On December 7, 2011, Minister Donner, the former Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, sent a letter to the House of Representatives, in which he answered questions that the House had posed regarding former asylum seekers who possess a permit on the basis of the general pardon of 2007 and whose identity had not been contested by the IND during their residency procedure.

The questions posed by the House focused on people in possession of a permit on the basis of the general pardon, exempt from the requirement to provide a legalized birth certificate and a valid foreign travel document for naturalisation.

The general rule for naturalisation is that foreign nationals with a regular residence permit (as opposed to those foreign nationals who were granted asylum) must provide proof of their identity and nationality when applying for naturalisation. This is done by means of a legalised birth certificate and a valid foreign passport. This rule can only be waived if there is an inability to provide proof. This also applies to people in possession of a permit on the basis of the general pardon.

Only in very exceptional cases can an appeal be launched regarding the inability to provide proof. The Minister cited, as an example, a situation of a birth certificate that could no longer be issued by the competent foreign authority because the register of births had been destroyed and doesn’t exist anymore. Of course, an appeal based on inability to provide proof must be submitted with documentation.

As part of the scheme to settle the legacy of the old Aliens Act (Ranov), as of June 15, 2007, a regular residence permit was issued officially to asylum seekers who met certain criteria. They were pardoned. From June 2012, these foreign nationals will have been legal in the Netherlands for five years and may submit an application for naturalisation. In 2007, when they were granted residence permits, a large number of them provided no documentation to prove their identity and nationality. They are, under immigration law, exempt from the requirement to provide a passport and a legalized birth certificate, however, they are bound by the standard rules for naturalisation.

The Minister sees no grounds for making an exception for these people. He believes they have had 5 years to obtain a leglised birth certificate and a passport in order to prove their identity and nationality. The Minister wants to prevent naturalising people based on incorrect personal information and /or nationalities. Those people in possession of a permit on the basis of the general pardon will receive a personal letter from the IND in which conditions of naturalisation are explained. The IND has also instructed the municipal authorities as to the procedures relating to requests for naturalisation from people with a pardon permit.

Anyone who has questions regarding naturalisation should contact one of our attorneys.