Anniversary

Five years ago Her Majesty has signed a paper with 99 names on it. By doing so she was granting the Dutch nationality to all those people at once. My name was among the 99 lucky ones. It probably took her just a couple of seconds and voilà! But of course the signature of the Queen was just a decorative formality. The preceding procedure was long and frustrating though.

I’d collected all required documents and submitted them to the Immigration and Naturalisation Service. The lady behind the glass has examined the pile of papers I’d brought with me, checked something with a couple of colleagues and finally said my file was complete and I should go home and wait for my nationality. “Usually it take about nine months” she said.

I went home and waited. For months. Then one day I finally received a letter from the Immigration and Naturalisation Service stating that I still need to submit one more document. Apparently the lady behind the glass was wrong.

How long did it take the immigration office to count the papers and conclude one was missing? Cast your vote at the right side of this blog!