סעיף 6(1)(ו) - קבוצת הכרה

This is the option ground for people who were once Dutch and want to become Dutch again. It also covers anyone who once held the historic status of Nederlands onderdaan-niet-Nederlander (Netherlands subject who was not a Netherlands national).

As at 25 July 2026, under article 6(1)(f) of the Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap (the Kingdom nationality statute, in force in its present form since 1 October 2023), you qualify if you are an adult, you held Dutch nationality or that historic status at any time in the past, and you have had admission for an indefinite period together with principal residence in the Kingdom for at least one uninterrupted year at the moment your declaration is confirmed.

The crucial practical point is that this is not a route you can use from abroad. It requires you to move back, obtain permanent-residence status, and accrue a full year in that status as a foreign national. Time you spent here as a Dutch national does not count towards the year. In exchange it is cheap, quick by comparison with naturalisation, and free of any language or integration examination — and it is one of only two option grounds that remain open to someone who has already become Dutch by option once before.

מי זכאי. נכון ל-25 ביולי 2026, עליך להיות מבוגר - בן 18 ומעלה, או נשוי או בשותפות רשומה לפני גיל 18 - אשר היה בעל אזרחות הולנדית או במעמד ההיסטורי של Nederlands onderdaan-niet-Nederlander, ושמחזיקים ב- toelating voor onbepaalde tijd (admission indefinite voor onbepaalde tijd* (admission indefinite time) בממלכה - הולנד האירופית, ארובה, קוראסאו, סנט מארטן או הגופים הציבוריים של BES - למשך שנה אחת רציפה לפחות, בסיפוק ברגע האישור (סעיף 6(1)(ו) של Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap, בתוקף מאז 1 באוקטובר 2023). מגורים מצטברים ברחבי הממלכה.

לא מסלול שאפשר לממש מחו"ל. יש לעבור חזרה, לקבל מעמד של תושב קבע ולצבור בו שנה שלמה. אישור לתקופה קצובה, ככל שיחודש לעתים קרובות, אינו מפעיל את השעון - הדרישה היא קבלה לתקופה בלתי מוגבלת. ויש לצבור את השנה כאזרח זר: הזמן כאן כשהיית עדיין הולנדית לא נחשב.

שתי החרגות. המגרש סגור לכל מי שאיבד אזרחות הולנדית לפי סעיף 15(1)(ד) או (ה) - נסיגה בשל אי ויתור על אזרחות אחרת לאחר התאזרחות או אופציה. הוא סגור גם כאשר התאזרחות שהושגה במרמה לפני 1 באפריל 2003 בוטלה: אז חוק המעבר סבור שהאדם מעולם לא היה הולנדי למטרה זו.

יתרון שרק קרקע אחרת חולקת. סעיף 6(9) מונע מכל מי שכבר הפך להולנדי פעם אחת להשתמש בסעיף 6 שוב, אך שומר במפורש שניים: זה, ואת עילת השחזור עבור אנשים שאובדן אזרחות אוטומטי שלהם היה בלתי פרופורציונלי לפי חוקי האיחוד האירופי. הקרקע הזו אינה זקוקה למגורים בממלכה ומחזירה את הלאומיות רטרואקטיבית לרגע האובדן, אז בדוק אותה תחילה אם איבדת אזרחות הולנדית מכוח חוק ולא מבחירה.

מה יכול לחסום את זה. על הרשות לסרב היכן שהתנהגותך מעוררת חשד חמור שאתה מהווה סכנה לסדר הציבורי, למוסר טוב או לביטחון הממלכה (סעיף 6(4)); בסיס משפטי זה אינו פטור ממנו, וחלון השיקום הוא חמש שנים, הועלה מארבע שנים בתוקף מ-1 במאי 2018. עליך להיות מוכן גם להמציא את הצהרת הסולידריות הקבועה, בהולנדית (סעיפים 6(2) ו-23(2)). שום בחינת שפה או שילוב לא חלה על שום עילת אופציה, ולא חלה כאן חובה לוותר על לאום אחר.

