Court rules against home citizenship test

Wednesday 16 July 2008

People who want to move to the Netherlands to get married or as part of a family reunion do not need to pass a citizenship test in their country of origin, judges in Amsterdam said on Tuesday.

The case was brought by a Moroccan woman who failed the test in Morocco and was refused permission to come to the Netherlands.

The test is largely applied to people from Morocco and Turkey – EU nationals and most western immigrants are exempt. According to the Volkskrant, almost 19,000 people took the test abroad before coming to the Netherlands to join family in 2007.

Taking the test before arrival will still be compulsory for people coming to the Netherlands for other reasons, the court said.

The justice ministry is considering whether to appeal, the Volkskrant said.

© DutchNews.nl

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