South African nationality law - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

rewrote its nationality law

Nationality law

Nationality law is the branch of law concerned with the questions of nationality and citizenship, and how these statuses are acquired, transmitted, or lost. By custom, a state has the right to determine who its nationals and citizens are. Such determinations are usually made by custom, statutory...

since the end of Apartheid in 1994 and the establishment of majority rule in the country under the African National Congress

African National Congress

The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...

. The 1995 South African Citizenship Act did away with the previous Apartheid-era 1949 and 1970 acts which had granted bantustan

Bantustan

A bantustan was a territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa , as part of the policy of apartheid...

citizenship to the country's African majority and inferior levels of citizenship to the country's Asian

Asian people

Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...

and coloured

Coloured

In the South African, Namibian, Zambian, Botswana and Zimbabwean context, the term Coloured refers to an heterogenous ethnic group who possess ancestry from Europe, various Khoisan and Bantu tribes of Southern Africa, West Africa, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaya, India, Mozambique,...

minorities.

Citizenship by birth in South Africa

According to the 1995 law, a child born in South Africa after 6 October 1995 as the child of South African citizens or permanent residents is a citizen of the Republic of South Africa.

South African citizenship by descent

Under the 1995 law, a person born outside South Africa to a South African parent is a South African citizen by descent upon registration of the birth under South African law.

Naturalisation as a South African citizen

Citizenship can be acquired through naturalisation if these following conditions are met:

Valid residence permit or Certificate of Exemption;
One year’s ordinary residence in South Africa prior to the application for naturalisation;
Four years of physical (actual) residence in South Africa during the eight years before the application for naturalisation. (This excludes the year of ordinary residence);
In the case of an applicant for naturalisation being married in a spousal relationship with a South African citizen, then two years of permanent residence and two years of marriage/spousal relationship to the South African citizen spouse prior to the application;
Be of good and sound character;
Be able to communicate in any one of South Africa’s official languages satisfactorily;
Have adequate knowledge of the duties and responsibilities of a South African citizen.

Naturalisation of an adult also confers South African citizenship upon that adult's minor children.

Loss of citizenship by naturalised South Africans

Naturalised South Africans who left South Africa before 6 October 1988 and did not obtain a 'Letter of Exemption' from the South African authorities, may have lost South African citizenship after seven years absence.

Dual nationality

Prior to 2004, South Africa in principle did not recognise the multiple citizenship

Multiple citizenship

Multiple citizenship is a status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a citizen under the laws of more than one state. Multiple citizenships exist because different countries use different, and not necessarily mutually exclusive, citizenship requirements...

of its nationals unless the citizen applied for an exemption or permission letter under a 1995 law permitting South African citizens to travel using foreign passports.

Since 2004, South African dual nationals may travel without hindrance as long as they enter and leave South Africa on their South African passport

South African passport

A South African passport is a travel document issued to citizens of South Africa for the purpose of international travel. It allows the bearer to travel in foreign countries in accordance with visa requirements, and facilitates the process of securing assistance from South African consular...

s. Dual nationals may petition for temporary, emergency or "permanent" South African passports for this purpose.

However, a South African citizen who by a formal and voluntary act acquires the citizenship of another country, automatically loses his or her South African citizenship

Nationality

Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....

unless they apply for, and receive permission to retain their South African citizenship before acquiring the citizenship of another country.

South African citizens under the age of eighteen (18) years are exempt and do not require permission as long as they acquire the foreign citizenship before their eighteen (18th) birthday. They automatically retain their South African citizenship for life unless; once they have reached the age of 18 and they then wish to acquire a further foreign citizenship. They will then have to apply for prior permission to retain their South African citizenship - failing to do so, they will automatically lose their South African citizenship.

Many South Africans have claims to another citizenship (see: Demographics of South Africa

Demographics of South Africa

The demographics of South Africa encompasses about 50 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The last census was held in 2001 and the next will be in 2011....

