Thinking about moving from US to The Netherlands, where can I start?
My great-grandparents immigrated from the Netherlands, and I speak some Dutch and am fluent in German, which is a neighboring country. I was thinking about Amsterdam, or maybe a neighboring town. I've only been tossing the idea around but now I'm getting a bit more serious. I just don't know where to start. I live in the US, and I'm a college student right now. I would be willing to finish out school in the Netherlands, get a job there, and what have you. I'm interested in obtaining dual citizenship. Anyone know how to go about this? Where should I start?
Netherlands - 2 Answers
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1 :
Dutch nationality law is based primarily on the principle of Jus sanguinis. Thus citizenship is conferred primarily by birth to a Dutch parent, irrespective of place of birth. Children born in the Netherlands to two foreign parents do not acquire Dutch citizenship at birth, unless special criteria are met. The Netherlands Nationality Act was significantly amended with effect from 1 April 2003. Acquisition of citizenship By descent A person born on or after 1 January 1985 to a married Dutch father or mother, or an unmarried Dutch mother, is a Dutch subject at birth. 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 subject 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 his/her birth. As of 1 January 1985 a child born to a Dutch woman and a non-Dutch father outside the Netherlands is a Dutch subject. This was previously not the case but children born in these circumstances before 1985 were given the possibility of being registered as Dutch subjects but such registration had to take place before 1988. Note: For people born before 1985 and who were not Dutch because of the discriminatory old law, there is work being done for these children and an "option-possibility" to get Dutch nationality may happen soon. A group of lawyers are working on this case to persuade the Dutch government that Art. 27 RWN discriminates against women and should therefore be revoked.
2 :
The long legal answer shows that you have most likely no rights to get Dutch citizenship based on your ancestors having been Dutch. Unless your family kept its Dutch citizenship all through the years, of course. The other options are coming to the Netherlands to study or to work, on a student visa or a work permit. It is likely that you will be able to get a student visa, if you have enough money to pay for your studies and upkeep in the time you are here, but staying as student will not help you to get a Dutch citizenship, after you finished your studies you will have to leave the country. Getting a work permit is very hard, only if you are educated in one of the very few jobs that are needed in Europe, and have work experience you stand a chance. Almost the only people coming from the US to the Netherlands to work are the ones who are transferred by their company, and even for them it is hard to get the paperwork sorted.
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