התאזרחות בצו מלכותי (סעיף 10) - חריג

Dutch nationality is normally granted only to people who satisfy the ordinary naturalisation conditions in the Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap (RWN, the Kingdom Nationality Act). Article 10 RWN is the exceptional-cases provision: it allows nationality to be granted outside those ordinary conditions, in a small number of individual cases. Like every naturalisation, the grant takes the form of a Koninklijk Besluit (Royal Decree) signed by the King on the proposal of the Minister of Justice and Security (RWN art 7(1)). The RWN consolidated text has been in force since 1 October 2023 and carried no amendments in force as at 25 July 2026.

Two features define this pathway in practice. First, the room for judgement belongs primarily to the State Secretary for Justice and Security, and the administrative courts review its exercise only at a distance (Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State, 20 June 2018, ECLI:NL:RVS:2018:2056). Second, the fee decree recognises the category expressly by allowing payment to be waived where nationality is granted on grounds of state interest or merit to the state (Besluit optie- en naturalisatiegelden 2002, art 4(2)(c)).

This is not a pathway an ordinary applicant selects instead of the standard route. The number of such decrees issued per year, and the precise conditions Article 10 can displace, are not established in the sources behind this page.

אף אחד לא זכאי למסלול זה על ידי עמידה ברשימת בדיקה. סעיף 10 של ה-Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap - בתוקף בצורתו המאוחדת הנוכחית מאז 1 באוקטובר 2023, ללא תיקון בתוקף ב-25 ביולי 2026 - הוא הוראת המקרים החריגים, המאפשרת הענקת אזרחות במקרה פרטני מחוץ לתנאי ההתאזרחות הרגילים. המענק עדיין מקבל את הצורה הרגילה: צו מלכותי חתום על ידי המלך על פי הצעת שר המשפטים והביטחון (סעיף 7(1)). הלאום שהוא מקנה תקף בכל הממלכה.

מקום השיפוט שייך בעיקר לשר המשפטים והביטחון. מועצת המדינה קבעה ביום 20.6.2018 כי בתי המשפט בוחנים את הפעלתו רק באיפוק, וכי חריגה ממדיניות ההתאזרחות שפורסמה מחייבת איפוק רב מאוד – תוך קבעה כי נדרשת הסתלקות כאשר רק הדבר מייצר יישום נכון של החוק. האם הניסוח הזה של 2018 עדיין עומד ללא שינוי לאחר המעבר המאוחר לבדיקת מידתיות בעצימות מדורגת לא נקבע כאן.

העובדה שהקטגוריה אמיתית בפועל מאושרת בצו האגרה, המאפשר לשר לוותר על תשלום כאשר אזרחות ניתנת מטעמי אינטרס או זכות למדינה (Besluit optie- en naturalisatiegelden 2002, סעיף 4(2)(ג)). הוויתור הוא על פי שיקול דעתו ונדחה כאשר המצב הנשען נגרם כתוצאה ממרמה או חוסר זהירות של המבקש עצמו (סעיף 4(4)).

מספר נקודות אינן מבוססות בראיות שמאחורי דף זה ואינן נטען כאן: נוסח סעיף 10; איזה מהתנאים הרגילים הוא יכול לעקור - תנאי המגורים של חמש שנים (סעיף 8(1)(ג)), תנאי השפה והשילוב (סעיף 8(1)(ד)), תנאי האופי (סעיף 9(1)(א)) או חובת הוויתור (סעיף 9(1)(ב)); האם כל צעד של מועצת השרים או מועצת המדינה מהווה חלק מהנוהל; וכמה גזירות כאלה יוצאות בשנה.

שני חוקים רגילים עדיין נושכים. אזרחות אינה מתקבלת בעת החתימה על הצו: היא מתקבלת בעת מסירת התמצית האישית, ולאחר מכן מתארכת לאחור לתאריך שבו נושא הצו (Besluit verkrijging en verlies Nederlanderschap, סעיף 60ב(1), בתוקף מאז 1 במרץ 2017; אם התמצית לא נמסרה תוך שנה מאותו מועד הגזירה מתבטלת מכוח דין (סעיף 60ב(11)). וסירוב הוא החלטה מנהלית רגילה, פתוחה להתנגדות ולאחר מכן לבתי המשפט.

A request is lodged in person with the competent authority; a proxy is admitted only for compelling reasons (BVVN art 3(1)-(2)). Which authority that is depends on where the applicant lives: the burgemeester of the municipality of registration in the European Netherlands, the Minister (in practice the IND unit Caribbean Netherlands) for Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, the Governor for Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten, and the Netherlands diplomatic or consular post abroad (BVVN art 2). The receiving authority checks the fee position before taking the file into treatment (BVVN art 4).

