Amendment of the law is required so that Dutch nationals abroad can demand an ‘expired’ passport

An amendment to the law must make it possible for former Dutch nationals to be able to reclaim their Dutch nationality, which they had lost due to a long stay abroad. The Council of State determined this on Wednesday in a groundbreaking ruling .

Irene de Zwaan 12 February 2020, 15:24

Dutch passport. picture ANP

Dutch nationals with dual nationality who have resided outside the European Union for more than ten years and do not apply for a new passport on time now automatically lose their Dutch nationality. The European Court of Justice already ruled last March that it should be considered case by case if someone who loses his Dutch passport is of course no longer part of the European Union. This means that the person can no longer travel to Europe without restrictions or settle there for work or study.

The Council of State, the highest administrative court, now states that room must be made in Dutch law to test for each individual case whether this loss is in accordance with the so-called ‘proportionality principle’, whereby it is examined whether the sanction imposed – in this case losing it of Dutch nationality – is proportional. This potentially offers thousands of former Dutch nationals abroad the opportunity to claim a Dutch passport retroactively.

The fact that Dutch law must be applied more broadly because otherwise the European standard (which gives rise to the ‘proportionality principle’) is ‘in itself very groundbreaking’, says immigration lawyer Arend van Rosmalen. “Never before has a judge ruled that the power to return a nationality can be directly based on EU law.”

Clear pronunciation

“It is a very clear statement,” says lawyer Bram van Melle , who specializes in nationality and immigration law. ‘The Council of State states that under the current regulation there is no room to consider individual circumstances. That is now said: that is not possible. That space must be created, but it is certainly not unlimited. ”

According to the Council of State, in order to claim the restitution of Dutch nationality, a person must be able to demonstrate that he is experiencing consequences ‘that fall within the scope of EU law’. This concerns rights that someone derives from living in the European Union.

The bond that someone experiences with the Netherlands or the close contacts that he maintains in the country with friends will emphatically play no role in the assessment by the judge . Moreover, the judge will only look at the consequences when someone loses Dutch nationality or when the ten-year period expired. Consequences that occur after that time will not play a role in the assessment.

The amendment to the law is expected to be implemented at an accelerated pace after both Houses have approved this.

Tjebbes judgment

The decision of the Council of State is based on six cases of (former) Dutch nationals, all of whom have a different nationality, who lost their Dutch nationality due to unforeseen circumstances – in most cases because they were not aware of the ten-year arrangement . One of them is a Dutch woman born in Canada, after whom this judgment – theTjebbes judgment – is named.

Marika Tjebbes , child of an emigrated Dutch father and Canadian mother, had a desire in 2014 to work and live in the country where her roots are and where she lived for a while as a child: the Netherlands. But to her surprise, she was told at the Dutch embassy that her nationality had expired irrevocably because she had not applied for a new passport in time. The Minister of Foreign Affairs will investigate the case of Marika Tjebbes , as well as that of the five other applicants, for the next six weeks before the court reconsiders.

Immigration lawyer Arend van Rosmalen, who assists Tjebbes , advises former Dutch people who want to make a new application to “prepare very well, because it is about specific situations.”

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Earlier the European Court of Justice ruled on this case. Although the Dutch legislation is not contrary to European law, the Court ruled, it will have to be investigated in certain cases what the consequences are of the loss of nationality.