May 18, 2007

Belgium: dual citizenship legalized

Now for some excellent news from Belgium: from June 9 it will now be legally possible to hold dual citizenship as a Belgian national. This was long overdue, and common practice in many a country, including New Zealand.
I have been writing to the Belgian senator, Sabine de Bethune, who introduced a Bill in 2003 to regulate and abolish this longstanding discrimination against its own citizens. Under the old regulations when you accepted a foreign nationality you had to give up your Belgian passport. Something which a foreign national who becomes Belgian does not have to do with his original nationality.
So now I'm a happy chappy I will be able to regain my birthright, and still remain a New Zealander.

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