Information request: ‘Validity of residence permits for international protection’

This information request (ad-hoc query)* concerns the validity period of initial and subsequent residence permits granted to beneficiaries of international protection, including both refugee status and subsidiary protection.

Research period - August-September 2024 
Participating countries - Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden

Background and scope

• The Dutch government is preparing to introduce a two-status system and to revise the validity period of residence permits issued to beneficiaries of international protection.
• European and Dutch migration law distinguish between two forms of international protection (asylum):
  • Refugee protection, granted to asylum seekers who meet the refugee definition of the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention;
  • Subsidiary protection, granted to asylum seekers who do not meet the refugee definition but for whom substantial grounds exist to believe that return would expose them to a real risk of serious harm, such as torture, the death penalty, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, or a serious threat to life or person due to indiscriminate violence in situations of armed conflict.
• Unlike other EU Member States, the Netherlands currently applies a single-status system, meaning that persons granted subsidiary protection receive the same legal status and rights as those granted refugee status.
• At the request of the Dutch government, EMN Netherlands launched this information request to map the validity periods of residence permits for beneficiaries of international protection (both refugee and subsidiary protection) in other EU Member States.

EMN publications

• EMN compilation, full responses EU Member States: ‘Validity of residence permits for international protection’, October 2024 

EMN Netherlands publications

• News item, 'How long are asylum residence permits valid in other EU member states?', 23 January 2025 

*An information request/ad-hoc query (AHQ) is an EMN tool used to collect information on migration and asylum policies in EU Member States and EMN Observer Countries.