Applying for Dutch citizenship by naturalisation in the Netherlands
Do you want to apply for the Netherlands (Dutch) nationality? One of the ways is to apply for naturalisatie (naturalisation). You can hand in your application via your municipality.
Usually one of the conditions is that you have been legally living in the Netherlands for at least 5 years. Read all conditions of naturalisation on the website of the Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst – IND (Immigration and Naturalisation Service).
In some cases there are exemptions to the condition of 5 years of legal residence.
The municipaity will send the application to the IND. The decision will be made by the IND.
The decision-making process takes a maximum of 12 months. You can track the progress of your application on the Mijn IND online portal.
This is how it works for you
Here is some information from your municipality.
Applying for Dutch citizenship by naturalisation
You can apply for Dutch nationality in 2 ways: by option or naturalisation. By option is the fastest way. Not everyone can obtain Dutch nationality via option. The municipality will check whether this applies to you.
Can you not get Dutch nationality via option? Then you can obtain Dutch nationality through naturalization. In the case of naturalization, you must first integrate.
Has your request to become a Dutch citizen been approved? Then the municipality invites you to a naturalisatieceremonie. After that ceremony you are Dutch. You can then apply for a Dutch passport or identity card.
Conditions for applying for Dutch nationality are:
- You are of age.
- You have a residence permit. Or you come from 1 van deze Europese landen.
- You have not been punished for a crime in the past 5 years.
- You meet the voorwaarden voor optie or to the voorwaarden voor naturalisatie.
Are you making an application for your child? The conditions for this include:
- At the time of the application, your child lives in the Netherlands.
- Your child has a residence permit.
- Is your child 16 or 17 years old? In that case, your child must have resided legally and continuously in the Netherlands for at least 3 years before applying.
- Valid passport.
- Valid verblijfsvergunning (residence permit) from the Netherlands.
- You have passed the civic integration exam or you have been exempted from the civic integration exam, on the grounds that you can already read, write, speak and understand Dutch to a sufficient level.
- You have graduated from a Dutch, Belgian or Surinam secondary school.
If you meet the conditions, you can make an appointment for your naturalisation application.
Look at: www.meerssen.nl
You pay a fee for this service. For more information, contact the municipality.
- The municipality assesses whether you meet all conditions for naturalisation and provides the Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst – IND (Immigration and Naturalisation Service) with advice. The municipality sends your file to the IND.
- The IND checks whether you meet all conditions and takes a decision. The IND must take a decision within 12 months. If you have any questions about the application in the meantime, you can contact the IND.
- You officially become a Dutch citizen only after the naturalisation ceremony.
- You can apply for a Dutch travel document 1 week after the naturalisation ceremony.
You can object to the decision on your option request. Do this within 6 weeks. Do you subsequently disagree with the decision on the notice of objection? Then file an appeal with the court.
You can object to the decision on your naturalization application at the Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst (IND).
Questions about this topic?
Contact the Municipality of Meerssen