• Adulthood. You must be 18 or over, or have been married or in a registered partnership before 18 (Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap art 6(1)(f), in force since 1 October 2023).
• Former Dutch nationality, or the historic subject status. You must at some time have held Dutch nationality, or the status of Nederlands onderdaan-niet-Nederlander. How you lost it does not matter for eligibility, subject to the two exclusions below.
• One uninterrupted year of admission for an indefinite period, plus principal residence. You must hold toelating voor onbepaalde tijd — permanent-residence status, not a fixed-term permit — and hoofdverblijf in the European Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten or the BES islands, for at least one continuous year, satisfied at the moment of confirmation.
• The year must be accrued as a foreign national. Time spent in the Kingdom while you were still Dutch does not count towards it. The clock only starts once you are here as a foreigner holding indefinite admission.
• Two exclusions. The ground is closed to anyone who lost Dutch nationality under article 15(1)(d) or (e) — that is, by withdrawal for failing to give up another nationality after a naturalisation or an option. It is also closed to anyone whose naturalisation was obtained by fraud before 1 April 2003 and subsequently withdrawn: transitional law deems such a person never to have held Dutch nationality for the purposes of this ground.
• Good character. The authority must refuse where your conduct gives rise to serious suspicions that you are a danger to public order, good morals or the security of the Kingdom (art 6(4)). This is imperative — the deciding authority has no policy freedom. This ground is not among the two exempt from that investigation.
• Declaration of solidarity. You must be willing to make the verklaring van verbondenheid, a fixed oath or affirmation of respect for the constitutional order of the Kingdom, in Dutch (arts 6(2) and 23(2)).

There is no language or civic-integration examination on any option ground — that condition sits in article 8(1)(d) and governs naturalisation only — and no renunciation duty, which article 6a(1) confines to one different option ground. A previous acquisition of Dutch nationality by option does not bar you here: this is one of only two grounds that survive the one-shot rule in article 6(9).

You must supply a defined set of personal data — names; date, place and country of birth; address; sex; nationalities; present and earlier residence status; length of admitted stay; marriage or partnership and spouse's details; minor children; and anything further the authority considers necessary — and sign a written statement that they are truthful and that nothing relevant has been concealed (Besluit verkrijging en verlies Nederlanderschap, in force since 1 March 2017). The authority may require documentary proof, legalised and where necessary verified as to content.

For this ground the load-bearing documents are:

• evidence that you once held Dutch nationality or the status of Nederlands onderdaan-niet-Nederlander: an expired Dutch passport, a bewijs van Nederlanderschap (certificate of Dutch nationality), a historical extract from the population register, or consular records;
• your permanent-residence document showing admission for an indefinite period, and its start date;
• a population-register history covering the qualifying year;
• your current foreign passport and birth certificate.

Where your former nationality is hard to document because the records are old or held abroad, note that documents already legalised and processed into the population register or a Dutch civil-status record need not be produced again unless there is well-founded doubt.

There is no Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag in this procedure: you sign a verklaring verblijf en gedrag (declaration of residence and conduct), and the authority itself obtains a judicial-records extract and a police-systems check. Foreign convictions must be disclosed in full, with translated copies of the judgments.

Translation. In the European Netherlands anything not in Dutch, English, German or French must be translated by a beëdigd vertaler (sworn translator), preferably into Dutch, and attached to the original or certified copy, at your cost. On Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba only Dutch and English pass untranslated.

Legalisation. Foreign public documents need an apostille where the issuing state is party to the Apostille Convention; in the Netherlands an apostille is a court-issued sticker, and the Netherlands accepts foreign digital apostilles but issues paper ones only. Legalisation proves only formal authenticity — signature, capacity, seal — never that the content is correct, so a document may still be checked substantively. Nothing is required from states the Netherlands does not recognise: Abkhazia, Northern Cyprus, South Ossetia and Taiwan. Documents already legalised and absorbed into the population register or a Dutch civil-status record need not be produced again absent well-founded doubt. As at 25 July 2026 the policy manual still points to "the legalisation circular currently in force", but the most recent located version was withdrawn with effect from 1 January 2024 and no successor was identified — confirm the route before paying for legalisation.

