GOVERNMENT WEBSITES

ON THIS PAGE:
  DUTCH GOVERNMENT
  DUTCH GOVERNMENT – INFORMATION ON SPECIFIC VISA CATEGORIES
  AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT
  AUSTRALIAN – DUTCH CITIZENSHIP MATTERS
  EXPAT LOBBY GROUPS

          DUTCH GOVERNMENT

Central Bureau for Statistics  http://www.cbs.nl/en/ According to the CBS, there were 2802 Australians registered as living in the Netherlands in 2001 (What a barbie we could organise… if we could only find them all!)  Their stats also show how many Australians have become Dutch citizens, and this was before the new dual citizenship laws.  It’ll be interesting to see how many show up on the stats for 2002. (NL)

Dutch government sites – an overview http://www.overheid.nl/info/english.html with links to the various municipalities, provinces, Senate and House of Reps, and more.  Not all of the links will be in English, but this one is. (Incidentally, their Dutch version is so much cuter: http://www.overheid.nl/ )

Dutch Consulate in Australia http://www.netherlandsconsulate.org.au/

Dutch Customs office http://www.belastingdienst.nl/9229237/v/e-index.htm

Dutch Immigration Dept http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/ you can click at the top right for English

laws about us http://www.minjust.nl/a_beleid/thema/vreemd/vreemdelingenwet/495.pdf the actual laws covering foreigners in the Netherlands – just in case you’re curious (NL)

reciprocal healthcare agreement http://www.hic.gov.au/yourhealth/services_for_travellers/tfa.htm#netherlands details about what your Medicare card covers you for during short stays in the Netherlands, and what you have to do to be eligible

SEE ALSO “CARS AND OTHER MOVING THINGS” ON THE MISC USEFUL PAGE

          DUTCH GOVERNMENT – INFORMATION ON SPECIFIC VISA CATEGORIES

Detailed information on the requirements for specific visa requirements is available in English via the Dutch Immigration Department website.  You will need Acrobat software to be able to read these pdf documents. If you don’t have it, you can also download it free from the website.

procedures http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/page.asp?pageID=5007&langID=1 on this page you will find information about all the procedures available on the Dutch Immigration website. The procedures will not tell you if you need an Authorization for temporary stay (Machtiging tot Voorlopig Verblijf, MVV) or a visa; but you can enter details to call up more info (e.g.

au pair (nanny) http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/pdf/au-pair_eng.pdf

family reunion & formation http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/pdf/gezin_eng.pdf  family reunion visas also cover the “samenwonend” visa, i.e. for an Aussie with Dutch partner

immigration lawyers see the LEGAL section on the Health and Other Help page for a list of lawyers that specialize in Dutch immigration law.

paid employment http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/pdf/werkeninloondienst-eng.pdf

practical training (“stage”) http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/pdf/stage-eng.pdf

self employed work http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/pdf/werkenalszelfstang-eng.pdf

short stay http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/pdf/Visumkortverblijf_eng.pdf

study http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/pdf/Studie-eng.pdf

working holiday visa  http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/pdf/uitwisselingnieuwengels.pdf  For Australians from 18-30 years.

          AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT

Australian Embassy http://www.australian-embassy.nl/ in the Netherlands

Australian Government  http://www.gov.au/  links to Australian Federal, State and Local Government sites.

Australian customs http://www.customs.gov.au/bizlink/TRAVEL/know.htm don’t forget to check here before you pack the container for home

Online registration with DFAT https://www.orao.dfat.gov.au/ online registration form –speaking as a former consular officer, I can assure you it can be very useful, especially for those living abroad alone – enables speedy contact with your nominated next of kin in Australia in case of an emergency (and it’s a secure site)

info about the Australian government  http://www.nla.gov.au/oz/gov/ links to info on our Constitution, the Commonwealth, the Governor-General, our budget, etc.  Useful for answering lots of the silly questions you’re going to get asked here.

Births, Deaths and Marriages Registries of Australasia http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/bdmaus/

Also see the Resources page of Australians Abroad for links to more Australian Government sites.

          AUSTRALIAN – DUTCH CITIZENSHIP MATTERS

APPLYING FOR DUTCH CITIZENSHIP

Dutch Ministry of Immigration and Naturalisation (IND) has extensive information on its website, with several documents you can download, but it is all in Dutch.  This is not surprising, as (usually) one of the prerequisites for becoming a Dutch citizen is a reasonably good grasp of Dutch. Their FAQ page regarding naturalization is http://www.ind.nl/page.asp?PageID=6&LangID=0&CategoryID=5&View=2#1
or you can download the brochure “Hoe kunt u Nederlander worden?” at http://www.ind.nl/pdf/Naturalisatie.pdf

applying for Dutch citizenship Citizenship is always a rather blurry issue (dual citizenship usually is) and there are so many variables, that there is no blanket answer to almost any question, and what applied to another Australian may not apply to you.  Hence don’t take anything here as the final word!  But I received this email and found it most informative:
”We have been living in the Netherlands for 11 years now and like many Australians have waited a very long time for Australia to change its law concerning dual nationality. Unfortunately, in the meantime, the Netherlands has also changed its law.  They now require you to relinquish your current nationality in order to take out Dutch nationality.  There are a few exceptions enabling one to retain current nationality, for example:
* if your own country doesn’t allow giving up nationality
* married to a Dutch national
* if you have spent 5 continuous years living in the Netherlands before reaching the age of 18 (this will allow our children to take out dual nationality once they obtain the age of 18)
* you have exceptional circumstances whereby you don’t want to lose your current nationality”

Southern Cross Group http://www.southern-cross-group.org/  Many discussion groups on this topic concentrate on the issue from the perspective of USA or UK dual citizens, but the Southern Cross Group is both an international group AND is based in Belgium, so they won’t have forgotten our issues.

are you already eligible for a Dutch passport by descent? This http://www.netherlands.org.au/assets/77587756first_passport_application2.doc is what the application looks like for a “first Dutch passport application”.  Take this to your Gemeente and see what happens, or if still in Australian, to the Dutch Embassy or Consulate.

DUTCH APPLYING FOR AUSTRALIAN CITIZENSHIP

I looked into this for when I return to Australia with my Dutch husband – will he be able to take on Australian citizenship without losing his Dutch nationality?

Dutch citizens applying for Australian The Dutch Embassy in AUS website give the following advice:

What will happen if I take on the Australian nationality?
Article 15a of the Netherlands Nationality Act stipulates that a citizen of the Netherlands (over the age of 18) will lose his/her Netherlands nationality by obtaining another nationality voluntarily. Also, children included in the naturalisation or already possessing this nationality will lose the Netherlands nationality.  BUT!  There are exceptions to this rule, and one of them is that a Dutch citizen who is married to a citizen of that other nationality will NOT lose his Dutch citizenship.  The law was introduced because it was considered important that a family should all be able to have the same citizenship, and that losing your “Nederlanderschap” should not be a hindrance to this goal. For details see http://www.justitie.nl/pers/persberichten/archief/2000/index.asp?file=pb0693.htm (NL)

regaining Dutch citizenship http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/pdf/Oudned.pdf available in Dutch only (of course!) (NL)

          EXPAT LOBBY GROUPS

Southern Cross Group http://www.southern-cross-group.org/ Extremely informative website for all expat Australians. To quote: “The Southern Cross Group is an international non-profit advocacy organisation which speaks on behalf of the some 860,000 Australians who live overseas. The Group tries to work for changes to existing law and policy where these adversely impact the Australian expatriate community.”  Faith Hunter is one of the two SCG reps in the Netherlands.