Unlike other countries it does not matter if you are married or not, as long as you can proof your exclusive relationship. You will be asked to submit proof for this later, such as photo’s of you and your partner.

In order to enter the country and apply for a permanent visa you will need to obtain a Provisional Residence Permit, or as it is called in dutch a MVV. Obtaining a MVV will be the hardest part, so lets see where you can apply for this visa. This is information from the IND website on where to start applying for the visa;

” There are two ways to start the procedure for obtaining an Provisional Residence Permit (MVV).

• A sponsor in the Netherlands starts the MVV procedure by submitting a request for advice to the IND or
  
• You can submit an application for an MVV to the Dutch embassy or consulate in your country of origin “

The route we took is the second one thus we applied directly for an MVV at the dutch embassy in Manila.

If you know what you are doing why waste time by first submitting a request ? Besides, you cannot appeal if the request for advice is negative but you can appeal the second option.

Expect around 10 weeks waiting time before the IND will give you an answer after you have applied for a MVV at the embassy.

Don’t be passive and wait around for them to call them if you submit something, follow up on it ! Call the IND (0900-1234561 or +31 20 8893045 from outside The Netherlands) or the dutch embassy (+(63) 2 786 66 66)  and kindly request the information or an update. Remember: Always stay polite, they are only human too and getting mad or being rude at them will not help your case at all.

“

1. Go to the Dutch embassy or the Dutch consulate in your country of origin. They will tell you which documents you need to submit. Sometimes these documents must meet specific conditions.
2. The embassy or consulate forwards your application to the IND in the Netherlands.
3. You must meet all conditions. If you do, the IND will contact your sponsor in the Netherlands for information and documents.
4. If the IND approves your application for an MVV, you must contact the embassy or consulate in your country of origin to collect the MVV.
5. You will not be issued an MVV if you do not meet the conditions, or if your documents are invalid, incomplete or incorrect. You may submit an application for review with respective to a negative Decision on your application.”

That’s not much of a help, so what do you need to bring to the embassy ? We needed to bring the following documents;

• Photocopy of all pages of the host passport
• Your passport
• Proof that you passed the dutch civic integration test
• Legalized certificate of non-marriage
  The dutch embassy in Manila may ask for a affidavit bij a notary public.
• Birth certificate
• The form ‘Aanvraag Schengenvisum’ which you can get at the embassy.

If you need help with filling in the “schengenvisum” visa form, have a look on this forum which explains the questions in english. Here is a copy of the Schengenvisum formulier please note that I do not know if this form is up to date. Please get a recent one at the dutch embassy and only use this as reference.

For documents from the philippines such as birthcertificate and non-marriage certificates the dutch goverment requires that these are legalized by the DFA and Dutch embassy in Manila. Obtaining these documents from the NSO can be done online.

After submitting your complete MVV application you will recieve a reference number and IND bankaccount. Before further processing starts you must pay 830 euro to that bankaccount within two weeks. After payment the host will receive a letter from the IND asking for additional documentation.

Update 1-7-2010 from the IND website; http://www.ind.nl/EN/verblijfwijzer/verblijfwijzer_mijnsituatie.asp?proc=halen&procedure=Marriage%20or%20relationship&procedurestapnaam=Conditions&land=Philippines&duur=1&lang=en

Marriage/Relationship

You want to live with your spouse or partner in the Netherlands. The following conditions apply:

• you are married and your marriage has been registered in the Netherlands, in the municipal personal records database [Gemeentelijke Basisadministratie];
• or you are both unmarried and you are able to prove this with official legalised documents;
• you are not a danger to public order
• you are 21 or older. In the case of family reunification, you must be 18 or older;
• you will live with your spouse or partner as soon as he/she arrives in the Netherlands:
  - you are intending to run a joint household;
  - he is going to register himself at the same address as you.
• he/she is required to take the civic integration examination abroad (Caution: he/she is exempted from taking the civil integration test if he/she has the American, Australian, Canadian, Japanese, New Zealand or South Korean nationality).

The following conditions apply to you:

• you are 21 or older. In the case of family reunification, you must be 18 or older;
• you enjoy sufficient income in the Netherlands

This exam consists of two parts, a dutch language part and the second part about dutch society. The dutch society part can be studied at home with the “naar nederland” study kit mentioned below. You will need to answer 30 questions about dutch society. The questions are in dutch and you are required to answer them in dutch. The exam itself is taken at the dutch embassy. Applying for a schedule to do the exam can be done here and will you cost 350 euro.

The language part is done with four different tests;

1. repeat sentences
2. answer short questions
3. telling the opposite of words
4. repeat two short stories

To study the dutch society part of the exam you need the “Naar Nederland” book and dvd. This can be obtained thru the naar nederland website here.

It have posted some helpfull documents to practice the dutch language part here;

• Example questions exam
• Naar Nederland practice exam
• Tegenstellingen – Opposites

More information can be found on the “buitenlandse partner” forum. Such as the exam questions.

With your “naar nederland” studykit you get 3 unique codes to take a practice examen thru phone, now someone recorded An mp3 audio file of the practice exam you get with the “naar nederland” studymaterial.

In order to speed things up with the dutch language exam we took private lessons in Manila from the highly recommended dutch teacher Ronald Roosloot. You may contact him on his cellphone 09214970002 or just get his contact details from his website. For proper legal advice you might want to check out this website.

Then the next step is to wait for the IND to send the host a letter in which they will ask for additional information.

“Ik verzoek u de volgende gegevens te overleggen:

• Een kopie van dat deel van uw paspoort waarin uw persoonsgegevens staan vermeld
• Een kopie van het paspoort van uw partner (alle bladzijden)
• Gegevens over uw inkomen (voor zelfstandig ondernemers: een origineel uittreksel van de Kamer van Koophandel, en de ingevulde bijlage ‘Verklaring inkomen ondernemer’. Deze moet worden ingevuld en voorzien van bijlagen door de verblijfgever en een administrateur.)
• Een origineel uittreksel uit de gemeentelijke basisadministratie persoonsgegevens (GBA) waaruit uw burgerlijke staat, gezinssamenstelling en verblijfsadres blijken, niet ouder dan 6 maanden
• Ingevulde en ondertekende garantverklaring
• Ingevulde vragenlijst “

This letter will arrive fairly soon, in a week or so if i remember correctly. So prepare the following documents which are needed to send back to the IND;

• Proof that the host has sufficient income, at least €1.441,26 netto per month required
  
• Photocopy of both your passports
• Birth certificate of the host (in dutch “GBA uitreksel”)
• Signed letter of guarantee (in dutch “garantverklaring“)
• Filled in questionnaire ( Vragenlijst IND MVV )

Answering the questionnaire is nothing to difficult. For the proof of an “exclusive” relationship (see question B6) we send them 10+ photos of us together in various locations, airline tickets and phonebills to proof we call and text everyday.

After submitting this, it will take about 10 weeks before the host will recieve an answer by post if the MVV will be granted or denied. Good luck !