Living in a host country (in this case a slightly reluctant host country, its past history of immigration notwithstanding) can present many challenges.

I have to maintain two passports--one from the country of my birth, one from the country of birth of my parents--and my legal status in this country. That's expensive!

I'm actually thinking of adding unnecessary costs and a lot of potential grey-hair creating moments because I'm considering applying for US citizenship too. This will allow me to vote and even more importantly, it'll allow me to one-up my parents and sister by having more citizenship's than they do. Which means more expiration dates and administrative fees to cover.

It also means that I have French parents (they gave up their Dutch passports years ago), a sister with New Zealand and Dutch citizenship who lives in Monaco, which is technically some kind of principality, and then myself: New Zealand, Dutch and American. Whoopee! Just doing my little part in defying this citizenship crap by playing the system.

And then Ruby came on the scene. She was eligible for Dutch citizenship, so I jumped into action. Getting all the necessary papers was a big job. They need proof of birth, signed and stamped by three different institutions and same for proof of our marriage.

When I had finally figured out where to go, what to ask for, which documents to produce to get the right stamp and shiny sticker (I swear), I was exhausted, but I also had a sense of victory. I shared this with the Dutch consulate.

The kind lady told me that the documents I had worked so hard to get could actually serve a second purpose: submit them to the Den Haag and Ruby can be registered in the Netherlands. Because apparently even though she is now a recognized Dutch citizen, because she "foreign"-born, she can't just move to the Netherlands. Nope. She would have to get those two documents all over again (they are only valid for six months after they have been stamped and shined upon) in order to register herself as an inhabitant of the Netherlands.

So I figured I should do my kid a favor. I already had them, the six months expiration was a few months off, so off they went, shipped pronto to the Hague.

Of course, it wasn't simple. I needed proof from the last city I had lived in, in the Netherlands, that I had "unregistered" myself. So thanks to modernized bureaucracy (they email, really), I got that document too. And this morning arrived, lo and behold, confirmation that Ruby could go live in the Netherlands tomorrow if she wanted, with no administrative hassles!

Bored yet? Sorry, but I told you this was challenging. Because now I received two bills to pay from the Netherlands. Bills that require a Dutch bank account. Well, "no worries," they emailed to me. Make an international bank transfer. Hmm, that would cost more than the actual amounts I am being charged.

Thankfully, to make a long story short, I have wonderful friends and family in the Netherlands. Friends I can email (modern friends, see copy of the email below) and get away with being a pest. Because that's the upside of having moved lots of times: friends in useful places!

JOS: So much for our tax payer money, although admittedly, I don't pay taxes in the Netherlands anymore. But what good is my Dutch passport if I can't get a service from time to time huh? Huh?

Anyways, posturing aside, here we go again. I got another bill, this time from Den Haag.

Wanna know why? I needed the Leusden document to include in a package I needed to send to Den Haag for the babe. I got that package today--bevestiging that she is indeed now happily ingeschreven in het register van de burgerlijke stand.

We'll celebrate later, but for now that means two things:

1. This process is done and there won't be anymore bills.
2. I figured I should include point 1. before asking you to pay another 7euro for me. Smart move no?!

So, can you? Pretty please with on top? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease.

Here are the payment details, because I know you can't resist your favorite boterham spread or my impish grin:

Postbank nummer ... OR ABN-Amro ... onder vermelding van "Landelijke Taken" and I suppose the recipient is: Dienst Burgerzaken. Some extra stuff if that helps: this was for "inschrijving buitenlandse akte" and their kenmerk for this small adminstrative feat was: "LT.../Hyland, Ruby Marguerite"

Sorry to bug you with this. And a huge thanks for helping out a sister or nep daughter technically.

Liefs, Marsha