Dutch nationality law
Dutch nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds Dutch nationality. The primary law governing these requirements is the Dutch Nationality Act, which came into force on 1 January 1985. Regulations apply to the entire Kingdom of the Netherlands, which includes the country of the Netherlands itself, Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten.
Dutch Nationality Act
Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap
Kingdom of the Netherlands (includes Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten)
19 December 1984
1 January 1985
The Netherlands is a member state of the European Union (EU) and all Dutch nationals are EU citizens. They have automatic and permanent permission to live and work in any EU or European Free Trade Association (EFTA) country and may vote in elections to the European Parliament.
Any person born to at least one Dutch parent receives Dutch citizenship at birth. Foreign nationals may naturalise as Dutch citizens after living in any part of the Kingdom for at least five years, demonstrating proficiency in the Dutch language, renouncing any previous nationalities, and fulfilling a good character requirement.
Acquisition of citizenship[edit]
By descent or automatic acquisition of Dutch nationality[edit]
A person born on or after 1 January 1985 to a Dutch father or mother (afstamming) is automatically a Dutch national at birth (van rechtswege). It is irrelevant where the child is born.
A child born to an unmarried Dutch father and a non-Dutch mother must be acknowledged by the Dutch father before birth, in order for the child to be a Dutch national at birth. Before 1 April 2003, an acknowledgement could be given after birth. Since then children who were not acknowledged before birth may nonetheless acquire Dutch citizenship through the option procedure, or through obtaining proof of paternity from a court. In the last case, the child gets Dutch nationality retroactively since the child's birth.
From 1 January 1985 the Kingdom Act on the Netherlands nationality (Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap 19 December 1984, Stb. 628) permits children of either a Dutch father or mother to receive Dutch nationality by descent. Prior to that date Dutch nationality law (Wet op het Nederlanderschap en het ingezetenenschap (commonly abbreviated as WNI, 12 December 1892, Stb. 268) did not permit children to obtain Dutch nationality through descent from a Dutch mother (through matrilineal descent) and a non-Dutch father. Netherlands nationality was only passed through patrilineal (father) descent. Only if the father was not known or acknowledged did a child born to a Dutch mother receive Dutch nationality prior to 1 January 1985.
Between 1 January 1985 and 31 December 1987 children born after 1 January 1964 but before 1 January 1985 of a Dutch mother and non-Dutch father and who had never been married could use the ‘option procedure’ to acquire Dutch nationality. This possibility was not widely known and many in this situation missed the temporary opportunity to register themselves or their children as Dutch nationals.[1]
In 2004, a number of these children of Dutch mothers and non-Dutch fathers (so-called "latent Dutch" or "latente Nederlanders") began to organise themselves in the hope of persuading the Dutch government that Article 27 of Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap condones the discrimination against women enshrined in the earlier Dutch Nationality Law (before its 1985 revision), and it should therefore be revoked. In 2005, several Dutch lawyers[2] agreed to take on the case and formalised the group into “Stichting Ne(e)derlanderschap Ja! ”.[3][4] The legislative change was discussed by parliament in 2006,[2][5] but then stalled when the government fell and the bill was withdrawn.[6]
In December 2008, a new proposal was presented to the House of Representatives,[6] and in January 2010 Legislative bill 31.831 (R1873) passed a majority vote amending the Kingdom Act on the Netherlands nationality to allow the so-called 'latent Dutch' to opt to receive Dutch nationality, regardless of their current age and marital status, and without requirement to renounce their original nationality.[7] In June 2010, the Dutch Upper House approved the legislation.[8] It was signed into law in July 2010 by Minister of Justice Mr Hirsch Ballin and H.M. the Queen, and published in the official Gazette issued by the Dutch Government (Staatsblad van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden),[9] with effect 1 October 2010.[10] Latent Dutch now have the opportunity to receive Dutch nationality by option. Many latent Dutch regard themselves as having been Dutch since birth.[1][11] However, while latent Dutch are by definition descended from a Dutch mother, nationality granted through the option procedure is not retroactive to the date of their birth. Under the law, these individuals are not considered to be Dutch since birth (van rechtswege), but rather are legally ‘Dutch by option’ from the date that the requirements of the ‘option procedure’ are fulfilled.[9]
By option[edit]
The option procedure is a simpler and quicker way of acquiring Dutch citizenship compared to naturalisation. In effect, it is a form of simplified naturalisation.
In order to be eligible for the option procedure, it is necessary to hold a Dutch residence permit and to be any of the following:
Citizenship of the European Union[edit]
Because the Netherlands forms part of the European Union, Dutch citizens are also citizens of the European Union under European Union law and thus enjoy rights of free movement and have the right to vote in elections for the European Parliament.[32] When in a non-EU country where there is no Dutch embassy, Dutch citizens have the right to get consular protection from the embassy of any other EU country present in that country.[33][34] Dutch citizens can live and work in any country within the EU as a result of the right of free movement and residence granted in Article 21 of the EU Treaty.[35]
Impact of UK departure from EU[edit]
The consequences of the UK’s departure from the EU (Brexit) will impact Dutch nationals in the UK and British nationals in the Netherlands.[36] This prospective loss of their original or dual nationality has encouraged many to support the European Citizen’s Initiative for Permanent European Union Citizenship.[37]
Former territories[edit]
Before independence, Dutch citizenship was held by many persons in Suriname and Indonesia. In general, those acquiring citizenship of these countries at independence have lost their Dutch citizenship, but a request for determination of citizenship status can be addressed to the Dutch authorities.
Dutch citizenship statistics[edit]
Figures from the Dutch government show that approximately 11,500 people were granted Dutch citizenship by naturalisation in the first six months of 2003. There were close to 20,000 applications. [2]
According to the country's statistics office [3] , nearly 21,000 people were granted Dutch nationality through naturalisation in 2004 (13,000 adults and 8,000 children at the same time). This is 4,000 fewer than in 2003 and half the number in 2002.