Imagine you live far away in a remote area and there is no nearby Dutch consulate or embassy where you can apply for your Dutch passport. For example, Perth to Sydney is only a 3,932.9 km drive…. Or maybe you are not just far away, but bedbound in hospital or aged care. There are a number of reasons why it is difficult or even impossible to travel to your nearest Dutch consulate/embassy. Like many countries these days the Netherlands does have a commercial contractor, VFS Global, who do this work at an additional fee in more locations than there are consulates and embassies. VFS Global is for example also located in Perth. Still, no VFS Global for Dutch passports in Adelaide or Melbourne. And in many countries there are no VFS Global solutions or even a Dutch consulate/embassy. If you are in Cape Verde you need to take the boat or fly to Senegal. If you are in Ecuador you need to go to Peru. Or any other country of course. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) is still not working with other European counterparts to allow them to take in passport applications on their behalf. If this was organised with some trusted EU countries, as we trust VFS Global already, then it could be beneficial for all involved.
Meanwhile, the Dutch MFA has listened after a few years of complaints and is occasionally sending out mobile officers who can come to you(r area) to take in your application. Recently it is doing this more often, at a reasonable surcharge of €23. This mainly in countries/areas where there are larger communities of Dutch nationals. If you want to make use of this, please consider others who really can’t afford a long journey, or are physically not as mobile as you. Please let the sick, elderly and those really remote go first. I am sure there are not enough appointments for everyone. But if you do want to make use of this. See the list (in Dutch) with mobile appointments locations and dates here.
The countries so far:
Australia
Colombia
Germany
Finland
Ireland
Italy
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Spain
Uruguay
USA
The cities/areas so far:
Brisbane
Melbourne
Canberra
Adelaide
Cali
Munich
Dusseldorf
Rovaniemi
Limerick
Milan
Penang
Auckland
Christchurch
Hamilton
Tromsø
Barcelona
Balearen
La Nucia
Canary Islands
Montevideo
Boston
Memphis
And don’t forget, if it is impossible for you to travel due to illness etc and you can evidence that, ask the consulate/embassy for a personal visit. This can on occasion be organised, separately from above mobile appointments near you. You need to have a good and valid reason. For example, you are in hospital and not expected to be released for 3 months. Or you have a condition not allowing you to fly or drive for far. Your passport is expiring in 2 months. You have dual nationality/citizenship and your 10-Year Clock is expiring with your passport, thus the result would be loss of Dutch nationality.
If you don’t ask (and politely insist), you don’t get….
Please note, Habsburg Legal Services ltd, can assist its dual national clients in preparing for a (first) Dutch passport application. Especially when you never had one before, or when you received the other nationality/citizenship after your last Dutch passport, it is important to prepare the right evidence. If you want our help just get in touch.
