It is up to you to prove that you are still Dutch, even if Dutch nationality/citizenship is the only one you hold. If you are asked to prove that you, or your child, is Dutch, what can be expected of you? Here is a short summary of the documents that can help.
A Dutch passport
Your Dutch passport can be an important document here. Before issuing any passport the authorities check whether the person is (still) Dutch. The date of issue is therefore treated as a day on which you were still Dutch. After that date a passport is usually still accepted as a travel document, but not always as proof of your nationality. After all, the day after it was issued you could have done something that cost you Dutch nationality. If anyone suspects that, you are the one who has to prove otherwise — and if you cannot, your passport can be withdrawn and reclaimed.
Before you apply for a new passport, take copies or scans of the old one and keep them safely. When you renew a Dutch passport you can now ask to have the old one back, cancelled. Stick a post-it or a bookmark on every page that carries a visa, stamp or sticker, with a request not to cut through it. You do not want your name, your date of birth or the date of issue cut through either. If you hold other, non-Dutch passports, keep those too.
If Dutch nationality is the only one you hold
Living abroad, or having lived abroad, can be enough for someone to question your nationality. What you then have to show is that you have not acquired another nationality. You can do that by showing that in the countries where you have lived, or live now, you always held a visa or a residence permit. Had you held that country’s nationality, you would not have needed one. If you have no stamp to show it (some countries do not stamp), or you no longer have the old passport because it was lost or stolen, you can ask that country’s immigration authorities for a statement of your migration history, or for a statement that you were never granted its nationality. In some countries that is difficult, and all the more so if you ask years after the event. If you are living in a country without status, tell the embassy: it is better that you both look for a solution than that it surfaces later.
If you hold one or more other nationalities as well
Then you have to prove that you met one of the exceptions at the time. For example because you acquired the other nationality at birth through a parent, or because you met one of the exceptions in Dutch law when you naturalised. Because each person’s situation, and the law in force at the time, differs, here are the documents that commonly matter:
- Birth certificates: yours, your child’s, sometimes your parents’ and even your grandparents’.
- All your (old) passports. Possibly your parents’ as well, especially around the time of your birth.
- Your immigration status, now and in the past, as explained above. Possibly your parents’ too.
- Your Dutch or foreign naturalisation documents, and possibly your parents’.
- Marriage and divorce certificates, and possibly your par…. (you see where this is going)
- Death certificates.
- Any declaration of Dutch nationality (verklaring van Nederlanderschap).
- Dutch identity cards.
- Any old declaration of wishing to remain Dutch.
- Records of registration and de-registration with Dutch municipalities.
- Evidence of registration and de-registration in other countries (* please read the next section).
- Old diplomas and school records, above all for education in the Netherlands or Dutch education abroad.
- Military service records.
- Records of earlier employment, especially where that was with an international organisation in which the Netherlands was or is represented.
- Any other evidence that may be accepted as an alternative, for instance tax papers showing your name and your (foreign) address.
Registering and de-registering abroad
Many Dutch officials know only the Dutch system of civil registration and assume the rest of the world works the same way. That holds for some neighbouring and European countries, but there are plenty of countries with no civil register at all. There is often something like a municipality, but no civil registration as the Netherlands knows it. It is wise to be known to the local authorities and, when you leave, to ask for a statement that you lived there for a given period. Be prepared for a foreign town hall to laugh at the request. Alternative documents you can collect:
- Local tax statements or bills, easiest where these are annual.
- National tax papers showing your name and address.
- For children, a statement from the school giving your local address at the time.
- A statement from a doctor or clinic giving your local address at the time.
- A tenancy agreement or proof of ownership, or a statement listing all the names.
- Gas, water and electricity bills or receipts.
- Bank statements, preferably annual, showing your local address at the time.
- Anything else of the same kind.
What is wanted, ideally, is evidence from a (local) government body. Alternatives can be accepted, but they are treated as supporting evidence.
How long should you keep it all?
At the very least until a new Dutch passport has been issued. But if anyone later believes a mistake was made, evidence can still be asked for. It happens that a child or grandchild has to prove the nationality of a parent or grandparent. So keep the documents that:
- confirm your nationality or nationalities;
- confirm where you have lived;
- confirm changes in your civil status.
And not only for yourself. You may have to go back and prove the Dutch nationality of earlier generations. Keep it, trace it, collect it, and pass it on to your children and grandchildren.
A tip. Copy or scan every original document and keep the copies in more than one place, with family elsewhere if you can. That way a fire or a theft cannot turn into something worse.