How to Get Netherlands Citizenship by Marriage

Netherlands citizenship by marriage is available after three years of marriage and cohabitation with a Dutch national, and it comes with two advantages the standard route does not: the five-year residency requirement is waived entirely, and you are not required to give up your original nationality. You still have to pass the civic integration exam, clear a criminal-record check, and attend a naturalization ceremony, but the timeline is shorter and the dual-passport question is settled in your favor from the start.

Who Qualifies

The rule sits in Article 8, Paragraph 2 of the Netherlands Nationality Act: the five-year residency requirement does not apply to someone who has been married to a Dutch national and living with that person for at least three years.¹ The three-year clock starts on the date your marriage or registered partnership became official, and you must have been cohabiting the whole time. A formal separation or divorce resets it.

Registered partnerships are treated the same as marriages. If you lived together in the Kingdom of the Netherlands right before the marriage or partnership was registered, that pre-marriage cohabitation counts toward the three years.² Your partner has to hold Dutch nationality when you apply, but they do not need to have held it for the full three years.

Unmarried couples fall under a different rule. Article 8, Paragraph 4 sets a three-year residency requirement for someone in a continuous cohabiting relationship with a Dutch national.¹ Married and registered spouses get residency waived; unmarried cohabiting partners get it cut from five years to three. Both need a valid residence permit throughout.

One point that surprises people: you and your partner must stay married and living together for the entire time the IND is reviewing the file, not only on the day you apply. If the relationship ends during processing, the application fails. The only exception is if the Dutch partner dies during the procedure, in which case naturalization can still go forward.²

Applying From Abroad

You do not need to live in the Netherlands. Spouses living anywhere in the world with their Dutch partner can apply once they have been married and cohabiting for three years.² No Dutch residence permit is required in this situation, though you have to meet the same standards you would need to qualify for a non-temporary residence permit.

Applications from abroad go through a Dutch embassy or consulate rather than a municipality. The fee is €1,139 per adult, and the integration exam and good-conduct requirements still apply.³

Keeping Your Original Passport

This is the piece of the spousal route that matters most for many applicants. Dutch law normally requires new citizens to renounce their existing nationality. Article 9, Paragraph 1 of the Netherlands Nationality Act says an application must be refused if the applicant has not made every effort to give up their foreign citizenship. But Article 9, Paragraph 3 exempts anyone married to a Dutch national from that renunciation requirement.¹

You can hold both passports at once. You do not have to show that renunciation would be a hardship or impossible; the marital exemption applies automatically once your marriage or registered partnership is confirmed, and the IND handles it inside the review without any extra step from you.

The exemption only binds the Dutch side. Your country of origin may have its own rules, and some countries strip citizenship automatically when a national naturalizes elsewhere. Check with your own country’s embassy before assuming you can keep both.

The Civic Integration Exam

Every applicant has to pass the civic integration exam (inburgeringsexamen) before applying. The IND will not accept an application without proof you have passed. The standard for naturalization is A2 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, meaning you can handle basic conversations and communicate about everyday tasks in Dutch.⁴

The exam covers reading, listening, speaking, and writing in Dutch, plus a Knowledge of Dutch Society (KNM) section on Dutch customs, government, and law.⁵ The exam center will tell you which version applies to you.

Exemptions

Several grounds can exempt you from all or part of the exam:

You are under 18 or have reached statutory pensionable age.
You can document a medical reason you cannot sit the exam.
You attended school in the Netherlands for eight or more years during your school-age years.
You hold Belgian or Luxembourg nationality.
You already hold a civic integration diploma or the integration certificate under the 2021 Act.
Under the 2013 Act, DUO has issued a recommendation confirming you cannot pass despite genuine effort.

Partial exemptions exist for applicants who can complete some components but not others.⁶ If you think you qualify, gather supporting documentation before your municipal appointment; missing exemption paperwork is one of the more common reasons applications stall.

Criminal Record Thresholds

The IND runs its own criminal-record check as part of the review, so you do not need to produce a separate certificate of conduct. The standard is that you must not pose a danger to public order or national security, and the disqualifying thresholds are specific.

You are disqualified if, within the five years before your application or between the application and the final decision, you received any of the following:

Any prison sentence or hospital order (TBS).
Community service of 36 hours or more.
A fine or penalty order of €900 or more.
Multiple smaller penalties that combined cross the threshold, for example multiple fines of €450 or more totaling €1,350 or more.

