The 2021 immigration figures from the Immigration & Naturalisation Service (IND) reveal that last year saw a significant increase in the number of applications for residence permits in the Netherlands compared to 2020, with the majority of approved applications going to citizens from India, China, the United States, and Turkey. 

Who relocated to the Netherlands in 2021?

After 2020 saw a drop in the number of residence permit requests received by the IND as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, figures went back up again in 2021 as various travel restrictions came to an end. Last year, the IND received a total of 42.690 family applications, 82 percent of which were approved. The majority of applications came from families from India, Turkey, and Syria. 

The number of people relocating to the Netherlands to attend university also increased last year, with IND receiving 20.560 student permit applications. According to the IND, most of the international students studying in the Netherlands come from China, India, and the United States.

IND approves 98 percent of naturalisation applications

The IND also saw a significant jump in the number of applications for Dutch citizenship, from 43.660 in 2020 to 59.680 in 2021. A whopping 98 percent of those applications were approved, with the nationalities most likely to apply for naturalisation being Syrian, Eritrean, and Indian.