Friday, 24 January 2014 - 20:00
New naturalization plan condemned
It is not a good idea to extend the waiting period for foreigners who applied for the Dutch nationality, according to the Council of State, the highest advisory body to the government.
Currently, an alien has to be a legitimate resident of the Netherlands for at least five years in order to qualify for the Dutch nationality.
Paspoort_NL_passport
Quistnix
Wikimedia commons The government wants to extend that term to seven years, because chances of paid employment increase the longer the alien lives here. However, that would also extend the period before aliens have a naturalization obligation, and that would not serve the integration process, according to the Council. The government also wants to abandon the exception for legitimate and adopted children, who have a shorter waiting period for naturalization. In the new government plans the extended waiting period would also apply to them. The affected groups are small and the government needs to explain why it wants to abandon the exception, according to the Council of State. There is no sign that the current five-year period is insufficient. The term generally supplies aliens with ample time to integrate, according to the Council.
Quistnix
Wikimedia commons The government wants to extend that term to seven years, because chances of paid employment increase the longer the alien lives here. However, that would also extend the period before aliens have a naturalization obligation, and that would not serve the integration process, according to the Council. The government also wants to abandon the exception for legitimate and adopted children, who have a shorter waiting period for naturalization. In the new government plans the extended waiting period would also apply to them. The affected groups are small and the government needs to explain why it wants to abandon the exception, according to the Council of State. There is no sign that the current five-year period is insufficient. The term generally supplies aliens with ample time to integrate, according to the Council.
