Netherlands resetting time period for naturalisation

[jerseyb1]

I applied for Dutch naturalization at the embassy in London in Dec 2016, before the threatened law changes were supposed to come into effect. At that time, the timescale for a decision to be made was 12 months, as all documents had been provided to them. I received a letter early in March 2017 to confirm that my application had been sent on to the IND.

However, in late October 2017 I received a letter stating that they are now looking at my case, and that as my police clearance certificate is now older than 6 months, they cannot proceed with my application until they have received a new one. They then also reset the 12 months they have to finalize my application to be 12 months from the date that they receive the new police clearance certificate.

Are they allowed to do this in terms of EU law? It's not my fault they took 10 months to look at my application, that is very much on them. If not, is there a way for me to force them to speed up the process? I was going to wait until I had a response, (don't antagonize the people you want to give you something), and complain after I had the confirmation of acceptance, but am wondering if there is a way that I can progress it faster.

[CR001]

Citizenship laws are independent and separate to EU rules/laws. You are not applying for 'EU Citizenship'. Each EU country has its own nationality rules and laws.