You lodge the declaration in person with the authority for the place where you live: the burgemeester of your municipality in the European Netherlands; the Minister of Justice and Security, in practice through the IND unit Caribbean Netherlands, on Bonaire, Sint Eustatius or Saba; and the Governor of Aruba, Curaçao or Sint Maarten in those countries (Besluit verkrijging en verlies Nederlanderschap, in force since 1 March 2017). Because the ground requires a year of residence in the Kingdom, filing at a Dutch post abroad is not in practice available on this ground. Each authority handles only its own catchment; a proxy is allowed only for compelling reasons. In Curaçao personal appearance is mandatory.

The declaration is date-stamped on receipt and you get a copy. The authority that receives it also decides it: for option cases the IND is not the decision-maker and there is no Royal Decree. It checks the fee obligation before taking the file into treatment, then completeness, then tests your data against the population register — asking another Dutch municipality to verify within four weeks, or a Caribbean authority or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within ten weeks, where needed — then investigates residence status and, unless the ground is exempt, public order.

If the conditions are met the authority must confirm; article 6(3) leaves it no discretion on the merits. It then writes to you setting out how the confirmation will be made known and who is covered, and states at the same time in respect of whom it is refused, with the objection deadline.

Nationality vests on handover, which must take place within nine weeks of the finding that you qualify (Besluit verkrijging en verlies Nederlanderschap art 60a(7)). You must first make the declaration of solidarity, in principle orally and in person at a ceremony. The confirmation takes effect on handover and backdates to the date it bears — not to the date you originally lost Dutch nationality. If it is not handed over within a year of that date it lapses by operation of law and you must begin again (art 60a(11)).

The legal deadline. The receiving authority must decide within thirteen weeks of receiving the declaration, extendable once by at most a further thirteen weeks — an absolute ceiling of twenty-six weeks (Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap art 6(5), in force since 1 October 2023).

When the clock starts. Not on filing: only once the fee has been received or fully waived and any requested supplementary documents supplied. An incomplete declaration suspends it again (Handleiding Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap, version in force since 1 July 2026).

The year that comes first. The real timeline on this ground is dominated by the qualifying year, not by the decision period. You must first return to the Kingdom, obtain admission for an indefinite period, and hold it — together with principal residence — for a full uninterrupted year as a foreign national. Only then is a declaration worth lodging, because the condition is tested at the moment of confirmation.

When the decision period ends. On a positive outcome, at the moment you take receipt of the decision — in principle at a ceremony. Since handover may follow up to nine weeks after the authority finds you qualify, the policy manual advises invoking the thirteen-week extension immediately wherever a ceremony is involved. Twenty-six weeks is the realistic ceiling.

If the authority is late. There is no silent approval. Serve a written notice of default; two weeks later a penalty payment runs automatically — €23 a day for fourteen days, then €35, then €45, capped at forty-two days (Algemene wet bestuursrecht arts 4:17–4:20) — and you may appeal for failure to decide at the same time. Do not assume this regime reaches the Governors' Cabinets in Aruba, Curaçao or Sint Maarten, or the BES islands; those constituencies have their own administrative-procedure law and the point was not established.

Real-world duration. No national processing-time series exists for option cases: the IND records only confirmations and plays no part in handling them (IND, Monitor Naturalisatie en Optie 2018-2024, June 2025). Aruba's and Curaçao's Governor's Cabinets each report an average of six to nine months — observed practice, not a lawful period.

Amounts are fixed separately in each currency — do not convert between them.

In the European Netherlands the 2026 tariffs are €241 for a single declaration, €412 where spouses, registered partners or an unmarried couple in a durable relationship declare at the same time, and €27 for each minor child included in a parent's declaration (2026 schedule; WBN 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31825, in force 1 January 2026). In force on the same date elsewhere: Aruba Afl. 501 / 857 / 56; Curaçao Cg 502 / 858 / 56; Sint Maarten Cg 502 / 858 / 56; Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba USD 282 / 481 / 32.

