Being Dutch!
The most common way of being a Dutch national is discussed in Chapter 2, Article 3 of the Dutch Nationality Law (RWN).
From 1 January 1985, a child with at least one Dutch parent is also a Dutch national by operation of law immediately upon birth. The place of birth does not play a role in this. Dutch nationality follows the principle of descent (ius sanguinis, Latin: “right of the blood”). Those born before 1985 of a Dutch mother and foreign father are not always Dutch, but can sometimes become one.
If the Dutch parent dies before birth, the child is and will remain Dutch at birth.
In addition, there are other situations in which children are Dutch at birth, such as foundlings and third-generation foreign nationals living in the Netherlands.
It may sound obvious but, acknowledgment of an unborn child must take place before birth. Acknowledgement is only for children where the father is not married to the mother.
After birth, there are other options for children to obtain Dutch nationality, namely through:
- parenthood established by court
- acknowledgement
- legalisation (wettiging)
- adoption, and
- sharing in parent(s) Naturalisation or Option process.
But these last are possibilities after birth, which means that the child is not Dutch between birth and the moment of acquiring the nationality. We will look into this on following pages.
Confusion!
Dutch people who emigrated long ago sometimes cause unwanted and well-intentioned confusion themselves. After all, they had to deal with previous nationality laws. Or were sometimes themselves misinformed by the government. Sometimes one hears a statement, “That’s how it works…”, “That’s allowed!”, “That’s not allowed!”, Etc., while the situation can be different for the other person. There are unfortunately a lot of misconceptions and misinformation going around.
Confusion and inaccuracy 1
It is sometimes thought that a child is not Dutch or is not entitled to a Dutch passport because one of the parents has a different nationality, or because the parent lives abroad. However, the current legislation is very clear that only one parent needs to be Dutch. Even if the Dutch parent has two or more nationalities, that makes no difference, as long as they are Dutch.
Confusion and inaccuracy 2
It is also sometimes thought that children should choose between nationalities when they reach the age of majority/adulthood. This is no longer necessary by Dutch law. However, the law of the other country may require this. Remember that you (the child) will have to deal with the laws of both (or more) countries when there are also other nationalities involved, and that these laws can sometimes ‘clash’.
Confusion and inaccuracy 3
The communication skills of the government, municipality and embassy staff sometimes creates confusion. For example, people sometimes think that the child is not Dutch if a passport application is not processed (the application is not accepted at the desk) or is rejected. This may be the case, but it does not always have to be.
Confusion often arises because the child sometimes also has a different nationality. The parent may sometimes incorrectly think this is linked to the refusal by the civil servant to hand over a Dutch passport. However, it may be that only the passport photo did not meet the requirements, or that not all supporting documents have been provided. This does not necessarily mean that your child is not Dutch.
Even if you receive a letter or have a conversation in which you are told that you have ‘not proven’ that your child is Dutch, this does not automatically mean that your child is not Dutch. Remember that nationality is a status. Having a passport makes little difference to that (see note below). Your child is Dutch or is not Dutch, with or without paper. However, you have not been able to prove that your child is Dutch. Many embassies and consulates will therefore try to assist you to collect and submit the correct documentation and evidence. Usually the help only consists of advice on what to do and where to get the documentation. But unfortunately we still hear a lot of messages about blunt reactions and only ‘no’ as an answer. Unfortunately, embassies are now instructed not to give additional advice. This may mean that you will only be referred to the government information website. Or even advised to go to a legal adviser.
It is up to you to collect the evidence and submit it to the embassy or municipality.
Dutch legislation does create a danger via the so-called 10-year clock (RWN Art 15 paragraph 1c) that the confusion can eventually become a fact (for adults) at the age of 28. We discuss this and how to prevent loss on following info pages.
Loss of nationality after birth (children)
Children can also lose their Dutch nationality in some situations. Should both parents adopt a different nationality and thus lose their Dutch nationality, children will (not always) share in this loss. If at least one parent remains Dutch, the children will also remain Dutch. And there are some other situations. For more information see page 7 “Possible automatic loss of Dutch nationality”.
First application for a passport or Dutch nationality certificate
First of all, congratulations! We assume that you have recently become a parent.
We recommend submitting an initial application for a passport, Dutch identity card or Dutch nationality certificate. Do this not too long after birth and not years later. It is not necessary to do this immediately, it can indeed be years later, but collecting the evidence/documentation can then be much more difficult and/or more expensive.
Do not wait too long. If your child also has another nationality and he/she lives outside the European Union, there is a risk of automatic loss of Dutch nationality 10 years after reaching adulthood (18 + 10 = 28 years).
