The new coalition agreement contains a paragraph on dual nationality and retention of Dutch citizenship.

“In some situations the Dutch Citizenship Act causes unwanted problems. We will review the automatic loss of citizenship after 10 years for Dutch citizens staying outside EU territory and we will make it easier for them to retain their Dutch nationality besides their other nationality, or, for those who lost their Dutch citizenship after 1 April 2003, to regain it.”

It looks like the new government wants to be more lenient towards dual nationality, resulting in easier retention and less easy loss of Dutch citizenship during long stays abroad.

We look forward to the execution strategy that would have to be published by the state secretary in the course of 2022. Then, further debate on the subject should lead to a legislative proposal.

We do hope this will finally lead to definitive action.

On another note, already in October 2021, a bill was passed to change the term for automatic loss from 10 to 13 years, giving Dutch citizens abroad 3 years from the date of expiry to have their passport renewed, thus preventing loss of citizenship. The new law will enter into force on 1 April 2022.

Everaert Advocaten will continue to contribute to the debate, in order to keep the subject on the political agenda.

Please contact Hermie de Voer or Mirjam den Besten for more information.