For comparison, standard single naturalisation in the European Netherlands is €1,139 on the same 2026 schedule. For a former national who has to move back regardless, option at €241 is much the cheaper of the two.

A warning specific to Sint Maarten: the Cabinet of the Governor publishes Cg 481 / 823 / 52 for 2026, which does not match the governing instrument. The instrument governs, and underpaying has the same effect as not paying — confirm before transferring.

A cost trap peculiar to former nationals. Many people in this position discover that they are no longer Dutch only when a passport application is set aside, and so end up paying twice — once for the passport that is refused, and again for the option procedure. If there is any doubt about your status, resolve it before applying for travel documents.

Payment is in one instalment to the authority that received the declaration, which keeps the whole amount (Besluit optie- en naturalisatiegelden 2002, arts 5 and 7). If it is not paid within six weeks of receipt of the declaration, the declaration is set aside unexamined (art 6). No fee is due from a person treated as a Netherlander under the Wet betreffende de positie van Molukkers (art 4(1)), and the Minister may waive it for a minor declaring on their own account, or for someone wrongly treated as Dutch for over a year through an administrative error — but not where that error was caused by the applicant's own fraud or carelessness (art 4(2)–(4)).

This pathway rests on article 6(1)(f) of the Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap, the Kingdom nationality statute, whose consolidated text has been in force since 1 October 2023 with no amendment in force since (checked 25 July 2026). Its elements are adulthood; former possession of Dutch nationality or of the status of Nederlands onderdaan-niet-Nederlander; and at least one uninterrupted year of toelating voor onbepaalde tijd (admission for an indefinite period) together with hoofdverblijf (principal residence) in the European Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten or the public bodies Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, satisfied at the moment of confirmation.

Article 6(1) provides that nationality is acquired through a confirmation following a written declaration, and article 6(3) obliges the receiving authority to confirm where the conditions are met. The confirmation is a bound administrative decision — constitutive of acquisition on its own date, and without retroactive effect to the date the person originally lost Dutch nationality.

Two statutory exclusions cut into the ground. It is unavailable to a person who lost Dutch nationality under article 15(1)(d) or (e) — withdrawal for failing to give up another nationality after a naturalisation or an option. It is also unavailable where a naturalisation obtained by fraud before 1 April 2003 was withdrawn under article 14(1): transitional law in the amending Rijkswet deems such a person never to have held Dutch nationality for the purposes of this ground.

One feature works in the applicant's favour: article 6(9), which bars anyone who has once acquired Dutch nationality by option from using article 6 again, expressly preserves two grounds — this one and the restoration ground for disproportionate automatic loss.

The rest of the machinery is the general article 6 machinery: article 6(2) (declaration of solidarity from adults and those aged 16 or over, and the bar on making the confirmation known before it has been made); article 6(4) (the public-order refusal); article 6(5) (the thirteen-week decision period, extendable once by thirteen weeks); article 6(6) (fixing of names, with no name change available on option); and article 6(9) (no second acquisition by option). Article 14(1) permits withdrawal afterwards only for a false statement, fraud or the concealment of a relevant fact.

Where the underlying question is not whether the person may become Dutch again but whether they are Dutch already, article 17 supplies a separate declaratory petition to the rechtbank Den Haag or, for Caribbean residents, the Gemeenschappelijk Hof van Justitie; article 18(2) allows only cassation from it, and article 19 makes a final ruling binding on every body charged with implementing legislation.

Below the statute: the Besluit verkrijging en verlies Nederlanderschap (in force since 1 March 2017) governs filing, verification and handover; the Besluit optie- en naturalisatiegelden 2002 governs fees; and the Handleiding Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap 2003 (version in force since 1 July 2026) is the binding policy manual.

Case law. The Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State held on 20 June 2018 (ECLI:NL:RVS:2018:2056) that the public-order refusal ground is imperative and leaves no policy freedom, that a suspended sentence counts as much as an unsuspended one, and that departure from published policy demands very great restraint.

