot object in the place of a lawyer if you need legal representation. We are not a law firm.
