Naturalized Dutch citizens could lose their Dutch citizenship

PHILIPSBURG — Naturalized persons on the island may lose their Dutch nationality if they have not relinquished their former nationality. According to the politicians in the Netherlands persons who are naturalized as Dutch citizens should relinquish their former nationality since they are not allowed to have dual citizenship.

Speaking to a source, they indicated that this policy has always been there but not enforced. However, recently following discussions in the Dutch Second Chamber it was decided to enforce this policy because a Dutch national should have allegiance to only one country.

However speaking to a Dutch/Jamaican, she said that she had acquired the Dutch nationality about 15 years ago and received a letter from the Cabinet of the Governor which stated that she should come in to hand over her passport because she still held the Jamaican Nationality. She is arguing that she had denounced her Jamaican nationality so many years ago and as a result she cannot find the document now.

There is also a Dutch/Guyanese national who received her Dutch passport along with her deceased husband since 2004 and they were asked also through a letter from the Cabinet of the Governor to relinquish their Dutch passports because they did not relinquished their Guyanese Nationality. However, the woman is contending that she and her husband had gone to Guyana after they acquired the Dutch Nationality and surrendered their passports to the Ministry of Home Affairs in Guyana.

She mentioned that at that time they received a letter that indicated that they were no longer Guyanese citizens. Following the hurricanes of 2017 she lost her home and all the documents were wet which resulted in her losing more of them. She has contacted an attorney to get this matter resolved but more than two weeks has passed and she has received no positive response from him.

She now plans to meet with the Honorable Consul to Guyana to seek help to get the matter resolved.

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