Foreign women who have lived legally in the Netherlands for less than three years but are the victims of household violence or are abandoned in their home country against their will are to be given easier access to a residency permit in the Netherlands.

In a letter to MPs on Thursday, justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin said he plans to relax the residency criteria for this group of women.
In the future, the immigration service will consider women’s links with the Netherlands and the situation in their home country where they are often in a ‘difficult’ position says the justice ministry on its website.
It will no longer be compulsory for foreign women who leave violent partners to submit a formal complaint to the police in order to be eligible for a residency permit, says Hirsch Ballin.