Dutch nationality law

The primary law governing these requirements is the Dutch Nationality Act, which came into force on 1 January 1985.

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.

From 1 January 1985 the Kingdom Act on the Netherlands nationality (Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap 19 December 1984, Stb.

This possibility was not widely known and many in this situation missed the temporary opportunity to register themselves or their children as Dutch nationals.

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change was discussed by parliament in 2006,[2][5] but then stalled when the government fell and the bill was withdrawn.

[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.

[9] The option procedure is a simpler and quicker way of acquiring Dutch citizenship compared to naturalisation.

If one or more of the conditions are not met the person is ineligible for nationality by this particular means under the recent changes to the option procedure affecting the latent Dutch.

Dutch law has no provisions for the automatic granting of the Dutch nationality based on the actual place of birth, however, a child is Dutch if it was born to at least one parent, having his or her main residence in the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, or Aruba (or the Netherlands Antilles) at the times of the births of that parent and of the child, provided the child itself has at birth its main residence in one of those countries too.

[14] A child found on Dutch territory (including ships and airplanes registered in the Netherlands), whose parents are unknown, is considered Dutch by birth if within five years since being found it does not become apparent that the child had another citizenship by birth.

[15] An application for Dutch citizenship by naturalisation must meet all the conditions below: Since 1 March 2009, anyone who requests naturalization must take an oath promising adherence to the values of the Dutch state: "I swear (declare) that I respect the constitutional order of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, its freedoms and its rights, and I swear (promise) to faithfully fulfil the obligations due to my nationality.

23.3. of the Kingdom Act on the Netherlands Nationality,[17] some categories of people are excepted from declaring their allegiance, through a general administrative measure.

of the Decree regarding the Obtention and Loss of the Netherlands Nationality,[18] persons with a physical or psychological handicap who are unable to state their allegiance are exempted from doing so.

The application opting for Dutch nationality may be submitted up to 31 March 2013 (i.e., ten years from the 2003 change in the law).

A new period of ten years starts on the day that the person is issued with a passport or proof of Dutch nationality.

[25][22] This is due to the provisions of the Convention on the Reduction of Cases of Multiple Nationality, to which the Netherlands became party in 1985.

[1] Other exceptions also exist such as the one in which minors who naturalise independently from their parents will not lose their Dutch citizenship.

Withdrawal based on fraud is not allowed after twelve years unless the person is convicted of war crimes, genocide, or torture.

In addition, passports of people suspected of making plans to travel to a conflict zone and join a terrorist organisation like ISIL may be declared invalid.

Since the assassination of Pim Fortuyn, anti-immigration politicians like Geert Wilders and Rita Verdonk have opposed dual citizenship.

[37] According to the country's statistics office,[38] nearly 21,000 people were granted Dutch nationality through naturalisation in 2004 (13,000 adults and 8,000 children at the same time).

The QNI considers in addition to travel freedom on internal factors such as peace & stability, economic strength, human development as well.