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Background

I'm a Dutch citizen, although I'm also South African (by descent - this was organised before my 18th birthday so I did not forfeit the right to either citizenship). I hold current, valid passports for both countries, and I have always answered honestly towards both bureaucracies that I hold both citizenships (they ask whenever I have applied for new passports, but this has never been an issue).

Why would I want a "dual-citizenship certificate"?

Today, I am applying for a South African passport renewal, and as part of the application they're requesting a "dual citizenship certificate". I'm presuming that means a document from the Netherlands stating that I am allowed to have both citizenships. However, no such certificate appears to exist (I have attempted to search online, embassies' sites, forums, ...). The Dutch have issued me a citizenship certificate, which just says "as of today, you're indeed a Dutch citizen". However, it does not mention whether they're aware of any other citizenships. (for what it's worth I've repeatedly tried phoning the SA consulate and they haven't picked up the phone)

Does anyone have experience dealing with the South African DHS and what documents to provide alongside a passport renewal to move things along? Perhaps some proof from the Dutch as to when and how I obtained Dutch citizenship (e.g. through birth, descent, naturalisation, ... since that affects whether I would have automatically lost my SA citizenship at that time)? I haven't been able to discover such a form or certificate from the Dutch either.

References

The SAHC website https://www.sahc.org.au/passports.htm mentions:

  1. A certified copy of your foreign citizenship certificate and your dual citizenship certificate, if applicable.
HerbSlump
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  • Just saying: This is strange. Countries mostly care whether you have their citizenship or not, everything else is none of their business. The only exception that I heard of is that a UK citizenship cannot be taken away from you if that would make you stateless. I suspect the Dutch government has never heard of a "dual-citizenship certificate". And the South African government shouldn't care if the Dutch government doesn't allow you to have dual citizenship, it's not their problem. – gnasher729 Aug 05 '23 at 14:52
  • I just looked at the US' embassy FAQs on passport applications and they mention that one form just wants you to state yes or no on whether you have other citizenship. Can you add the website that requests it? – mkennedy Aug 06 '23 at 15:37
  • The reason they'd be wanting to know about other citizenships (I imagine) is because the SA citizenship law states that if you acquire a new citizenship after the age of 18, you lose your SA citizenship – unless you got prior approval. Unfortunately, the Dutch don't seem to be able to provide proof of when I naturalized, which is, I imagine, what the SA people care about.

    the South African government shouldn't care if the Dutch government doesn't allow you to have dual citizenship, it's not their problem

    I agree @gnasher729, but this might be "I don't make the rules" situation :).

     – HerbSlump Aug 09 '23 at 03:14
  • "the Dutch don't seem to be able to provide proof of when I naturalized": if there is no naturalization certificate then you must have acquired your Dutch nationality through some means other than naturalization. How did you acquire it? – phoog Aug 09 '23 at 06:42
  • @gnasher729 "UK citizenship cannot be taken away from you if that would make you stateless": that is true in general of countries that have ratified the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. But the South African government is certainly able to create a law allowing dual citizens to retain South African nationality only if the other country allows it. It's not a common provision in nationality law, but there's nothing inherently wrong with it. – phoog Aug 09 '23 at 06:48
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    "I'm presuming that means a document from the Netherlands stating that I am allowed to have both citizenships." I would have presumed that it is the document of South Africa allowing you to hold two citizenships, especially given the text following the cited requirement (which also includes "if applicable") indicating this is to prove the legality of your South African citizenship, not your Dutch one. – xngtng Aug 09 '23 at 11:10
  • "In cases of those applicants who acquired foreign citizenship through any of their parents, a certified copy of your own full birth certificate showing the birth places of your parent(s). Under circumstances where even the parents acquired such citizenship through descent, a letter from the relevant authorities of the country concerned will suffice." – xngtng Aug 09 '23 at 11:11
  • @xngtng "I would have presumed that it is the document of South Africa allowing you to hold two citizenships" ah, yes, good catch. – phoog Aug 09 '23 at 16:34
  • @xngtng interesting – I would not have thought of that, maybe that's it. – HerbSlump Aug 11 '23 at 01:04

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