Once the Minister decides to propose a grant, the IND generates a draft Royal Decree in its own systems; the Minister of Justice and Security signs the covering letter and submits the draft decree to the King for signature (IND, Uitvoeringstoets voorstel Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap, February 2026). After signature the Minister sends the personal extracts without delay to the authority of the person's place of residence for notification.

Nationality does not vest on the day the decree is signed. It vests when the personal extract is physically handed over, and then backdates to the date the decree itself bears (BVVN art 60b(1)). Where a declaration of solidarity is required, the extract may not be handed over until that declaration has actually been made (BVVN art 60b(3); RWN art 23(2)). Because of the backdating, a new fact arising between the date of the decree and the handover does not reopen the assessment, and a person who reached majority in that window is not retested (Handleiding Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap 2003, in force since 1 July 2026).

The statutory decision period is one year, and it does not run from the date of filing. It starts on the latest of: payment of the fee, the decision granting full waiver of payment, or receipt of the supplementary material requested for the assessment (RWN art 9(4)). The decision may then be held (aangehouden) at most twice by six months, giving an outer limit of two years (RWN art 9(4), second sentence). The statute uses the word aanhouden, not "extension"; a holding decision is itself a decision the Minister takes (RWN art 9(5)).

The period does not end when the file is decided internally. On a positive outcome it ends only when the applicant takes receipt of the notification, in principle at a ceremony (Handleiding Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap 2003, in force since 1 July 2026).

As to real elapsed time, the only stage figure that is specific to the decree itself is the Kabinet van de Koning stage, which averaged 21 days across 2018-2024 and 18 days in 2024 (IND, Monitor Naturalisatie en Optie 2018-2024, June 2025, Table 6). No published processing time exists for exceptional grants as a class.

After the decree, the person must be summoned within six weeks of the date the decree bears, extendable by a reasonable period for special circumstances (BVVN art 60b(2)), and the handover must take place within six weeks of the summons being sent (BVVN art 60b(7)). A hard backstop then applies: if the extract has not been handed over within one year of the date the decree bears, the decree lapses by operation of law and the person has not become Dutch (BVVN art 60b(11)). No objection or appeal lies against that lapse.

Where a fee is charged, it is the ordinary naturalisation tariff for the constituency in which the request is lodged. The 2026 amounts, in force since 1 January 2026, are:

• European Netherlands: EUR 1,139 single, EUR 1,454 joint, EUR 168 per co-naturalising child (WBN 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31825 of 19 September 2025).
• Aruba: Afl. 2,368 single, Afl. 3,023 joint, Afl. 349 per child (WBN-A 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31841).
• Curacao and Sint Maarten: Cg 2,373 single, Cg 3,029 joint, Cg 350 per child (WBN-CM 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31847).
• Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba: USD 1,331 single, USD 1,699 joint, USD 196 per child (WBN-BES 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31842).

These are five separately fixed amounts, not currency conversions of one another; do not convert between them. All are due to be replaced by the next annual indexation on 1 January 2027.

The distinctive point for this pathway is that the fee decree allows the Minister to waive payment where nationality is granted on grounds of state interest or merit to the state (Besluit optie- en naturalisatiegelden 2002, art 4(2)(c)). Waiver is discretionary, and is refused where the situation relied on was caused by the applicant's own fraud or carelessness (art 4(4)). Payment is made in a single instalment (art 5(5)) and must reach the receiving authority within six weeks of the request being received, failing which the request is set aside without being handled (art 6). The period is suspended while a waiver request is pending.

Note that the consolidated fee decree on wetten.overheid.nl still prints 2011 base amounts; those are not payable.

The governing instrument is the Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap, consolidated text in force since 1 October 2023, with no amendment in force as at 25 July 2026. Article 10 RWN is the exceptional-cases provision; Article 7(1) supplies the grant mechanism ("Met inachtneming van de bepalingen van dit Hoofdstuk verlenen Wij op voordracht van Onze Minister het Nederlanderschap aan vreemdelingen die daarom verzoeken"), so every grant, however exceptional, still issues as a Royal Decree on the Minister's proposal. Article 9(4) supplies the decision period; Article 9(5) allows refusal and holding (aanhouding) decisions to be taken by the Minister without a decree.

The handover machinery sits in the Besluit verkrijging en verlies Nederlanderschap (BVVN), in force since 1 March 2017: art 60b(1) (the decree takes effect for a named person on handover of that person's extract and backdates to the date the decree bears), art 60b(2) and 60b(7) (summons and handover windows), art 60b(11) (lapse after one year). Article 23(2) RWN fixes the wording of the declaration of solidarity (verklaring van verbondenheid) where one is required.

Case law: Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State, 20 June 2018, ECLI:NL:RVS:2018:2056, holds that the room for judgement under Articles 9 and 10 RWN belongs primarily to the State Secretary and is reviewed only with restraint.

