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.
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 By descent or automatic acquisition of Dutch nationality 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.Article: Nee mevrouw, u bent te laat by Karin Alfenaar, De Verdieping, Trouw Nieuws, 13 May 2006.
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 agreed to take on the case and formalised the group into “Stichting Ne(e)derlanderschap Ja! ”.Article: De latente Nederlanders. Radio Netherlands World Emission, by Pieter-Bas van Wiechen, 23 September 2009.Article: "Equal Rights for Latent Dutch citizens Expatica Netherlands, 2 July 2010. The legislative change was discussed by parliament in 2006, Latente Nederlanders wachten op hun paspoort. mr. C.A. Goudsmit. but then stalled when the government fell and the bill was withdrawn.Article: De latente Nederlanders. Radio Netherlands World Emission, Pieter-Bas van Wiechen, 23 September 2009.
In December 2008, a new proposal was presented to the House of Representatives, 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.Kamer voor paspoort latente Nederlanders Radio Nederland Wereldomroep. In June 2010, the Dutch Upper House approved the legislation.Einde aan het tijdperk van latente Nederlanders, Radio Nederland Wereldomroep. 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), with effect 1 October 2010.Hoe bepaal je of je een latente Nederlander bent? Radio Nederland Wereldomroep. Latent Dutch now have the opportunity to receive Dutch nationality by option. Many latent Dutch regard themselves as having been Dutch since birth.Article: Saskia heeft Nederlandse moeder, maar moet land uit, AD Nieuws, 6 oktober 2009. 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.
By option 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:
an adult who was born in the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao or Sint Maarten and who has lived in any of these places continuously since birth. a person born in the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao or Sint Maarten who has lived in any of these places for an uninterrupted period of at least three years and who has not acquired the citizenship of any other country (a stateless person). an adult who has been legally resident in the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao or Sint Maarten since he or she was four years old. an adult who used to be a Dutch national and who has been legally resident in the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao or Sint Maarten for at least one year and whose residence is without any restriction as to length. someone who has been married to a Dutch national for at least three years and who has been legally resident in the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao or Sint Maarten for an uninterrupted period of at least fifteen years. someone aged sixty-five years or over and who has been legally resident in the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao or Sint Maarten for an uninterrupted period of at least fifteen years. a minor who is acknowledged by a Dutch national who has been cared for and brought up by this Dutch national for an uninterrupted period of at least three years. a minor who, as a result of a Court decision or by law at the time of his or her birth, is under the joint custody of a non-Dutch parent and another person who is a Dutch national and who, since the start of this custody, has been cared for and brought up by this Dutch national for a period of at least three years during which the child has had his or her principal place of residence in the Netherlands.
Exception: Legislation 31.813 (R1873),Legislation 31.813 (R1873) amendments to the Kingdom Act on the Netherlands Nationality inter alia, amends the Kingdom of the Netherlands' nationality law to allow latent Dutch to opt to receive Dutch nationality, effective 1 October 2010.Article: Hoe Bepaal je je wwn latente Nederlander Bent? How do you determine whether you are Latent Dutch? Radio Nederland Wereldomroep (in Dutch) The conditions of eligibility through the 'option procedure' differ somewhat from those described above. Eligibility criteria for Dutch nationality as a latent Dutch person are that the: applicant was born before 1 January 1985; mother was a Dutch national when the applicant was born; father was not a Dutch national when the applicant was born; applicant did not obtain Dutch nationality between 1 January 1985 and 31 December 1987 through the option procedure and then subsequently lost that Dutch nationality; and applicant has no criminal record. All five conditions must be met. 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. Residency in the Netherlands is not an eligibility requirement for latent Dutch applicants.
Applicants for Dutch citizenship through the option procedure are not required by Dutch law to renounce any foreign citizenship they might hold. However, the laws pertaining to their other citizenship may disagree.
Jus soli Jus soli is the right of anyone born in the territory of a state to nationality or citizenship of that state. 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.Article 3(3) of the Netherlands Nationality Act.
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.
By naturalisation An application for Dutch citizenship by naturalisation must meet all the conditions below:
Aged eighteen or over; Holder of a permanent resident permit or a valid residence permit with a non-temporary reason of stay (notably family formation or reunion gezinsvorming or gezinshereniging); Five years of continuous residence in the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, or Sint Maarten with a valid residence permit prior to the application date. Residency under a temporary reason of stay (notably study) is also counted in those five years. There are a number of exceptions to this rule. Sufficiently integrated in Dutch society and are able to read, write, speak and understand Dutch. This must normally be proven by obtaining an "integration diploma" (inburgeringsdiploma), which requires tests on the Dutch language and Dutch society (kennis van de nederlandse maatschappij). Successful completion of an eligible integration course is an alternative. The Staatsexamen Nederlands als Tweede Taal diplomas NT2-I or NT2-II give their holder exemption from taking the naturalisation test. There are many other exemptions, see the Decision naturalisation test (Besluit naturalisatietoets) art. 3. Renounce any previous nationalities (unless exempt); In the five years preceding the application, the applicant has not been given any custodial sentence, training order, community service order or high monetary penalty.