Thank you everyone for your contributions, thank you very much.

no it is actually the activation code they send by post after you request online (with sms etc), so before activation one cannot use it

those of you who have applied for KVT with DigiD recently, does it still seem possible to apply and have the exam in December or is it already late? do they have availability before Christmas, or do they even work after Christmas? my digid confirmation is stuck somewhere in the mail, so wondering if I should bother :-)

avocado said:

sabetsu said:

Hoping to get the hive mind's opinion.

Since it says on the IND's website that after an unbroken chain of 3 years of residency in the Netherlands with a registered partner, with a spouse or with the cohabitation agreement, one would assume that from three years after receiving my residence permit on the basis of my relationship with my partner (juli 2010), that I would be able to apply for naturalisation in July of 2013.

However, due to another circumstance, I had to visit my (immigration) lawyer, and I wanted to check with her. She had said this was only valid if you are married. She didn't have any information on her at the moment and she was sitting in on the proceedings (she is a member of the same law firm of the lawyer my partner and I were seeing) which involved another matter entirely, but which has possible bearing upon my immigration status.

So, have the laws changed very recently? Or has she not checked her facts well enough and spoke without knowing the full truth at the moment? I was pretty sure that my samenwonencontract allowed me to apply for naturalisation after those three years of having my residence permit (uninterrupted) were done.

She didn't check her facts well enough. (It happens to the best of us.) You can get naturalized after 3 years of

EITHER:

- being in a cohabiting relationship with a Dutch citizen AND living with them continuously AND being in the possession of a residence permit for the purpose of that relationship;

OR:

- being married to or the registered partner of a Dutch citizen AND living with them continuously. You do not have to be in the possession of a residence permit for that specific purpose, but you do have to in possession of some kind of residence permit for a non-temporary purpose right now (i.e., not study, not au pair, and not medical treatment). Nor do you have to have been in the possession of a residence permit for all of those past 3 years (you can have a gap!). Note also that getting married or getting a registered partnership makes all the time you were registered at one address in the Netherlands before that point count retroactively toward the 3 years.

 

So you do qualify to get naturalized based on the first situation. You can go in and apply in July 2013, no doubt about it. However, it is very much in your interest to get married or get a registered partnership first for other reasons, because then you will not be required to renounce your original nationality (which is of the US, if I recall correctly from your previous postings).

 

That is, I am sad to say, only if the law remains the way it is right now. A bill to change Dutch nationality law has been presented to Parliament which would get rid of this exemption, i.e. everyone getting naturalized would be expected to renounce their original nationality. Assume it will pass, since it has the support of a bare majority of members of the lower chamber of parliament, even though it is actually quite controversial. You just have to hold your breath that it will not become law before July 2013.

 

Jeremy Bierbach, LLM

www.immigrate.nl

can i ask you another question in relation to this.. if someone had a km permit for 4 years that was followed by a permit based on family reunification (either a registered partnership of cohabitation agreement) for one year and it all does it qualify for naturalization at 5 years, does it also qualify for dual citizenship due to family reunification status at the time of the 5 years in the country?

i live and work for 4 years in the NL, of which 3 years as kennismigrant (received kennismigrant permit from the second year i'm here), and working for the same employer all this time.

 

i received a job offer from germany, just across the border in cologne, and i'm seriously considering it. at the same time i would like to keep the status in the NL for the time counting to 5 years. is there any way i could do that? 

 

for example are there a cross-boarder employment provisions applicable to non-permanent residence permit holders?

or something could be done possibly by having permanent residence in nl, supported by the cohabitation agreement with a dutch citizen (or registered partnership)?

or are there other ways you could suggest in this situation?

 

thanks a lot in advance for any advice.