New rules Dutch passport
I really have to get something of my chest.. The Netherlands has to be the first again with something, like always, and of course, the civilians will be the ones who will have to pay for it. Nobody has these things, the United States don’t even have those things in their passports as we as Dutchies already have (such as a chip), and now this… so typical for the Netherlands again…
It is about the following piece that I read a few days on the website of the Dutch Consulate General in Los Angeles (originally written in Dutch):
Introduction fingerprints and passport application
Starting mid 2009, passport applications will need to be accompanied with fingerprints of the applicant. This will have consequences for the Dutch living and working abroad (non-resident Dutch).
Where to apply for passports?
As non-resident Dutch you can apply for your passport at every embassy, every Consulate General and each Honorary Consulate (HC). In the future, when fingerprints need to be taken and it will no longer be possible to obtain a passport at the HC’s. To improve the service to you at the highest possible level, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to equip fifty HC’s with equipment with which fingerprints can be taken. This will mean the necessary investments in security and communications. In anticipation of the introduction of fingerprints in passports and because of the renewal of the equipment, in the United States of America, starting from June 28, 2009, it will only be possible to apply for a passport at the Embassy in Washington, the Consulates-General in New York , Miami, Chicago or Los Angeles and the HC’s in San Francisco, Houston, Orlando, Atlanta and Boston.
source: http://www.netherlands-embassy.org/files/pdf/PaspoortaanvragenOpmaak.pdf
So, in other words, it looks like I wont be able to renew my passport in Honolulu later on but that I will need to fly at least 5.5 hours towards the US mainland for an application.
You can renew your passport right now then? You might say, and you’re right, but Michelle and I will get a baby soon and that kid needs to get a passport also (after all, we want the kid to get a double nationality so it can choose for him/herself which nationality it wants to have at adulthood).
If you think about it, it is pretty crazy that we will need to fly 5.5 hours, and we’re not alone as there are more Dutch on these islands. Why does the Honoraire Consulate in San Francisco this equipment while it is fairly close to Los Angeles and why do we need to fly 5.5 hours to the closest location?
Just look at this will cost us to renew a passport.. A ticket to the mainland is about 500 dollar, a kid below the age of two is for free but he/she will not remain a baby forever, so when it is time, we can actually count on some 1000 dollar. Then we might have the cost for a hotelstay since not all airlines fly back and forth multiple times a day, plus are you sure you are done on time at the consulate? Then you will have possible costs for a taxi or rental car and there will be enough additional small costs. Come, let’s renew our passport.
And then they dare to say, in the last line of that document that these measures “are in the interest of both the government and yourself”. Well, it surely is not in my interest. The only interest that it gives me is that I can write something in my blog again, but yeah, some interest that is.
The messed up thing next to this all is that I wonder how expensive this equipment will be.. The Americans have these devices everywhere, the border, homeland security buildings, consulates, embassies, everywhere and then it is impossible for the Netherlands to add a few more of these devices? I would almost tell them to send the bill to me as I am almost sure that it will be cheaper for me to pay for those devices than to travel up and down to the mainland.
Oh well, maybe there will be some sunshine after all as you can also request a new passport in the Netherlands, if you are visiting there that is (we’re currently planning to go to the Netherlands around the holidays). But, of course, it has some conditions attached:
As you are not living in the Netherlands any more (or maybe never lived in the Netherlands), the city of The Hague typically does not know if you still have the Dutch nationality. Your old passport or identitycard are no conclusive proof of your Dutch nationality. It only shows that you still had the Dutch nationality at the time the previous travel document was issued.
In other words, they will need to find out if you still have the Dutch nationality and this is something that you will need to prove with all kinds of documents such as a birthcertificate and proof of deregistration in the Netherlands.
And I get different worries about a certain part of the same website of the city of The Hague:
You usually will go to the Dutch representation in the country which you reside for a new passport or identitycard. It is important that you are known for a (later) determination of your nationality.
So does this mean that I will have to renew passport in the United States at least once, just in case if I want to get a double nationality later on? And there are so much more questions which arise with all this, such as the timeframe in The Hague. It takes about two weeks in the United States to renew my passport but how about the Netherlands? The site of The Hague states the following:
10 working days, unless further investigation to identity, nationality and/or fraud is needed; then up to 8 weeks.
And there is a way to make this faster, in this case it will take three working days, but that will cost extra again. And what about the last part? The further investigation? Do they mean the above, the documents that you need to show and such? I can’t wait for 8 weeks in the Netherlands for a new passport? By the way, one of the documents that they want to see is a ‘recent statement which proves my Dutch nationality’, this is something the Dutch representation in the country where the applicant lives will have to provide, so in my case the United States… does this mean I will have to get this in Los Angeles or is this also possible to get in Honolulu? If it is LA then I might as well just renew my passport over there.
No, I am not really happy with this new arrangement. I also emailed the ‘Netherlands Front Office’ with the question if Hawaii gets no equipment indeed, they wrote the following:
Indeed, you will need to travel to a embassy or consulate general to apply for a new passport. There are also a few Honoraire Consulates where you can do this. Hawaii is unfortunately not one of the possibilities.
So I am really not happy about this. It does not even matter much for myself as it takes a bit until I have to renew my passport (later next year), and I could do it right now so I could wait for another five year but I am also wondering about the baby which will be born later on, how will that go? I think I should ask that question at the Dutch consulate in Los Angeles, and possibly also at the city of The Hague.
Nice going again, Netherlands 
Tags: Consulate, Immigration, Netherlands