הלאום הוא חוק הממלכה תחת ה-Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap, ללא שינוי מאז 1 באוקטובר 2023, אך מנוהל לפי אזור בחירה. על רקע אופציה הגוף שמקבל את ההצהרה שלך מחליט גם על כך, באישור בכתב: אין צו מלכותי, וה-IND לא מחליט.

מכיוון שבסיס חוקי זה מחייב שנת מגורים בממלכה, הודעה הולנדית בחו"ל אינה למעשה פורום זמין. אתה מתמודד עם הבורגר של העירייה שלך בהולנד האירופית, שר המשפטים והביטחון באמצעות IND-Caribisch Nederland בבונייר, סינט אוסטטיוס וסבא, או הקבינט של המושל בארובה, קוראסאו או סינט מרטן (Besluit verkrijging en verlies Nederlanderschap, בתוקף מאז 1 במרץ 2017). כל גוף פועל רק עבור התחום שלו, אז איפה אתה גר קובע מי מחליט.

ההתנגדות מגיעה לאותו גוף תוך שישה שבועות, לאחר מכן ל-rechtbank ול-Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State בהולנד האירופית, או ל-Gerecht in eerste aanleg ולאחר מכן ל-Gemeenschappelijk Hof van Justitie באיים הקריביים.

A refusal to confirm is an ordinary administrative decision, and the refusal letter must state the deadline for objecting.

You first lodge a bezwaar (administrative objection) with the authority that refused, within six weeks of notification, running from the day after the decision was properly made known (Algemene wet bestuursrecht arts 6:7 and 6:8). There is no fee (art 7:15), you have the right to be heard (art 7:2), and the review is a full reconsideration on the merits, not a legality check (art 7:11). The authority decides within six weeks, or twelve where an advisory committee is involved, extendable once by six weeks (art 7:10).

If that fails, beroep lies to the rechtbank within six weeks at a 2026 court fee of €200 for a natural person, payable within four weeks of the registrar's notice; non-payment makes the appeal inadmissible unless you were not at fault or prove you cannot pay. Hoger beroep then lies to the Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State within six weeks at €297 (2026 tariffs; Stcrt. 2025, 39855, in force 1 January 2026). Worst case in court fees, excluding lawyers: €497. If you have no residence in the Netherlands, the competent rechtbank is the one for the seat of the deciding authority rather than for your address.

Outside the European Netherlands the courts, fees and currencies differ. Curaçao and Sint Maarten apply their Landsverordening administratieve rechtspraak: objection and appeal both six weeks, NAf 150 at first instance, NAf 300 before the Gemeenschappelijk Hof van Justitie. For Aruba the Court's own guidance gives six weeks, AWG 25 and AWG 75. The BES islands apply the Wet administratieve rechtspraak BES: six weeks to the Gerecht in eerste aanleg at USD 84; the objection deadline there is not established.

Where the dispute is whether you are Dutch at all — as opposed to whether you may become Dutch again — the objection and appeal chain is the wrong instrument. A separate declaratory procedure exists: anyone with an immediate interest may petition the rechtbank Den Haag, or the Gemeenschappelijk Hof van Justitie if resident in Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten or the BES islands, for a ruling establishing whether they hold Dutch nationality (article 17). The petition may even be brought in respect of a deceased person. Only an appeal in cassation lies from that ruling (article 18(2)), and once final it binds every body charged with implementing legislation (article 19).

Two things you cannot appeal. The automatic lapse of a confirmation not handed over within a year of its date, and a refusal to hand over because the declaration of solidarity was not made. Neither is a decision in the administrative-law sense.