Not established here: the verbatim text of Article 10, the exact conditions it may set aside, and whether any Council of Ministers or Council of State step forms part of the procedure.

שלושה משרדים נוגעים בתיק הזה, ורק אחד יכול להגיד כן. הבקשה מתקבלת על ידי הרשות של מקום מגוריכם - הבורגר של העירייה שלכם, הקבינט של המושל בארובה, קוראסאו או סנט מרטן, יחידת ה-IND Caribisch Nederland באיי BES, או שגרירות הולנדית או קונסוליה בחו"ל - שחוקרת ומעבירה אותה בייעוץ. ה-IND מעריך את זה. שיקול הדעת שייך לשר, המציע את ההענקה, והמכשיר הוא צו מלכותי חתום על ידי המלך; סירוב אינו זקוק לצו וניתן לנקוט על ידי השר בלבד (Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap, בתוקף ללא שינוי מאז 1 באוקטובר 2023).

מכיוון ששיקול הדעת הוא של השר, בתי המשפט אינם מחליפים את דעתם. כפי שה-Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State ניסחה את התקן בשנת 2018, הביקורת מוגמרת, וסטייה ממדיניות השר נדרשת רק כאשר דבר אחר אינו מייצר יישום נכון של החוק.

סירוב ערער על ידי התנגדות לשר, לאחר מכן ל-rechtbank, ולאחר מכן ל-Afdeling. המדינות הקריביות אינן מיישמות את כללי wet bestuursrecht ומסתיימות ב-Gemeenschappelijk Hof van Justitie.

A refusal is an ordinary administrative decision and follows the standard chain in the European Netherlands. Objection (bezwaar) is lodged with the body that took the decision within six weeks of notification and costs nothing (Algemene wet bestuursrecht arts 6:7, 6:8 and 7:15(1)); the IND states it decides on an objection to a naturalisation refusal within six weeks and may extend that once by six weeks (IND, Beslistermijnen, last updated 6 July 2026). Appeal (beroep) then lies to the rechtbank within six weeks, and further appeal (hoger beroep) to the Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State. The 2026 court fees for a natural person are EUR 200 at the rechtbank and EUR 297 on further appeal (Awb arts 8:41(2)(b) and 8:109(1)(b), as indexed by Stcrt. 2025, 39855 of 24 November 2025, in force 1 January 2026). The court fee must be paid within four weeks of the registrar's notice, failing which the appeal is inadmissible unless the default is excusable or insolvency is proven (Awb art 8:41(5)-(6)).

The standard of review matters more here than the deadlines. The Division has held that the room for judgement under Articles 9 and 10 RWN belongs primarily to the State Secretary, that the court reviews its exercise only with restraint, and that departing from the published naturalisation policy calls for "very great restraint" - while also holding that departure is required where only that produces a correct application of the law (ECLI:NL:RVS:2018:2056, 20 June 2018). Whether that 2018 formulation still stands unchanged after the Division's later move to graded-intensity proportionality review is not established here.

Outside the European Netherlands the Algemene wet bestuursrecht does not apply; Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten use their own Landsverordening administratieve rechtspraak and the Caribbean Netherlands uses the Wet administratieve rechtspraak BES, with different courts, fees and currencies.

• Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap (RWN), consolidated text in force since 1 October 2023, no amendment in force as at 25 July 2026: https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0003738/2023-10-01
• Besluit verkrijging en verlies Nederlanderschap (BVVN), in force since 1 March 2017: https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0013605
• Besluit optie- en naturalisatiegelden 2002, consolidated text in force since 1 January 2011 (rules only; the printed amounts are 2011 base figures and are not payable): https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0013782
• WBN 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31825 of 19 September 2025, in force 1 January 2026 - 2026 fee table, European Netherlands: https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/stcrt-2025-31825.html
• WBN-A 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31841; WBN-CM 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31847; WBN-BES 2025/3, Stcrt. 2025, 31842 - 2026 fee tables for Aruba, for Curacao and Sint Maarten, and for the Caribbean Netherlands, all in force 1 January 2026
• Handleiding Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap 2003 (policy manual), in force since 1 July 2026: https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBW33099
• Algemene wet bestuursrecht, in force since 1 July 2026: https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0005537
• Regeling indexering (court fees), Stcrt. 2025, 39855 of 24 November 2025, in force 1 January 2026: https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/stcrt-2025-39855.html
• Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State, 20 June 2018, ECLI:NL:RVS:2018:2056
• IND, Monitor Naturalisatie en Optie 2018-2024, June 2025
• IND, Uitvoeringstoets voorstel Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap, February 2026 (cited only for the mechanics by which a draft Royal Decree reaches the King)