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How can I become a Dutch citizen?

I am American and I would like to become a citizen of Holland how can I become one?

  • How can I become a dutch citizen if I don't get married. Where would I get the paper work and how long would it take for me to get citizen ship?

  • Answer:

    Unless you have a claim on nationality by descent or birth (ie one or more parents holding Dutch nationality) then to obtain Dutch citizenship you must legally reside* within the Netherlands for more than 5 years (3 years if you have a relationship with a Dutch national). http://www.minbuza.nl/en/Services/Consular_Services/Dutch_Nationality/How_can_I_acquire_Dutch_nationality * The period residing with a student visa does not count towards citizenship So your next question is 'how do I legally reside within the Netherlands' and this is where it becomes more difficult. Americans can visit the Netherlands without a visa for a max of 90 days. To reside in the Netherlands then you would need a visa/residence permit. To obtain this then there are only a couple of options (apart from via a family member/partner already in the Netherlands which is a different process): (a) Highly Skilled Migrant - someone who already has a gross annual income of at least €47,565, or €34,881 if he/she is under thirty- but there are specific clauses as well (b) Study visa - but this is a temporary visa for the duration of the course only (c) Self employed - your business activities will be scored and must serve a "material Dutch purpose" (d) As an employee** Basically to move over here with the wish to live and work, then you would have to find an employer who would apply for a work permit on you behalf. That work permit would not be granted unless it was proven that the job is of such a specialist nature that no-one else in the total pool of labour from (not just the Netherlands but the) whole EEA area. Therefore even a University graduate with no work experience is going to struggle to meet the requirements even in with the right ecomony (ie loads of jobs and few applicants) You can read more about the details of it here in a question I answered a while ago for another American interested in the same. It gives links to the IND (Dutch immigration site), how to look for jobs and accommodation as well. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Au4FSM_iOwVeAeSn5NGVt4fty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20081029005645AAYhd63 (saving me retyping and also this turning out to be a very long answer!) As mentioned, you also have to take into account that the economy is having an effect on the EEA market and whilst the Netherlands is not (yet?) as badly affected as other EU countries such as Spain or the UK, of course the labour market in those countries are free to move to the Netherlands as well and jobs that don't require many qualifications/experience are easily filled by EEA passport holders. So read the link I gave you first, and then you can follow up with details on: http://www.ind.nl/EN/verblijfwijzer/ - immigration dept wizard http://www.ind.nl/en/Images/4012_VIN_ENG_tcm6-595.pdf - immigration dept overview (brochure) http://www.netherlands-embassy.org/dutchmissions.asp - links to Dutch consolate details and a confirmation of what I stated also http://www.cgny.org/article.asp?articler%E2%80%A6 Another good source is the expat sites and you can check forums as well to see people who have "been there, done that" http://www.justlanded.com/english/Netherlands http://holland.angloinfo.com/ http://www.expatica.com/nl/main.html In short, you need highly specialist skills which are in demand to get you into the Netherlands (unless you have a proven relationship with a Dutch national) for living & working. Another route is to work for a company in the US which has branch offices in NL with the aim of being transferred based on in-house experience built up - but it also has to be said that this is becoming less common/needed these days as well Sorry if this sounds overly negative to someone who is genuinally interested, but it is better if you read and check in advance than to make a costly trip and be dissappointed at the end of it. Best of luck

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That's going to take a while, probably more than 5 years. As an American you do not have to make an 'Inburgeringstoets', to test your knowledge of The Netherlands and the Dutch language, so that's a pro. But before becoming Dutch you'll have to become a temporarily resident and then permanent resident. Where to find the paper work is a very simple question to answer: the dutch embassy. Immigration laws have become way tougher the last couple of years, so keep that in mind. The immigration officer is going to ask loads of questions and not all of them seem appropriate. Another negative point is that the credit crisis has hit us hard, so finding a job is not an easy task. It's probably not as bad as in the US, but still being an immigrant without knowledge of the language (I assume) is not going to make anything easier. Good luck!

flying dutchgirl

When you called the Dutch embassy and asked, what did they say? 4200 Linnean Avenue NW Washington, DC 20008 1-877-DUTCHHELP (phone)

coldfuse

Holland is not a country, it's a region of The Netherlands.

Hoppelemine

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