If you have a qualifying conviction, you have to complete a five-year rehabilitation period before applying. The clock starts after you finish serving the sentence or pay the fine in full. For conditional sentences with a probationary period, the five years start the day the sentence becomes final, provided you had no further contact with the justice system during probation.⁷

Documents You Will Need

The exact list varies by situation, but the core requirements are:

Your current foreign passport.
Your birth certificate, often with an apostille or legalization stamp from the issuing country and a sworn translation into Dutch or English.
Your marriage or registered partnership certificate.
Proof of your partner’s Dutch nationality: a valid Dutch passport or national identity card.
Your civic integration diploma, or documentation of an exemption.

Every personal detail must match what appears in the Personal Records Database (BRP), the national registration system maintained by your municipality. A misspelled name or a different date of birth between the BRP and your submitted documents will delay processing. Before your appointment, visit your municipality to confirm your BRP is accurate. Dates in your biographical and relationship history need to line up exactly with the certificates you submit.

Fees, Submission, and Timeline

As of January 1, 2026, the naturalization fee is €847 per person for individual applications submitted at a Dutch municipality. Couples applying jointly pay €1,163 for both partners combined. Applications submitted abroad through an embassy or consulate cost €1,139 per adult.³ These amounts are adjusted periodically, so confirm the current figure when you schedule.

The process starts at your local municipality office (Gemeente). A municipal official reviews your file, collects the fee, and forwards everything to the IND. You will receive a written acknowledgment by post stating the deadline by which the IND must decide. The statutory decision period is 12 months, running from the date you pay the fee.⁴

If the IND approves the application, the decision goes to the King of the Netherlands, who signs a Royal Decree officially granting Dutch nationality.⁴ Twelve months is a long stretch, but the review covers your criminal history, integration status, and the legitimacy of the relationship, and most spousal files with clean documentation move through without problems.

The Ceremony

The Royal Decree is not the finish. You only become Dutch when you attend the naturalization ceremony and make the Declaration of Solidarity (verklaring van verbondenheid). Skip it and the naturalization does not take effect.⁴

Your municipality invites you to the ceremony after the Royal Decree is signed. You choose between a religious version (“I swear… So help me God”) and a secular version that uses “declare” and “promise” and ends “This I declare and affirm.”⁸ You receive the naturalization decision document at the ceremony. From that moment, you are legally Dutch.

Including Minor Children

You can include children under 18 in your application at the same time you submit your own, a process called co-naturalization.⁴ For children between 12 and 15, the IND considers the opinions of both the child and the other parent. If either objects, the IND weighs the child’s best interests and decides; if both the child and the other parent object, co-naturalization will not proceed.⁹ Children 16 and older who co-naturalize must attend the ceremony and make their own Declaration of Solidarity.

If Your Application Is Denied

A denial can be challenged. You file a formal objection (bezwaarschrift) against the IND’s decision. Your letter must include your name and address, the date, which decision you are objecting to, your reasons, and your signature, along with a copy of the original IND decision, sent to the postal address listed in that decision.¹⁰

The filing deadline is stated in the denial letter, and it is strict. The IND will check that your file is complete, request any missing documents, and reassess. If it declares your objection unfounded, you can appeal to an administrative court.¹⁰ For complex cases, particularly those involving criminal-record thresholds or questions about the authenticity of the relationship, bringing in an immigration lawyer before the objection stage is worth the cost.

1
Government of the Netherlands. Netherlands Nationality Act
2
Immigration and Naturalisation Service. Exceptions to the 5-Year Term for Naturalisation in the Netherlands
3
NetherlandsWorldwide. How Much Does It Cost to Become a Dutch Citizen Abroad
4
Immigration and Naturalisation Service. Becoming a Dutch National Through Naturalisation
5
DUO Inburgeren. Taking the Integration Exam
6
Immigration and Naturalisation Service. Civic Integration for More Secure Residence Permit and Naturalisation
7
Immigration and Naturalisation Service. Public Order Policy Naturalisation and Option
8
Government of the Netherlands. What Happens at a Naturalisation Ceremony in the Netherlands
9
NetherlandsWorldwide. Can My Child Become a Naturalised Dutch Citizen Abroad
10
Immigration and Naturalisation Service. Object or Appeal Decision