About 8000 letters are under way to people with a Pardon permit

The group of people who come under the Regulations governing the Settlement of Estates under the Old Aliens Act (in Dutch: Regeling Afwikkeling Nalatenschap Oude Vreemdelingenwet or RANOV) will also be eligible for Dutch citizenship. It can be read in the letters the IND will send from this week that they may qualify for several exemptions. Because of this it is no longer necessary to hand over a valid foreign passport (or other evidence) from which their nationality is evident. Nor will this group be required to submit a birth certificate or registration certificate. This will enable anyone who wants to do so still to submit an application to become a Dutch citizen.

Earlier this year pardon permit holders (in Dutch: RANOV’ers) who were minors at the time were already exempted from the requirement to relinquish their nationalities. Now therefore about 8000 adults will join them. Although the IND and municipalities do not know exactly how many people from this group will actually go to the Civil Affairs Department, for those who indeed do so, both parties are making efforts to keep the processing times of the application processes as short as possible.

The IND still assesses whether the pardon permit holders are eligible for Dutch nationality – even if they go to the municipality with this letter. The requirement to submit documents will lapse, but they must still meet all other conditions to become Dutch citizens. For example they must have lived in the Netherlands for 5 years or more with a valid residence permit and may not constitute a danger to public order or national security. In case of substantial doubts about someone's identity or nationality, an application can still be rejected.

 

Want to know more about this matter? See www.ind.nl/ranov