The Dutch government is currently
reviewing the country’s nationality law as part of an effort to allow
dual citizenship by the spring of 2019.
According to Justice Minister Mark Harbers,
the plan is to widen the Netherlands’ criteria for dual nationality. At
present, naturalised Dutch citizens must renounce the nationality of
their country of origin, unless they are married to a Dutch national.
The Netherlands is following in the
steps of similar legislation that has been passed in Germany as most of
the EU Member States prepare for Brexit.
The new law will allow first-generation
migrants in the Netherlands to be holders of more than one passport, a
move that would affect 87,000 first- and second-generation UK nationals
living in the Netherlands. At the same time, children of Dutch nationals
living abroad will not be forced to make a mutually exclusive choice
about their nationality.
Up to 100,000 Dutch nationals living in
the UK stand to have their children lose access to their EU citizenship
if comprehensive reform regarding dual nationality is not in place prior
to or immediately after Brexit comes into effect in March 2019. The
Dutch government hopes to have completed the reform during the UK’s
transition period out of the European Union through December 2020.
Read more:The Netherlands moves to allow dual citizenship by 2019
