Can I apply for a Dutch Passport

Question

I Was Born in Schiedam in 1946 and emigrated to South Africa with my Parents who were both Dutch. In 1967 my father naturalised and became a South African Citizen together with all my siblings who were under 21. I was already 21 and had to apply separately for naturalisation. My mother never gave up her Dutch citizenship. Both my parents have passed away but I do have documentation as proof of our emigration to South Africa in 1951. Can I apply for a Dutch passport or a dual citizenship at this time.

Answer 1

If you naturalized in South Africa after your 21st birthday then you lost your Dutch nationality at that time (if not before). (If you had naturalized separately from your father before your 21st birthday, you would have retained your Dutch nationality, but there are other ways in which you might have lost your Dutch nationality at other times.)

As a former Dutch national, you can benefit from an accelerated procedure to regain your Dutch nationality, but you can't do this while you're living in South Africa. Details are available in Dutch at Oud-Nederlander or in English at Former Dutch citizen:

As a former Dutch citizen, you can regain Dutch nationality in 2 ways:

• By making use of the option procedure, in which you make a statement saying that you want to become a Dutch citizen again.

• By submitting an application for naturalisation as a Dutch citizen.

…

Naturalisation

In order to qualify for naturalisation, you must meet the following conditions:

• You do not live in the country of which you hold the nationality.
• …

Option

In order to qualify for the option procedure, you must meet the following conditions:

• You are a former Dutch citizen and you have been legally resident in the Kingdom for at least 1 year, holding a valid residence permit for a non-temporary purpose such as family reunification or re-entry.
• …

The above quotation includes only the conditions that prevent you from invoking each procedure while you live in South Africa. If you do not live in South Africa, or are otherwise interested in pursuing the procedure, you will want to take note of the other conditions.