Family co-naturalization (children)

When an adult naturalises, a minor child can be taken along in the same decision. This is medeverlening (co-naturalisation): the child is named in the parent's naturalisation request and, if the parent is granted Dutch nationality by Royal Decree, the child acquires it in that same decree rather than through a separate application. There is a companion mechanism, na-naturalisatie, for a child added after the parent's own naturalisation has already completed.

Co-naturalisation is cheap relative to the parent's own case, and it removes most of the documentary burden the parent carries — in particular the requirement to produce a valid foreign travel document for the child. It is also fragile in one specific way: it is entirely derivative. If the parent's request fails, the child's fails with it; and if the parent does not appear at the ceremony, the child's extract is not handed over either, even if the child is standing in the room.

All amounts and rules below are stated as of 2026-07-25. The Rijkswet text has been in force unamended since 2023-10-01, and the 2026 fee schedule took effect on 2026-01-01.

The core condition is derivation. The child must be a minor and must be named in the parent's naturalisation request; the grant then rides on the parent's grant. Article 11 of the Rijkswet is the governing provision: co-naturalisation with a parent under paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 7, addition of a child after the parent's own naturalisation has already completed under paragraph 4, and an adult child applying independently under paragraph 5.

What the evidence does not settle. The detailed conditions in article 11 - including exactly how the household link and parental authority must be configured - are not established by the sources relied on here, so they are not stated. Confirm them with the receiving authority before filing.

Two thresholds inside minority. A child aged 16 or over signs the declaration of residence and conduct in their own name and must personally make the verklaring van verbondenheid at the ceremony, orally, in Dutch, in fixed statutory wording. Children under 16 do neither.

The documentary relief is the practical attraction. Since 26 October 2015 a minor born in the Netherlands or elsewhere in the Kingdom need not produce a valid foreign travel document when naturalising at the same time as a parent, provided the parent holds a valid foreign passport and a legalised or apostilled birth certificate. The same applies to a minor born in a country to which the Apostille Convention applies. The relief covers co-naturalisation and later addition, but not an adult child applying independently.

Cost. The 2026 co-naturalisation tariff per child, in force since 1 January 2026: EUR 168 in the European Netherlands, Afl. 349 in Aruba, Cg 350 in Curacao and Sint Maarten, USD 196 in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba.

Where it fails. If the parent's request is refused, the child's co-naturalisation is refused with it. If the parent does not appear at the ceremony, the extracts for the children are not handed over either, even where the children are present. Nationality vests for each named person at the moment their own extract is handed to them, and then backdates to the date the decree bears.

All statements as of 2026-07-25; the Rijkswet text has been in force unamended since 2023-10-01.

The child's own file is short, and that is the main attraction of this route.

Core items. The child's birth certificate; for an adopted child, the adoption deed or judgment; and, where the claim runs through recognition or legitimation, proof of that.

The travel-document relief. Since 2015-10-26, a minor born in the Netherlands or elsewhere in the Kingdom does not have to produce a valid foreign travel document when naturalising at the same time as the parent, provided the parent holds a valid foreign passport and a legalised or apostilled birth certificate. The same relief applies to a minor born in a country to which the Apostille Convention applies. It covers co-naturalisation and na-naturalisatie — but it does not cover an adult child applying independently, who must produce their own documents in full.

Legalisation and translation. Foreign documents must in principle be legalised or carry an apostille, at the applicant's cost. Translation by a sworn translator (beëdigd vertaler), preferably into Dutch and physically attached to the original or certified copy, is required where the document is in a language other than Dutch, English, German or French; in the BES islands the accepted set is narrower, Dutch or English only. Documents already legalised and processed into the Dutch population register or a Dutch civil-status deed need not be produced again unless there is well-founded doubt.

Character documents. A child aged 16 or over signs the declaration of residence and conduct (model 2.3) in their own name. There is no Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag in this procedure — that document plays no part in Dutch naturalisation. The instruments are the signed declaration, a judicial-records extract obtained by the IND, and a police-systems check.

