Please note that this is written with the British and Dutch nationality laws in mind. For other countries there may be other ramifications, or none.
Good news!
As of 01 July 2021, the British Nationality Act (Citizenship) has had a small but significant update. In fact, for many a very nice and positive update. For details we refer to John Vassiliou’s excellent article, link below. But in short, what does it mean? Well, it is a transitional arrangement to ensure children of EU citizens born after 01 July ’21, but whose parents have not yet been processed and get their settled status after the child’s birth, will be automatically British the moment the parents get Settled Status. Automatic nationality/citizenship for babies after birth.
Got a baby recently?
Many will welcome this as it gives the child rights that many EU parents want to secure. However, automatic nationality from two foreign parents (of which at least one needs to get EU settled status) can also result in issues later in life. Why, you ask, isn’t this great!?
Yes, it is great if you realise what happened and what it means. Though, some EU nationals may not realise that their child will be British this way. They may even be of the opinion that they want Settled Status but do not want British citizenship. They may even be in the process of preparing to move back to their home country or another country. We hear of many such moves and plans. Or they may stay in the UK on the long term but don’t want British citizenship. They may then think that their child, born before they got Settled Status, is like them, not British.
Home Office on the ball?
Of course, we would hope that the moment they ask for Settled Status for their child the UK government would deny them this and explain that their child is already British. Will Home Office be on the ball on this? So, let’s imagine that Home Office is not on the ball on this, surprise surprise! Or that the family moves away before they apply for Settled Status for the child. They don’t realise the child is British. The citizenship/nationality is a status and your dual status isn’t always that apparent. The child grows up thinking they were born in the UK but are not British. This misconception may affect them later.
Dual Nationality automatically as a child!
Most countries have no issue with children automatically getting another nationality at birth, or even later while still minors. Automatic dual nationality for children is accepted by most countries, even by many of the more difficult and strict countries. But still, you need to check yours! Don’t forget that dual nationality relates to two nationality laws. That one country accepts or grants it, doesn’t always mean the other country does as well.
The case of Netherlands
The Netherlands nationality law articles does not even address automatic dual nationality with respect to children, it is just accepted.… until they become adults. Now suddenly, at the age of 18, their dual nationality isn’t acceptable anymore. Yes, they can keep their dual nationality for as long as they want according to today’s Dutch law but only if they take certain legal actions by which they show appreciation for their Dutch nationality. For example, by getting a new Dutch passport. We are of course referring to the dreaded and infamous Dutch 10-Year clock and consequent risk of loss of Dutch nationality.
So imagine this child grew up thinking it is only Dutch. It moved soon after birth to the Netherlands where it grew up. At a certain age, like many young adventurers, they may want to discover some more of the world. They may travel for a year with a backpack around the world, or they may move to the UK out of curiosity, or to Australia for its beaches and spiders, the US to shoot guns, the Maldives to teach diving in the heat, or Canada to farm and freeze… They may enjoy themselves so much and decide to stay on. Before they knew it a number of years have passed.
Reality bites
It is not an uncommon thing to happen. We have come across a number of such cases. For example, some siblings growing up in the Netherlands thinking they were only Dutch. But in fact, they also had another nationality through one of their parents who traumatically passed away when the children were very young. The family didn’t consider the other nationality at the time and the children were still oblivious of the other nationality by the time they were adults. One of the siblings moved to a non-EU country and thought nothing of it when the Dutch passport expired. With permanent residency in the host country there was no need for the Dutch travel document and another one could be gotten later. Wrong!, the Dutch authorities concluded that due to the other nationality the person had lost their Dutch nationality. Alas! unknowingly and unintentionally victim of automatic loss.
The Dutch Windrush variant
We may complain about the British Home Office and the Windrush scandal, but the Netherlands has similar ongoing issues with Dutch expats and migrants outside the country. It has no exact numbers because it can’t measure it but the government estimates that about 2000 Dutch nationals lose their nationality every year. Since its major nationality law update of 1985 that is about 72,000 to date. And we can argue that this is even a safe estimate, it is likely much higher. The Dutch government of course puts the responsibility for this with the citizen. You should know the law, ignorance is no excuse. It still ignores the findings of the Dutch National Ombudsman which reported that the state does have a duty in informing its citizens of the risks and safeguarding them against these issues.
A friendly warning
Well, we can go on and on about that subject. But let’s just conclude that if your child could have the British nationality, you better realise this and inform yourself about your country’s nationality law and the implications for now or later. If you are Dutch, let this be a friendly warning to keep an eye on this. And also, when having dual nationality, stay abreast of future changes to the respective nationality laws. When in 2003 the Dutch government quietly changed the terms and conditions of the 10-Year Clock, going from a version 2 to a version 3, without people realising this there were tens of thousands who lost their Dutch nationality in 2013.
This little beneficial change in the British Nationality Act is limited in scope and temporary effective and will of course not result in tens of thousands of babies losing their Dutch nationality in 28 years (18+10), but we rather not see any at all. So just be aware. In addition, hopefully we have just shown you that while dual nationality is something positive, you do need to stay aware of what it practically means for you, your child, now and later. While many hope that countries like the Netherlands will sooner or later truly modernise its nationality law, a future change could also go the other way and make things even more restrictive.
Further reading
British citizenship for children whose parents miss the EU Settled Status deadline.
