When The Netherlands becomes the first nation in the world to let gays marry under the regular marriage laws on April 1, some non-Dutch gays will be able to tie the knot as well, says Henk Krol, publisher of De Gay Krant newspaper.
The Netherlands’ Department of Justice has said that foreign couples-; gay or straight-;who do not live in Holland cannot get married there.
But the city of Amsterdam says it will allow citizens of the 15 countries that make up the European Union to get married in the city.
“Amsterdam believes that people within Europe can claim the same rights according to European laws,” Krol said. “They just need to go to the City Hall of Amsterdam, announce their marriage, wait for at least two weeks and then come back and they will get married.”
Foreign couples from any nation can marry in The Netherlands while living there.
And they may not even actually need to relocate completely, Krol says.
“If an American couple has a permanent address in Amsterdam, they can get married,” Krol said. “De Gay Krant, in cooperation with some of our readers, is willing to provide American couples with addresses in Amsterdam.
“These foreigners have to prove that they are using the Amsterdam address for at least four months,” Krol explained. “During these months it is possible that the City Hall will ask them to come by. If this is asked, they have to show up within three weeks. American citizens need a permit to stay that long in The Netherlands, but it is rather easy for Americans to get that permit.”
Anyone interested in testing Krol’s approach should e-mail him at h.krol@gaykrant.nl.
Several nations have special partnership laws that give registered gay couples many or nearly all rights of matrimony, including Denmark (and Greenland), France, Iceland, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and, in the U.S., the state of Vermont. A few other nations, including Canada and Hungary, grant gays many rights of marriage under common-law marriage statutes. Portugal’s gay partnership law is expected to take effect later this year. The Netherlands, however, has become the first and only nation to let gays simply get married under the regular marriage laws rather than under a partnership law that was specially written to withhold some marriage rights and avoid use of the word “marriage.”