One live caution as of 2026-07-25: the policy manual instructs officials to apply "the legalisation circulaire currently in force", but the most recent one located was withdrawn with effect from 2024-01-01 and no successor could be identified.

The child is named in the parent's naturalisation request when it is lodged, and follows the parent's file from that point. The sequence below is as of 2026-07-25.

1. Filing. The parent files in person with the burgemeester (European Netherlands), the Minister through the IND unit Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba), the Governor of the country concerned (Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten), or the Dutch diplomatic or consular post in whose district the family has its main residence (abroad). The child is listed in the request, and the co-naturalisation fee for each child is paid at the same time as the parent's own fee.
2. Completing the file. If documents are missing at filing, the burgemeester gives the applicant six weeks from the date of filing to supply them. The statutory one-year decision period does not begin until all documents necessary for assessment have been received.
3. Investigation and advice. The receiving authority cross-checks the population register, investigates residence status and the other conditions, and advises the Minister. In Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten the Governor's advice travels to the Minister through that country's own Minister of Justice, who adds a second advice. In the BES islands there is no local intermediary at all.
4. Decision. If the request is granted, the King signs a Royal Decree on the Minister's proposal. A separate extract of that decree is produced for each named person, including each child.
5. Ceremony and vesting. The extracts are handed over at the ceremony. Nationality vests for each named person at the moment their own extract is handed to them, and then backdates to the date the decree bears.

A child who has reached 16 signs the declaration of residence and conduct personally, and must personally make the verklaring van verbondenheid (declaration of solidarity) at the ceremony — orally, in Dutch, in fixed statutory wording. Children under 16 do neither.

The decision period is the parent's, not the child's. The Minister decides within one year, running from the latest of: payment of the fee, the decision fully waiving payment, or receipt of the requested supplementary documents. The decision may be held (aangehouden) at most twice by six months, so two years is the absolute statutory ceiling (Rijkswet article 9(4), in force since 2023-10-01). The period does not end when the IND decides — it ends when the applicant takes receipt of the notification, in principle at the ceremony.

What actually happened, most recently measured. For cases completed in 2024 the mean applicant-experienced time from filing at the municipality to the ceremony was 182 days, down from 344 days in 2018. Within that: municipal stage 13 days, IND stage on granted cases 95 days, and the Kabinet van de Koning 18 days to turn the proposal into a signed Royal Decree (IND, Monitor Naturalisatie en Optie 2018-2024, June 2025). These are means for the year of completion, not service promises.

Where you file changes the answer. Over 2018-2024, the share of granted requests reaching a ceremony within a year of filing was 82% in the European Netherlands (which accounts for 98% of all requests), 77% at consular posts, 67% in Sint Maarten, 49% in Curaçao, 44% in the BES islands and 42% in Aruba. Do not generalise the European figure.

After the decree. The applicant must be summoned within six weeks of the date the decree bears, and the handover must take place within six weeks of the summons being sent — extendable by a reasonable period for special circumstances. The decree lapses by operation of law if the extract has not been made known within one year of the date it bears.

The child is charged a separate and much smaller fee than the parent. The 2026 co-naturalisation tariff, per child, in force since 2026-01-01:

• European Netherlands: EUR 168
• Aruba: Afl. 349
• Curaçao and Sint Maarten: Cg 350 (Caribbean guilder, XCG)
• Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba: USD 196

(WBN 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31825 for the European Netherlands; WBN-A 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31841 for Aruba; WBN-CM 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31847 for Curaçao and Sint Maarten; WBN-BES 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31842 for the BES islands.)

For comparison, the parent's own 2026 tariff in the European Netherlands is EUR 1,139 for a single applicant and EUR 1,454 for two filing jointly, with a reduced tariff of EUR 847 single and EUR 1,163 joint for stateless applicants and holders of an asylum residence permit.

