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I know there have been a lot of posts on Dutch Nationality and after going through all (or all that I could find) there doesn't seem to be one for our exact circumstance.

This question relates to my partner who was born in July 1993 so we realise that if she is in fact eligible we don't have much time to actually get through this process, as she turns 28 in July.

My partner's mother was born in the Netherlands in 1958 and met her Australian father while he was travelling through Europe. They were married in the Netherlands in 1985 after which she he moved with him to Australia.

Her mother did not acquire Australian Citizenship until 2006 so when my parter was born in 1993 I assume her mother was still technically a Dutch Citizen (unless she lost it due to the amount of time living away?). My partner was not a part of her mother's Australian Citzenship process.

After going through all of the official sites it reads to me that because she was born to a Dutch mother (assuming she was still Dutch at the time) she was technically a Dutch citizen at birth and because she was born in Australia and therefore born into her Australian Nationality she did not lose that Dutch Nationality.

The one thing throwing me off is that when we go through the checklist for applying for Nationality or a Passport it asks for "Proof that your parent or parents had Dutch Nationality until you turned 18" (we don't have this as her mother obtained her Australian Citizenship, therefore renouncing her Dutch one, when my partner was 13).

Given that the official sources seem to say my partner shouldn't have lost hers when her mother did (as it specifically says "a minor is exempt if the minor is born and lives in the country of which he receives the nationality [Australia in this case]. This does not apply when the minor has made a declaration of renunciation of the Dutch nationality."), I feel as though maybe I am missing a point somewhere.

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  • "unless she lost it due to the amount of time living away": that could only have happened if she had some other citizenship as well. There is currently a provision that a dual-citizen minor whose only Dutch parent loses Dutch nationality also loses it, and although I don't know for sure whether that provision was in effect in 2006, it seems likely. Where is the "minor is exempt" quote from?
    – phoog
    Apr 29, 2021 at 5:27
  • It's just from this site: ind.nl/en/dutch-citizenship/Pages/… It says "minor loses nationality if mother or father lose nationality" but then in the following "no loss of Dutch nationality" section it has the "The minor is born and lives in the country of which he receives the nationality. This does not apply when the minor has made a declaration of renunciation of the Dutch nationality." statement.
    – Brady W
    Apr 29, 2021 at 5:29
  • Your partner is Australian from birth?
    – phoog
    Apr 29, 2021 at 5:35
  • Yeah, she was born in Australia (though her mother was Dutch at the time as mentioned above) which I assume makes her naturally Australian as she had no issues getting an Australian Passport a few years ago. So we are just trying to determine whether she is technically a dual citizen at the moment and is eligible to apply for a Dutch Passport/Nationality Certificate.
    – Brady W
    Apr 29, 2021 at 5:43
  • I believe your partner was a dual citizen until her mother naturalized, and then she lost her Dutch nationality at that point. I don't have time at the moment to write a proper answer, but I'll try to do it later.
    – phoog
    Apr 29, 2021 at 15:18

1 Answer 1

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I just wanted to follow up on this to provide some clarity for those who come across this question in their search through the complexities of the Dutch Nationality Law. Definitely the reason this question couldn't be fully answered originally was because of my misunderstanding of the Dutch Law which I am now a bit more across (at least for my partner's scenario).

The answer: My partner was a Dual Australian and Dutch Citizen until she turned 28.

Elaboration: Prior to becoming an Australian Citizen in 2006, my partner's mother was solely a Dutch citizen even though her passport had expired because Dutch Law would not allow her to become stateless.

The part that I was missing in my original post was that when my partner's mother voluntarily took Australian Citizenship in 2006 she actually became a Dual Citizen (instead of losing her Dutch and gaining her Australian) because she took the nationality of her husband. She did not realise this though and assumed she lost her Dutch Citizenship when she became Australian.

Because she was still living in Australia, my partner's mother had 10 years to obtain a new Dutch Passport or Dutch Nationality Certificate to remain a Dual Citizen but as she didn't realise she was dual she did not do this and lost it in 2016.

What this meant though was that when my partner turned 18 (and therefore became an adult in Dutch Law) in 2011 her mother was actually still a Dual Citizen. This meant that now my partner had 10 years to obtain a Dutch Passport or Dutch Nationality Certificate before she turned 28.

Hopefully this helps someone in the future and hopefully they realise much earlier than we did!

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    Thanks for following this up.
    – ouflak
    Aug 10, 2021 at 8:18

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