Netherlands must open up dual nationality possibilities, says D66 & left-wing coalition

There should be more opportunity for Dutch citizens to hold another nationality besides that of the Netherlands, said centrist political party D66 and left-wing political faction GroenLinks-PvdA. The two parties have released more details about their proposal, which they first stated in 2016.

The dual nationality proposal has been turned into a bill that will be debated after the November 22 elections to determine the members of the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Parliament. Currently, Dutch people living abroad typically lose their nationality when they officially become citizens of another country. Conversely, many immigrants also lose the nationality of their home country when they become Dutch citizens.

This deprives Dutch people of the freedom to build their lives abroad, according to the authors of the proposed bill, Sjoerd Sjoerdsma from D66 and Attje Kuiken from GroenLinks-PvdA. They pointed out that people who do not want to get rid of their Dutch identity may be prevented from buying a house because they need citizenship from their new home country.

It is estimated that there are at least one million Dutch people who live or work abroad, the parties said. This number is continuing to grow.

Dutch people with a family heritage from another country will also be helped by the new law, according to Sjoerdsma and Kuiken. People from Morocco, for example, cannot renounce the nationality of their home country if they become Dutch. Additionally, they often have to deal with a stigma attached to dual citizenship, according to the Tweede Kamer MPs. That issue could potentially be solved with this law, Sjoerdsma and Kuiken suggested.

The Council of State, which also provides advice to the Cabinet as the country's highest administrative court, was previously critical of the parties' original proposal from 2016. It reasoned that the applicants should explain in more detail whether conflicts of loyalty could arise among Dutch people with two passports. Kuiken and Sjoerdsma have therefore amended the explanation of their initiative law, and cited several studies that they say demonstrate that the risk of such conflicts of interest is relatively low.

In some cases, it is currently legally permitted in the Netherlands to obtain a second nationality without relinquishing original citizenship. This is possible, for example, if someone with a foreign passport marries a Dutch person.

People living in the Netherlands with a double passport are a recurring topic of discussion in politics. The PVV has been in favor of a ban on dual nationality for years, and also mentions this in their platform for the upcoming election.