Three practical points. The whole amount is payable in one instalment, to the same authority that received the request. If it is not paid within six weeks of receipt of the request, the request is set aside without being handled — which would take the child down with it. And do not convert between the currency columns above: each is a legally fixed amount in its own currency, produced by a separate annual conversion step rather than a live exchange rate. The 2026 uplift was 4.4% in euro but 13.9% in Aruba and the BES islands and 13.8% in Curaçao and Sint Maarten, purely because of exchange-rate movement.

Do not quote the amounts printed in the consolidated fee decree on wetten.overheid.nl: that text still carries 2011 base figures and is far below what is actually payable.

Co-naturalisation of a minor rests on article 11 of the Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap, in force since 1 October 2023 and unamended since: paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 7 for a child taken along in a parent's request, paragraph 4 for a child added after the parent's own naturalisation has completed, and paragraph 5 for an adult child applying independently. The detailed conditions inside article 11 are not established by this evidence base and are not stated. The grant is made for parent and child alike by Royal Decree under article 7(1); article 14 is withdrawal, never the authority for a grant. The decision period is article 9(4) - one year, twice extendable by six months - and the fixed wording of the declaration of solidarity a child aged 16 or over must make personally is set by article 23(2). Vesting on handover of the extract and its backdating to the decree's date are governed by the Besluit verkrijging en verlies Nederlanderschap (in force 1 March 2017); the travel-document relief for co-naturalising minors, in effect since 26 October 2015, is policy under the binding Handleiding Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap 2003 (in force 1 July 2026). Fees are set by the Besluit optie- en naturalisatiegelden 2002 and indexed each 1 January under its article 9; the 2026 amounts come from the tariff instruments of 15 September 2025 (for the European Netherlands, Stcrt. 2025, 31825), in force 1 January 2026 - not from the decree's consolidated text, which still prints 2011 figures.

A child has no decision-maker of their own; they ride on the parent's file, which has two tiers. The body you deal with is local and does not decide: the burgemeester in the European Netherlands, the Cabinet of the Governor in Aruba, Curacao or Sint Maarten, the Minister through the immigration service's Caribbean Netherlands unit in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, or a Dutch consular post abroad. In the three Caribbean countries the Governor's advice passes on through that country's own Minister of Justice, who adds a second advice; the Caribbean Netherlands has no intermediary.

The decision belongs to the Crown: a grant is made by Royal Decree on the Minister's proposal, and each named child receives a separate personal extract. A refusal, or a decision to hold, is the Minister's.

A refusal is met by objection to the Minister within six weeks at no cost, then appeal to the rechtbank and on to the Council of State's Administrative Jurisdiction Division, at 2026 fees for an individual of 200 and 297 euro. The Caribbean constituencies apply their own procedural law, before the Gerecht in eerste aanleg and the Gemeenschappelijk Hof. Position as at 25 July 2026.

There is no separate remedy for the child. Because co-naturalisation is decided inside the parent's request, a refusal is challenged through the parent's objection and appeal.

European Netherlands. Objection (bezwaar) to the IND within 6 weeks of notification, free of charge, with a right to be heard; the IND decides within 6 weeks and may extend once by 6 weeks. The review is a full reconsideration, not a legality check. Then appeal (beroep) to the rechtbank within 6 weeks, court fee EUR 200 for a natural person in 2026, payable within 4 weeks of the registry's notice. Then further appeal (hoger beroep) to the Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State within 6 weeks, court fee EUR 297 (Algemene wet bestuursrecht articles 6:7, 7:10, 8:41 and 8:109; 2026 amounts set by Stcrt. 2025, 39855, in force 2026-01-01).

A decision to hold the request rather than refuse it is itself a decision taken by the Minister and is open to challenge — a point obscured when it is described merely as an "extension".

Standard of review. On the domestic refusal grounds the court reviews with restraint: the assessment belongs primarily to the Secretary of State, and departing from the published policy calls for very great reserve, though departure is required where only that produces a correct application of the law (Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak, 2018-06-20, ECLI:NL:RVS:2018:2056).

