On 3 October 2017, the Senate of the Dutch Parliament struck down the legislative proposal amending the Dutch Citizenship Act.

Only the VVD, CDA, SGP and PVV voted in favor of the proposal. Whereas the PvdA and 50Plus voted in favor of the proposal in the House of Representa-tives, they voted against it in the Senate.

This means that the required period of residence for naturalization will not be extended from 5 to 7 years. Naturalization from abroad for people married to and living together with a Dutch national for more than 3 years will also remain possible. The legislative proposal being struck down also means that loss of Dutch nationality will still automatically occur after a Dutch national stays outside the EU for more than 10 years, without a valid Dutch passport. A possibility to file an option request to regain Dutch nationality following a loss on this ground will not be introduced.

For more information feel free to contact one of our lawyers: Hermie de Voer or Vera Kidjan.