Post
by Traveler33 » Thu Feb 24, 2011 5:11 pm
Don't know about Dutch citizenship but know about two other European countries.
The law states how you gain citizenship (for example, being born to one citizen parent, or maybe both need to be citizens) and how you lose it (such as naturalization in another country, military service in another country etc.) There are subtleties to this, sometimes you lose it by voluntarily joining a foreign army but not if you are forced into service (drafted.)
Moreover, in many countries there have been new laws over the years, and the law that matters is not necessarily current law but what the law was at the time that the birth, naturalization, etc. occurred.
Sometimes it's possible to reclaim citizenship if you've lost it.
You can start out looking at the Dutch consulate website in major world cities (London, New York, etc. as well as in South Africa) but it is likely that it will only briefly discuss current law.
Also the Dutch govt. probably has some info on the web, possibly previous laws regarding citizenship. Don't know whether you know the Dutch language, but Google translate will give you a rough idea of what the web pages say and if you find anything that may be ofinterest you can get someone to translate just that part for you.
Also I would assume that due to current conditionsthere might be quite a few other South Africans exploring their Dutch citizenship options, and you might find a board dealing with South Africa in general whcih might include some discussion of Dutch citizenship.
Under what basis was your father able to return to Holland? Was he still a Dutch citizen when you were born? These are all things that might help you get an answer.