British nationality and South Africa

Prior to 1 January 1949, South Africans were British subject
British subject
In British nationality law, the term British subject has at different times had different meanings. The current definition of the term British subject is contained in the British Nationality Act 1981.- Prior to 1949 :...

s under United Kingdom law, which also applied in South Africa. See British nationality law
British nationality law
British nationality law is the law of the United Kingdom that concerns citizenship and other categories of British nationality. The law is complex because of the United Kingdom's former status as an imperial power.-History:...

.
Between 1 January 1949 and 1 September 1949, South Africans remained British subjects without citizenship unless they had already acquired citizenship of the UK & Colonies or another Commonwealth country.

Citizenship of the UK and its colonies

On 2 September 1949, most British subjects from South Africa acquired South African citizenship.
Those who did not become South African generally became citizens of the UK & Colonies provided that they had no connections with any other Commonwealth country or Ireland. Such persons would only have acquired British citizenship in 1983 if they had acquired a right of abode
Right of Abode (United Kingdom)
The right of abode is a status under United Kingdom immigration law that gives an unrestricted right to live in the United Kingdom. It was introduced by the Immigration Act 1971.-British citizens:...

in the UK at the time. Otherwise they would have become British Overseas citizens.
Those of an ethnic Indian or Pakistani background who were British subjects before 1949, but did not acquire South African citizenship in 1949, may have remained British subjects without citizenship. See Indian nationality law
Indian nationality law
The Indian citizenship and nationality law and the Constitution of India provides single citizenship for the entire country. The provisions relating to citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution are contained in Articles 5 to 11 in Part II of the Constitution of India...
British Overseas citizens and British subjects who have no other nationality, and have not lost or renounced another nationality since 4 July 2002, may register as British citizens under s4B of the British Nationality Act 1981 without requiring UK residence. This facility has been available since 30 April 2003. Those who have immigrated to the UK may have additional options for acquiring British citizenship.

South African citizens between 1949 and 1961

Between 1949 and 1961, all South African citizens remained British subjects by virtue of their South African citizenship.

This was ended in 1961 when South Africa left the Commonwealth. By the time South Africa returned to the Commonwealth in 1994, the phrase British subject had been replaced by Commonwealth citizen
Commonwealth citizen
A Commonwealth citizen, which replaces the former category of British subject, is generally a person who is a national of any country within the Commonwealth of Nations....

.

Right of Abode in the United Kingdom

As South Africa was a foreign country (under United Kingdom law) between 1 January 1973, the date the Immigration Act 1971 came into force in the UK, and 1 January 1983 (when the British Nationality Act 1981 came into force) South Africans cannot have right of abode in the UK unless they also hold citizenship of another Commonwealth country or of the UK itself.

This particularly affects South Africans born before 1983 with a UK-born mother, who would otherwise usually have had the right of abode in the UK.

However the changes to British nationality law on 30 April 2003 have allowed those born in South Africa between 8 February 1961 and 31 December 1982 to a UK-born or naturalised mother to apply for registration as a British citizen by descent. With this comes a right of abode in the UK. This concession is not specific to South African citizens. See British nationality law

British nationality law

British nationality law is the law of the United Kingdom that concerns citizenship and other categories of British nationality. The law is complex because of the United Kingdom's former status as an imperial power.-History:...

Commonwealth citizenship

Following South Africa's return to the Commonwealth in 1994, South Africans are treated as Commonwealth citizens in the United Kingdom. This includes the following benefits:

eligibility for the UK Working Holiday Visa scheme (no longer available since November 2008) http://www.1stcontactenews.co.uk/post/UK-Working-Holidays-e28093-A-Thing-of-the-Past-for-SA.aspx?utm_source=enews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sanenews
eligibility for the UK Ancestry Visa (for those with a UK-born grandparent)
the right, if resident in the UK, to vote and hold public office in the UK

There are no specific concessions in terms of eligibility for British citizenship, and South Africans must meet the same rules for registration or naturalization as citizens of any other country.

External links

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