My home country claims I am a dual national of another country, the country in question does not. Problem?

My home country, Netherlands, claims I am a dual national of Netherlands and Belgium. This information could be found in the GBA (residents archive) before they removed other nationalities of Dutch dual nationals. It also showed up during my university application and request for student financial aid.

Belgium on the other hand claims I am only a Dutch citizen. My grandmother is born in Belgium and my father definitely has dual nationality. He claims I have it too. I emailed the Belgian embassy in the Netherlands about this. They say my birth hasn't been reported to them before I was 5 years old, so I am not a Belgian citizen.

Can this create any problems during travel? For example during visa applications?

I suppose this would automatically resolve itself in 5 years, when I turn 28, and I would automatically lose any presumed Belgian citizenship, but I would rather not run into any trouble before that time.

Best Answer

I would be very pressed having to think up a situation where this could cause problems. Belgium and the Netherlands are both members of the EU and the Schengen area so the assumption seems valid that for most countries out there visa requirements would be very similar to identical.

A significant number of countries do not recognise dual citizenship at all. If they do not recognise it, they will not assume it and have no reason to doubt your statement (‘I am a Dutch citizen’) on their visa application to be incorrect or anything.

Those that do recognise it probably also know that the number of non-dual citizens greatly exceeds that of dual citizens, so they also have no reason to assume you hid a second citizenship from them.

Another relevant point is that most countries have a neutral or friendly view of Belgium and the Netherlands. While you could run into problems in some parts of the world if the country you’re applying at assumes you to be a dual citizen of Israel or Syria I don’t really see that happening for Belgium and the Netherlands. (Maybe in the Democratic Republic of Kongo due to its Belgian history, though.) As such, most countries wouldn’t even bother to ask if anybody considers you their citizen.

Finally, I think it is more the exception than the rule for a country to cross-check with the passport-issuing country whether the visa applicant has a dual nationality or not — most notably because most countries that do allow their citizens to be dual citizens of another country don’t even care whether that citizen has a second nationality and don’t keep such records. The case in point being the entry removed in Dutch registry archives as you mentioned.

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Can any other country claim you as a dual national?

Each country has its own nationality laws based on its own policy. Persons may have dual nationality by automatic operation of different laws rather than by choice. For example, a child born in a foreign country to U.S. national parents may be both a U.S. national and a national of the country of birth.

Is dual nationality the same as dual citizenship?

Dual citizenship \u2014 or dual nationality \u2014 means being a citizen of two countries simultaneously and sharing the rights and responsibilities of the citizens in each country.

Where is dual nationality not allowed?

Countries that do not allow dual citizenshipAfghanistanEl SalvadorLithuaniaAustriaGeorgiaMontenegroAzerbaijanIndiaNetherlands*BahrainIndonesiaNepalChinaJapanPoland2 more rows

Does dual nationality mean 2 passports?

A person with dual citizenship is a citizen of two countries at the same time, which has both advantages and disadvantages because it is a complex legal status. One benefit of dual citizenship that is often cited is the ability of an individual to possess two passports.

News@10 | 09/07/2022

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