I was very happy to have kept most of my old Dutch papers. But I was not yet aware of how important they would become. In any case, it was a difficult start because I didn’t know where to start. Fortunately, I heard through a Facebook group of “real Amsterdammers” about Kris von Habsburg, a lawyer who is also on the board of the GOED Foundation, who is apparently well acquainted with the legislation and how things work practically. I contacted him through his work and then my plan to return to the Netherlands started to become reality.

Shortly after my Dutch professional military service, already 50 years ago, in 1971 I visited family in South Africa. And eventually stayed there as a Dutch immigrant. My Dutch passport was taken from me at some point in 1983 and I got a South African one instead. I was told that otherwise I could not build up a pension. I was still young and apparently this was normal at the time, but years later I learned that this was not correct.

My family from then are now all deceased. After that I got a strong itch in my blood to return to the Netherlands. Over the years this grew stronger and the desire to return to my roots grew. When my wife died just before Corona and my sister from the Netherlands came over to assist me, it became clear to me. I now have the wisdom of 80 years and decided to return home.

Kris von Habsburg helped me and gave me advice. It was not easy with all those formalities and difficult Dutch authorities. Every time I thought I would never succeed, Kris was my beacon of light and explained everything to me. And if I had any difficulties, he contacted the relevant authorities and let me know exactly what my next step was to do. Everything was apparently delayed at the government by Corona and the refugees from different parts of the world.

I had to apply for an MVV in South Africa from the IND and that took a very long time. The government had no separate forms for me as a former Dutch national and I was apparently not the only one confused. Due to the Corona situation and the flow of refugees entering Europe and the government’s unclear administration, it took extra long. But in the end I got the wanted residency visa in my South African passport at the Dutch embassy and I immediately arranged everything to fly to the Netherlands with my sister. My sister was with me in South Africa so much longer than expected and she also had to return home, but she did not want to leave me in these uncertain times.

This would not have been possible without the expertise of Kris von Habsburg. There were stumbling blocks all the way up to the day of departure. My sister was allowed on the plane, because she has a Dutch passport and the KLM staff told us that it was a repatriation flight and not a normal flight and I, as a South African, was not allowed to come, despite my residency mvv issued for humanitarian reasons.

Despite the fact that we had been fully vaccinated and had had a PCR test with another antigen test, which were all negative, I was not allowed to board the flight. Fortunately we were early at the airport in Johannesburg and we immediately called Kris von Habsburg once more and if it hadn’t been for him I would have been stuck in South Africa, I saw no way out, I had no house or a bed anymore in SA. I was very happy when I received a message 15 minutes before boarding time that Kris had managed to get permission for me to fly with me. Apparently this had not been easy either and he e-mailed and telephoned all evening with the IND, Consular Services of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and eventually the Royal Dutch Military (border) Police. Immigration and consular services kept pointing fingers at each other and didn’t know how to handle my situation. As a former Dutch professional soldier, I am proud that ultimately the Royal Dutch Military Police was able to help me. KLM changed tack and let me board the flight.

Kris has turned out to be priceless, although I hope when he reads this he doesn’t take it too literally. But from experience I can say that he is a friendly and very reasonable person who has assisted me through this very stressful time with great success. I could never have done this without him.

I had a bad experience, because I received a message from the GGD that we were on the plane for 11 hours (duration of the flight) within a radius of 1.5 meters with a person infected by corona. We are in quarantine and will be tested by the GGD the 5th day after arrival in the Netherlands. Certainly unexpected, but not as stressful as the complications before.

Greetings and thanks to Kris von Habsburg, without whom I would never have been able to realize this. I am finally back home!

Cor Brom