Verlenging naturalisatietermijnen

Reactie

Vraag1

I respectfully oppose extending the naturalisation residence requirement from five to ten years and narrowing exceptions. This change would upend the life plans of people who came to the Netherlands to work or study in good faith under the five-year horizon—forcing them to delay family, career, and education decisions and undermining legal certainty. The resulting discouragement and sense of being unsupported or ignored by the Dutch government and society would erode trust, weaken belonging, and depress civic engagement. Over time, these social effects—alienation, lower participation, and reduced attraction and retention of talent—run counter to the inclusive, pragmatic spirit that characterises the Netherlands. Most importantly, the proposal moves in the opposite direction of naturalisation’s core aim: timely inclusion of well-integrated residents. A better path is to keep the five-year standard, invest in language and civics, target fraud precisely, and preserve humane exceptions, with generous grandfathering for those who planned around current rules.