As mentioned earlier, unfortunately we still hear many cases of families who want to return to the Netherlands, but where the now grown children are no longer Dutch.
Passport, Dutch identity card or Dutch nationality certificate?
The choice is yours. On page 14 our thoughts on the pros and cons.
What documents should you possibly submit?
You must submit virtually the same evidence for all three documents. After weighing up the pros and cons, we recommend a passport or identity card.
Find the information for the passport application procedure on the official website of the Dutch Government “Netherlands Worldwide” or at the relevant embassy.
We give advice below, but it is important that you look up or check the requirements at the embassy or with legal assistance, as some documents and evidence are not available in certain countries.
What can be asked for:
- Application form;
- Passport photos (note the Netherlands has specific requirements that not every local photographer knows) Link Here;
- Birth certificate of your child;
- The identity documents of the parents (passports, etc.);
- Other identity documents (including foreign ones);
- Consent from both parents or guardian; and
- Parental death certificate (if applicable);
- Proof of Dutch citizenship of both or at least one parent:
- If you live abroad, you can prove that you have not adopted that nationality by showing your visa or residence permit, see below. You may be asked for a statement from the immigration authority of your country of residence.
- If you also have a different nationality, you must prove that you were (still) Dutch on the day of your child’s birth. This means that if you met the marital exception (Art 15 paragraph 2c) you were not divorced upon naturalization. In some countries one can obtain a local extract showing this, but in many countries this is extremely difficult, if not impossible. If the embassy does not request this itself, it is up to you to choose to remind the embassy of this.
- Marriage certificate or certificate of registered partnership (recognised by the Netherlands).
- Divorce certificate and / or guardianship;
- Change of name (Dutch and / or foreign);
- Proof of legal residence in the country. If you are staying illegally, ask for advice and help because you will definitely need it;
- Other documents showing the nationality of your child and yourself, or even the grand parents (rare).
Some (foreign) documents are not accepted if they are older than three/six months or a year. The embassy can provide you with further information about this.
Non-Dutch documents have to be translated and legalized (apostille). If the foreign documents have been drawn up in English, German or French, a translation is not necessary. Within the EU, legalization/apostille is usually no longer necessary since February 2019. The embassy can provide you with further information about this.
Recommended! Convert a foreign certificate into a Dutch certificate
You have just collected all these documents and your child has received a Dutch passport, Dutch identity card or Dutch nationality certificate. Now is a good time to have your foreign certificates (birth, marriage, partnership or death certificate) converted/registered into a Dutch certificate. This could be useful in the (distant) future, for example if your child goes to study, working or getting married in the Netherlands and needs a copy of his/her birth certificate.
You can have the foreign certificates recorded at the The Hague .
Conditions
- The person concerned on the certificate must be or have been a Dutch citizen or have a Dutch residence permit.
- The foreign certificate must be drawn up and issued by a competent authority in accordance with local regulations. This may not be a Dutch embassy or consulate.
- Certain foreign documents, including certificates, require legalization. On Netherlands Worldwide you can read which legalization requirements apply to your document(s).
- Certificates must be drawn up in Dutch, English, French or German. Other languages require a certified translation into one of these languages.
Do you meet the conditions and do you have the required documents? Then submit a request to register your foreign certificate(s). This is only possible digitally. You cannot come to the counter with documents to have them converted. If you have a Citizen Service Number (BSN), keep this at hand.
Have foreign certificates registered through a Dutch municipality office.
If you move to the Netherlands, you can also register certain foreign certificates with your municipality office. This is only possible if you are registered as resident. The relevant municipality can further advise on what they need from you with regard to possible translations and legalizations. Also pay attention and check if your certificate(s) will be accepted with regard to date of issue and legalization, etc.
DISCLAIMER
All information and advice must be verified by the reader himself before taking any action. Every advice on this website is to help you find the right answers and take you in the right direction. The information and advice here may contain inadvertent errors. The situation can vary from person to person. In addition, the law, as described here, may have just changed or may change in the (near) future.
The content on the website / web page is of a general informative nature. No rights can be derived from the information, you determine the value of the information for your own situation. You remain responsible for the actions you take or fail to take regarding your nationality. We also recommend, regarding your specific situation, to consult a specialist and / or lawyer on nationality and possible immigration legislation and can help you with this .
The owner of this website accepts no liability for any damage that may arise from the use of information or links on this website. The website / web page contains hyperlinks to websites of third parties, over which the owner of this website has no control and therefore cannot guarantee that the content of these websites is correct, complete and up-to-date. The owner of this website is not liable for any damage whatsoever, direct or indirect, that has arisen in any way or results from the use of the website / web page and the content, or the change or the unavailability of the website and the content.
Do you see an error or do you have additional information? Then get in touch with us.