Wider discretionary powers urged for last-ditch residency appeals

Immigration ministers should take ‘societal interests’ into account when they are asked to use their special discretionary powers to grant residency permits to long-term refugees with no formal right to stay in the country, a government advisory group said on Tuesday.


Immigration minister Gert Leers asked the ACVZ for its advice on how to deal with requests for residency permits made by mayors and other officials on behalf of people who are settled in the Netherlands and make a positive contribution to society but are threatened with deportation.
The report says that ministers should take the individual’s position in society into account as well as ‘compelling reasons of a humanitarian nature’.
Standardisation
In addition, the report, which includes a summary in English, calls for applications for discretionary permits to be standardised, so that it is clear why some people are rejected. A special committee of experts would help advise the minister on individual cases.
Last month, Leers refused to apply his discretionary powers to grant a residency permit to an 18-year-old Angolan youth, even though the boy has lived in the Netherlands since he was nine and is fully settled.
The minister said in a reaction he would study the report closely and make a formal response by spring next year.

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