Elsewhere in the Kingdom. Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten apply their own Landsverordening administratieve rechtspraak, and the BES islands the Wet administratieve rechtspraak BES. Deadlines are also 6 weeks; the courts, fees and currencies differ (Curaçao and Sint Maarten NAf 150 then NAf 300; Aruba AWG 25 then AWG 75; BES USD 84 at first instance).

Not appealable at all. If the Royal Decree lapses because the extract was not handed over within a year of its date, that lapse occurs by operation of law and no objection or appeal lies against it. Nor is a non-handover at a ceremony itself an administrative decision.

The child cannot outrun the parent. If the parent's request is refused, the child's co-naturalisation is refused with it.

The parent's absence at the ceremony blocks the children. If the principal applicant does not appear, the extracts for co-naturalising minors are not handed over either, even where the children are present. Practice allows a second summons and, if necessary, a third by registered post.

The one-year lapse is absolute — with two carve-outs. The decree lapses by operation of law if the extract has not been made known within one year of the date it bears; the person is then simply not Dutch and must begin again with a fresh request. The year is suspended while an objection or appeal is running about the manner in which the declaration is to be made or the decision made known. And where the municipality failed to send three invitations inside the year, the decree is deemed to have been handed over in time and the person is Dutch.

Turning 18 between decree and ceremony does not hurt. Because the decree backdates to its own date, a person registered as a minor who becomes an adult in the interval is not retested against the conditions. For the same reason, conduct in that interval that would otherwise offend public order does not reopen the decision. And a person who dies on or after the date of the decree still becomes Dutch once the decree is handed over or made known to an interested party.

Immigration duties continue until handover. Until the extract is handed over the child is not yet Dutch and ordinary residence obligations still apply. Failing them does not, however, affect the handover itself.

Do not confuse the anchor dates. Public guidance describes the year to attend as running from the positive decision. The document that starts the statutory clock is the Royal Decree, signed later than the IND's grant — around 18 days later on 2024 figures. Anchor the year to the date of the decree.

Refusing to make the declaration of solidarity has the same effect as not attending, and it is not an appealable decision: no handover, no nationality, and the decree lapses at the end of the year.

All statements as of 2026-07-25.

• Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap (BWBR0003738): article 7(1) (naturalisation granted by Royal Decree on the Minister's proposal) and 7(2) (advice by the Minister of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao or Sint Maarten); article 9(4) (one-year decision period, twice six months' holding); article 9(5) (refusal and holding decisions taken by the Minister); article 11 (co-naturalisation of minors); article 23(2) (fixed wording of the declaration of solidarity). Consolidated text in force from 2023-10-01, unamended since. https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0003738/2023-10-01
• Besluit verkrijging en verlies Nederlanderschap (BWBR0013605): articles 2 and 33 to 54 (receiving authorities and the naturalisation sequence per constituency); articles 60b(1), (2), (3), (7), (10) and (11) (vesting on handover, backdating, six-week summons, six-week handover, escalation of summonses, one-year lapse). In force from 2017-03-01. https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0013605
• Handleiding Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap 2003 (BWBW33099): commentary on article 7 (documents, travel-document relief for minors from 2015-10-26, legalisation and translation), on article 9 (declaration of residence and conduct model 2.3, judicial-records and police checks), and §§2.3.13 and 12.2 (start and end of the decision period, retroactivity, lapse and its carve-outs). In force from 2026-07-01. https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBW33099
• 2026 fee schedule: WBN 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31825; WBN-A 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31841; WBN-CM 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31847; WBN-BES 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31842 — all in force 2026-01-01. Underlying decree: Besluit optie- en naturalisatiegelden 2002 (BWBR0013782), articles 5, 6 and 9. https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/stcrt-2025-31825.html
• IND, Monitor Naturalisatie en Optie 2018-2024, final report, June 2025 (processing times, per-constituency shares). https://ind.nl/nl/documenten/07-2025/monitor-naturalisatie-en-optie-2018-2024.pdf
• Algemene wet bestuursrecht (BWBR0005537) and Stcrt. 2025, 39855 (objection and appeal periods; 2026 court fees).

All statements as of 2026-07-25.