Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Becoming Dutch - Part III - the application is IN!

It’s been a long time since I posted anything here. I have no excuse besides the usual things bloggers come up against – time constraints, other priorities, lack of anything interesting to say. The last time I posted was around Thanksgiving, while I was in the US. I survived the trip back and immediately got sucked into changes at work, holiday planning and DIY projects at home. But there IS NEWS regarding one big project….. becoming Dutch!

On 7 December we went to the Stadsdeelkantoor and officially became a Partnership. I’m still not sure what the difference is between getting married and having a registered partnership. I first thought that the registered partnership was a way for gays to become “legal”, but since gay marriage is legal here this explanation makes no sense. In any case, we chose for the registered partnership, and on December 7 we signed on the dotted line. We had 4 witnesses and to be honest we both wanted to make this as informal as possible, but some people just don’t listen! The abtenaar who was presiding over things tried her best to make it “special”, bless her, but it only became comical. For us this was a formality on the way to Dutch citizenship, and doesn’t change our relationship one bit. But yeah, it’s done and now we are even more official! We never would have done this except that it’s a requirement if I want to have both a Dutch and passport. And, by the way, in de Baarsjes its free on Thursdays!

This morning we went to the IND (yet again) so that I could apply for Dutch citizenship. At this point we’ve jumped all the difficult bureaucratic hurdles, so this final step was quick and easy. The only hard part was handing over 362 euros. And if they turn down your application you don’t get your money back. I had to show them my inburgeringscertificaat but everything else was already in the computer. The woman who helped us confirmed that I would be able to keep my US passport - no problem.

Now we wait! She said that it might take 6 months before I get a reply, but I expect it will be less. Once it is approved I will have to attend the official ceremony. And then we will throw a party!

One more step on the way to becoming an official Dutchie!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations/gefeliciteerd, P

Unknown said...

I am trying to figure out how to apply for dual citizenship. I was born in the states, but my Father and Grandparents, who live here in the states are Dutch citizens. I'm having trouble getting the info I need but I assume I would be eligible. Anyways, if you have some advice, it would be greatly appreciated!

Unknown said...

And p.s. Congrats!!!

underdutchskies said...

Hi Ineke,
Wow, that's a tough one. Probably the best thing is for your father to contact the Dutch embassy or consulate nearest to him and ask how you could possibly get Dutch citizenship. He would have to sponsor you. I don't even know if that's possible with him living outside the country.
Or find a nice Dutch man to marry. :-)

Or if you are highly skilled in a much sought after area of work, you could probably get a company to get you a work permit. After 5 years (without a Dutch partner sponsoring you it takes 5 years) you could apply. But then again, without that Dutch partner you'd have to give up your American citizenship. And after 5 years it's anybody's guess how the laws will have changed. Things are getting more and more strict here each year. I'm happy I've just slipped in (thanks for the congrats).
Best of luck and let me know what happens. the early bird