Two letters were waiting for me in the postbox today - both from the Ministry of Justice. I immediately noticed a dry sensation at the back of my throat, higher pulse rate and a sheen of sweat of my palms. Not that I have anything to feel guilty about. It's just a lifetime's habit. But who knows maybe there is a pile of unreceived and unpaid speeding tickets that didn't catch up with all my changes of address (though if you saw the car I drive you would realise how unlikely that was). Turns that they both concerned my application for a permanent resident's identity card. Both were positive too. And i am impresssed by their efficiency: I only posted the application on Monday.
In one sense I am pleased: it symbolically represents a putting down of roots. In another sense I am reminded of the Marx Brothers joke about not wanting to join any club that would have them as a member.
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6 comments:
Congratulations! That's a huge step forward for you and for being able to continue life and the business here. I was looking into it as a US citizen, and it's non-trivial: it's easier as a UK expat, but still takes some work?
Surprsingly little work. It felt like a complete formality - I think they just checked out that I had no criminal record or impending court cases. But feeling accepted is still a good feeling (for a while). Maybe the next time I go through Schiphol the immigration people will say "welcome home" when they see my stamp.
That is great news and what a nice place to live.
I recognise that guilty worried feeling when I see that envelope - same with those nasty blue ones we get hehehe glad this had good news. Gefeliciteerd!
Expatica has recently described a change in Dutch law for permanent residency that says that all residents must pass a Dutch NT2 language qualification. Did you have to demonstrate proficiency (or will you)?
There was no mention of this on the form and I was invited to do a language test. I think I would get by a level 2 - I wa sassessed at that level when I finished my first Dutch course three years ago. Maybe its only applicable for non EU citizens?
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