Could you help me discover if I have a chance to obtain a Dutch passport?
All four of my grandparents were born in Holland. They immigrated to Canada after WWII. Both of my parents were born in Canada. My mom's parents had naturalized before she was born. My father's mother naturalized after he was born (not sure about his father).
Neither of my parents ever held a Dutch passport, but I was told that my father may in fact have been born with Dutch nationality.
No one can seem to find the true answer tot his question. Would you know? My blood is 100% Dutch, yet it seems weird that I do not have authority to live there.
To start with, my knowledge of Dutch nationality law is based on my own research because my circumstances are similar to yours. My circumstances are not the same as yours, though, and I am not very active in keeping my knowledge up to date, so please take this as a starting point in your own research, and not as a definitive answer to your question.
To summarize, I'm afraid that the answer does not look good for you: You may have been Dutch when you were born, but, if so, you probably lost your Dutch citizenship on 1 April 2013.
To determine definitively whether that is the case, it is critical to determine whether your paternal grandfather ever became Canadian, and, if so, when. In general, voluntarily acquiring another nationality results in the automatic loss of Dutch nationality.
Your mother's parents most likely lost their Dutch nationality when they naturalized in Canada. Since they did this before her birth, she did not have Dutch nationality at birth.
If your father's parents were married, then his mother's naturalization is unimportant, as he would only be able to inherit Dutch citizenship from his father. If his father naturalized before he was born, he would not have been Dutch at birth. Otherwise, he was Dutch at birth. If your father's parents were not married, the situation is more complicated, but in such a case he could have inherited his mother's Dutch nationality.
The rest of this assumes that your father was Dutch when he was born. If he was not, then the following is not relevant.
Under this assumption, the next question is whether your father was still Dutch when you were born. Since he was born in Canada, he did not aquire that citizenship voluntarily, so he was a dual national at birth. However, since he was born outside the kingdom, under the 1892 nationality law he lost his Dutch citizenship by residing outside the kingdom for ten years after he turned 21. He was born in 1955, so this happened in 1986, after you were born. (Or, if the ten-year period was reset when the law changed in 1985, he lost his Dutch nationality in 1995; that's still after you were born, of course.) You were probably therefore Dutch when you were born.
The provision for dual citizens losing Dutch nationality based on residence outside the kingdom was tweaked a few times, starting in the 1980s. From 1985, a dual national born in the country of the other nationality would lose Dutch nationality by living for ten years in that country. The ten years began when the person turned 18. This would have applied to you when you turned 28 in 2010, except for the fact that this law was changed in 2003. You were therefore Dutch in 2003, and we need to look at the changed rule.
Finally, there are several ways for former Dutch citizens to regain their Dutch nationality. Most of the simplified procedures appear not to apply to you, but it seems that if you can get a non-temporary residence permit in the Netherlands for one year, you can apply to regain your Dutch nationality without having to be naturalized. Follow the links below for more information.
If the Dutch authorities find that you are in fact a former Dutch citizen, investigate the options available to you to regain Dutch citizenship.
Am I eligible for a Dutch passport through my grandfather who is a Dutch citizen?
Dutch dual citizens' loss of Dutch citizenship — can it be avoided if married to a UN employee?
Do i qualify for a Dutch Passport if my Mothers parents were Dutch born/citizens?