IND counts slightly fewer students from outside Europe

More than 17,000 students from outside Europe want to study here, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) reports. The number is several hundred fewer than last year.

The IND received 17,187 applications for residence permits for students from outside the European Economic Area. The EEA consists of the European Union plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. It does not include the United Kingdom.

Last year, there were 17,870 applicants. According to the IND, the two numbers ‘reasonably match’. Almost all applications are approved, as the application goes through the college or university, which itself has already assessed whether the student meets the conditions.

Origin

About a quarter of international students come from outside Europe. They are mainly students from China, India, the United States, Turkey and Indonesia. Of the EU students, the most come from Germany, Italy and Romania.

For the first time, the IND used a ‘virtual assistant’ to process residence applications from international students. “It processes the applications quickly, carefully and 24 hours a day”, a press release reads. “We started this in March and have already been able to process over 13,000 applications this way.” Previously, the IND used about 15 temporary workers each year for this job.

Award days

In recent years, the IND has been issuing residence documents to students during nationwide ‘award days’ at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht. Saturday 24 August is the first one.