Eligibility for Dutch Passport or Nationality Certificate

Question

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.

Answer 1

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!