Nationality - what would you do?

[Dahlemma]

My 21 yo son has dual British and Dutch nationality. Born and lived in uk, Dutch father. He’ll lose his Dutch nationality if in the next 10 years he doesn’t live in a Dutch territory or EU country.

I can envisage that he will live in Holland or the EU in that time, however if he doesn’t, he’ll have to relinquish one of his passports. Obviously it’s 10 years away and things change however if the choice was to be made now, which would you keep?

Good advice and worth the spend - thank you

@MyGardenIsAmess i think what I don’t fully grasp is the implication of son being born a UK citizen then acquiring Dutch citizenship. The examples in the linked article appear to be the other way around. The exceptions don’t apply (currently). If it is as simple as a visit to the passport office in Birmingham every 10 years then that’s fine but that’s not how I’m interpreting the rules

Does this not mean that he only has to keep renewing his passport?

”Important
The 13-year period stops in the following situations:

1. You live for more than one year in the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao or St Maarten, or in the European Union, or
2. You apply for and are issued a valid Dutch passport, or
3. You apply for and are issued a valid Dutch identity card, or
4. You apply for and are issued a certificate of Dutch nationality. This

is a certificate issued under section 15, subsection 4 of the Netherlands Nationality Act, which deals with the possession of Dutch nationality. You can find more information about this on the central government website.”

Can you contact the Dutch embassy and find out for sure? I'm also currently renewing my son of the same ages passport, but that's all we have to do.

Thanks @Silverblue1985, can you link me to that? The website I read was an “and” rather than “or” scenario. If this is right then I can calm down! Though I still think time in Europe will be invaluable

It’s in the document you linked :) Page 3.

Also here at the bottom https://ind.nl/en/dutch-citizenship/losing-dutch-nationality#:~:text=You%20will%20lose%20your%20Dutch%20nationality%20automatically%20if,the%20European%20Union%20%28EU%29%20for%2013%20consecutive%20years.

Thank you @Silverblue1985 😊 my bloody missing glasses!

So essentially, if you maintain your passport within the expiry period you are ok, regardless of where you live? If so my son’s Italian colleague came through!

Another Dutch citizen here with dual nationality children. Absolutely sure that the dcs only need to ensure they keep renewing their Dutch passports on time and they will keep their dual nationality. I’ve told them to never let their Dutch passports expire to be on the safe side.
Your son really does not have to spend time in EU to keep his EU passport.

Yes and he would probably need to pay some sort of medical contribution and have a bill in his name as a proof he is actually living there.
Not Duch but a lot of people do it in other eu countries.

Thanks everyone for helping and perspectives

He doesn’t need to relinquish British citizenship in any scenario as Britain allows dual nationality. British passport remains.

It’s the question of whether he can keep Dutch or not.

What an advantage he has with free movement in the EU. This is great for any job application. As he’s a young adult with no family responsibilities etc he could go and spend a year in the NL combining that with travel around Europe. What an experience that would be. Logistics of financing it all you’d need to work out but for a young person he’d be able to get travel ticket deals and could stay in youth hostels. Could he work six months in The Netherlands and then travel six months?

This is a great idea. He’s spending some leisure in Berlin shortly and I know it will turn his head

I wouldn't take the advice of strangers on the internet if I were you. I'd pay someone for professional advice.

Whatever he does he won't lose his British citizenship so it's not an either or situation.

I would just let him see where his life goes. My DH had Hong Kong residency but it required him visiting once per year to maintain it. He eventually found he wasn't visiting that often so he gave it up, he's realistically never going to live there. My friend had Australian PR but her life is very much the country we live in now so she's given it up.

If it is the case that he loses his Dutch citizenship after 10 years (and that sounds like it's not a certain thing) then my advice would be that over the next 10 years he lives his life and makes use of his EU passport and see where it takes him. If he ends up living and working in the EU with a European partner then obviously he'd want to make sure he keeps the Dutch passport. But really the passport just gives him opportunities and the time to use those opportunities is naturally in your 20s before you've settled down. No point stretching yourself to maintain a foreign passport when you're 40 and have a mortgage and family.

If the Dutch authorities say that to keep his Dutch nationality he has to renounce his British Citizenship then he does lose it obviously. (Although it looks like the scenario might not be necessary after all in the OP's case)
When I worked in the Nationality Office in the UK, this happened with lots of countries where dual citizenship isn't allowed.
As others have said, the UK allows as many as you like, but obviously an official act of renunciation in order to keep another removes the BC status.

@ASighWasMadeOfStone but if he's already a citizen then he won't need to prove any renounciation of British citizenship. Loads of people keep two passports even though they're not supposed to, you just have to be careful when going through immigration as they can cut up your passport if they find out!

@ASighWasMadeOfStone I think this is a bit different, and it's interesting actually.

This isn't a case of dual nationality being banned. Rather, citizenship lapsing if nothing is done to keep it, either through residency or renewing a passport. Not sure whether it can be reclaimed easily.
Obviously this only applies to dual nationals as it's illegal to leave people stateless under international law.
This is different from other countries such as the UK, where citizenship, once obtained can be kept indefinitely even if you never set foot in the country or get its passport ever again.

Oh yes, clearly.
I was only commenting on the British legislation regarding a de facto renunciation.
Also true regarding statelessness - though it's actually technically very difficult to be stateless, and the Home Office will ask for evidence that you're a citizen of another country before granting renunciation.

Well presumably if he doesn’t choose to live in the eu in the next 10 years he will have to chose the British one. If he wants to live in uk he can’t just give up his citizenship as then he will lose his rights to live there

Except it gives you the right to live in the uk, the country he has chosen to live in. That is hardly worth nothing.

Netherlands only allows dual citizenship in certain situations, hence why they would make him choose