• You cannot do this from abroad. The one-year qualifying period requires permanent-residence status and principal residence inside the Kingdom. There is no consular version of this ground, and no shortcut for people with deep Dutch family ties who have not moved back.
• Years lived here as a Dutch national are worth nothing. The qualifying year must be accrued as a foreign national holding admission for an indefinite period. Someone who lived here for thirty years, lost Dutch nationality, and stayed on must still complete a fresh year in the right status.
• A fixed-term permit does not qualify. The requirement is admission for an indefinite period. A residence permit for a defined term, however often renewed, does not start the clock.
• Two hard exclusions. Loss of Dutch nationality by withdrawal for failing to give up another nationality after a naturalisation or an option permanently closes this ground. So does withdrawal of a fraudulently obtained naturalisation granted before 1 April 2003: transitional law treats such a person as never having been Dutch for this purpose.
• There may be a better route if you lost nationality automatically. A separate option ground exists for people who lost Dutch nationality by operation of law where that loss also stripped them of EU citizenship and disproportionate consequences were reasonably foreseeable at the time. That ground requires no residence in the Kingdom at all, restores nationality retroactively to the moment of loss, and does not require the declaration of solidarity. It is, however, hard to win — most claims fail because the person was not exercising EU rights when they lost nationality. A common way to have lost nationality automatically is the thirteen-year rule: an adult with a foreign nationality who spends thirteen uninterrupted years outside the Kingdom and the European Union loses Dutch nationality, unless the period was interrupted by the issue of a Dutch travel document or a certificate of Dutch nationality, which starts a fresh thirteen years.
• This ground survives the one-shot rule. A person who has already acquired Dutch nationality by option once may still use this one — it and the restoration ground for disproportionate automatic loss are the only two that remain open.
• No retroactivity here. Unlike the restoration ground, acquisition on this ground takes effect on the date the confirmation bears. It does not repair the intervening years, and it does not make children born during them Dutch.
• Criminal record thresholds. Only misdrijven count; petty offences, administrative fines and guilty-without-penalty convictions are disregarded. Refusal follows from a custodial sentence; a taakstraf (community service order) of 36 hours or more, or several of 18 hours or more totalling 54; a fine or confiscation order of €900 or more; a settlement or penalty order of €900 or more, or one carrying a community-service condition; or several settlements of at least €450 each totalling €1,350 or more. Suspended sentences count, and an open criminal case for a misdrijf is by itself enough. The rehabilitation window is five years, raised from four with effect from 1 May 2018.
• No help desk. There is no dedicated counter for former nationals, and the burden of assembling historical proof of your former status falls entirely on you.

• Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap — the Kingdom nationality statute, including article 17 (judicial determination of nationality status), article 15 (automatic loss and the thirteen-year rule) and article 6(9) (the one-shot rule). Consolidated text in force since 1 October 2023, with no amendment in force since (checked 25 July 2026). https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0003738/2023-10-01
• Besluit verkrijging en verlies Nederlanderschap — the Kingdom decree on filing, verification and handover of the confirmation. In force since 1 March 2017.
• Besluit optie- en naturalisatiegelden 2002 — the fee decree. Consolidated text in force since 1 January 2011; the amounts printed in it are 2011 amounts and are not what you pay. https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0013782
• Besluit van de Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid WBN 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31825 of 19 September 2025, in force 1 January 2026 — the 2026 fee tariffs for the European Netherlands. https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/stcrt-2025-31825.html
• Handleiding Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap 2003 — the binding policy manual, including the requirement that the qualifying year be accrued as a foreign national and the two exclusions. Version in force since 1 July 2026. https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBW33099
• Algemene wet bestuursrecht — objection, appeal, forum where the appellant lives abroad, and the penalty-payment regime. Consolidated text as consulted on 25 July 2026. https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0005537
• Regeling indexering, Stcrt. 2025, 39855 of 24 November 2025, in force 1 January 2026 — the 2026 court fees. https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/stcrt-2025-39855.html
• IND, Invoeringstoets evenredigheidstoets bij automatisch verlies Nederlanderschap, July 2023 — the evaluation of the restoration route for disproportionate automatic loss, including the double-fee problem faced by former nationals. https://ind.nl/nl/documenten/04-2025/onderzoeksrapport-invoeringstoets-evenredigheidstoets-bij-automatisch-verlies-nederlanderschap.pdf
• Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State, 20 June 2018, ECLI:NL:RVS:2018:2056 — refusal of an option confirmation on public-order grounds.