Can permanent residency or naturalization be acquired with a Chavez permit?

Currently, holders of a Chavez permit do not qualify for permanent residence or Dutch citizenship. Such applications are rejected by default. Several regional courts and the Administrative Division of the Council of State, highest administrative court in the Netherlands, ruled that these rejections were lawful due to the temporary nature of the right of residence based on a Chavez permit.

In the past, Everaert Advocaten Immigration Lawyers have requested that the Dutch court and the Council of State submit questions on the matter to the European Court of Justice.

After all, the nature and temporality of the right of residence of caregiving parents of underage Dutch children is not as crystal clear as the State Secretary implies. Moreover, it begs the questions whether the Netherlands can decide on their own whether this European right of residence is temporary or not.

In a case that is currently pending before the Amsterdam court, concerning the rejected application for EU long term residency or permanent residency by a Chavez permit holder, the court has now asked the EU Court in Luxemburg for advice: does a Chavez permit grant the holder a temporary or non-temporary right of residence?

The EU Court of Justice’s advice will be legally binding and it will have retroactive effect. Comparable cases, which are pending before the courts at this moment, will be adjourned until the EU Court has provided clarity. This may take more than a year.

Do you have any questions regarding the above, or are you also experiencing issues as a Chavez permit holder with permanent residency or naturalization? Please contact Elles Besselsen.

Please find articles below, which have been previously published on the subject:

4 April, 2019: Naturalization; not with a Chavez-Vilchez residence permit

17 April, 2020: Update: Is it possible to obtain Dutch citizenship with a Chavez residence permit?