Namibian citizenship

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The Namibian citizenship is the legal membership of a natural person for the Namibian government, the Republic of Namibia .

Namibian passport

Legal basis

Regarding the provisions of the South African administration 1921–90, see South African Citizenship, Southwest Africa .

The legal basis of Namibian citizenship is Chapter 2, Article 4 of the Constitution of Namibia and the Namibian Citizenship Act, 14 of August 30, 1990. This was inter alia through the Namibian Citizenship Special Conferment Act, 14.1991 and the Namibian Citizenship Amendment Act , 2010 and the Namibian Constitution Second Amendment Bill, 2009 adapted, expanded and changed.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Immigration is responsible for all matters relating to citizenship .

Proof of citizenship can be provided in the form of a certificate ( e.g. birth certificate , naturalization certificate ), the Namibian passport , the Namibian identity card in blue or a Namibian voter registration.

nationality

Acquisition

Since independence on March 21, 1990, Namibian citizenship has been awarded to different groups of people and on the basis of different criteria.

  1. by birth:
    1. Any person who was born before Namibia's independence to a mother or father who had Namibian citizenship, provided that the Namibian constitution had already been in force at the time;
    2. Any person who was born in Namibia before Namibia's independence and whose father or mother was a legal resident of the country at the time of birth, unless not
      1. the father or mother enjoyed diplomatic immunity in Namibia;
      2. they have worked for another country in Namibia;
      3. they were members of a foreign police force, army or security organization and were posted from another country.
    3. Any person born to a Namibian mother or father after independence.
    4. Any person who was born in Namibia after the independence of Namibia and whose father or mother was a legal resident of the country at the time of birth, unless not
      1. the father or mother enjoyed diplomatic immunity in Namibia;
      2. they have worked for another country in Namibia;
      3. they were members of a foreign police force, army or security organization and were posted from another country;
      4. these were illegal immigrants.
  2. by descent:
    1. Any person who is not Namibian by birth and whose father or mother was a Namibian citizen at the time of the person's birth or would have been if this constitution had already been in force and
    2. has registered as a Namibian citizen according to the requirements.
  3. by marriage
    1. Any person who is not a Namibian citizen by birth or descent and
      1. to the best of his or her conscience married a Namibian citizen or, prior to independence, married such a person who could be considered a Namibian citizen under this constitution and
      2. has lived legally and permanently as the spouse of this person on the territory of Namibia for at least ten years (until July 2010 these regulations only provided for two years) and
      3. has submitted an application for citizenship.
    2. This provision also applies to marriages that after the customary law (eng. Customary law ) got married, provided that marriage is legally appropriate to Namibian law.
  4. by registration:
    1. Any person who is not a Namibian citizen by birth, descent or marriage and
    2. has lived on the national territory of Namibia for at least five years to achieve independence, has applied for citizenship within 12 months of independence and has taken another citizenship before applying.
  5. by naturalization ( naturalization ):
    1. Any person who is not a Namibian citizen by birth, parentage, marriage or registration and
    2. lives legally in Namibia to apply for and
    3. has lived continuously in Namibia for at least ten years (until July 2010 these regulations only provided for five years)
    4. meets all other health, morality, safety and legality requirements required by law.
  6. by appointment:
    1. Every person can be granted Namibian citizenship by parliament on the basis of their services to the Namibian people or Namibia or on the basis of special skills and knowledge, regardless of whether these were acquired before or after independence.

loss

The Namibian citizenship can be discarded upon application. This does not affect international regulations of international law with regard to statelessness . In addition, those who lose their Namibian citizenship after the independence of Namibia

  1. has taken up the citizenship of another country at his own request or
  2. worked for a foreign army without permission from the Namibian government or
  3. Has lived permanently outside of Namibia for more than two years without obtaining prior authorization from the Government of Namibia.

Loss of citizenship (see #Multiple citizenship ) is excluded for born Namibians.

Multiple citizenship

In principle, the Namibian Citizen Act forbids multiple citizenship without exception and in all cases . However, at the end of 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that this rule was unconstitutional. It also decided that every Namibian by birth has the right to hold another citizenship. The decision was justified with a passage in the constitution that excludes Namibians by birth and descent from losing their citizenship by accepting another. However, this decision expressly does not apply to Namibians who have received the Namibian citizen by other means than by birth.

On June 6, 2011, the highest court ruled again in a precedent that dual nationality for Namibians by birth seems to be fundamentally permitted. This supreme court decision was recognized by the government and implemented since at least 2015.

For people with a different citizenship, the acceptance of the Namibian citizenship is only possible on application if the previous one is given.

In practice, many of the white Namibians have had multiple citizenships since or before Namibian independence; In the case of German Namibians, it is mainly German citizenship , in the case of Boers, above all, South African citizenship, and combinations of all three nationalities are not uncommon.

Citizenship for foreigners born in Namibia

After the Constitutional Court awarded Namibian citizenship to a Dutch couple in June 2016 for their child born in Namibia, the National Assembly announced an amendment to the law and the constitution. The background to the decision was that children of foreigners who "live legally in Namibia" are entitled to Namibian citizenship according to the constitution. The law is now only to apply - and also retroactively - to foreign children if their parents had a permanent residence permit in Namibia at the time of their birth. This change has been described by many as the greatest constitutional crisis in Namibian history. On August 2, 2016, the government withdrew its legislative changes and accepted the Constitutional Court's ruling.

The terms "Namibians"

Namibians within the meaning of the Namibian constitution and laws is a person who is a national of the Republic of Namibia. According to this, however, there is no ethnicity in the sense of a common ethnic group of the Namibians. The various ethnic groups therefore do not form an ethnically closed ethnic group of the Namibians.

The citizens of Namibia called, according to the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany in the German language "Namibians" ( English "Namibian" ), the adjective "Namibian". The terms “Namibian” and “Namibian”, however, are not official.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Namibian Citizenship Act, 14, 1990 ( Memento of October 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.1 MB) accessed on March 9, 2011
  2. ^ Namibian Citizenship Special Conferment Act, 14.1991.Retrieved March 9, 2011
  3. ^ Namibian Citizenship Amendment Act, 2010, accessed March 9, 2011
  4. ^ Namibian Constitution Second Amendment Bill, 2009
  5. ↑ Constitution of Namibia, Chapter 2, Article 4, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Namibia (PDF; 66 kB)
  6. ↑ Cabinet Approves Amendment of Namibian Citizenship Act, New Era, July 5, 2010
  7. ↑ Cabinet Approves Amendment of Namibian Citizenship Act, New Era, July 5, 2010
  8. ^ Court confirms legality of dual citizenship for some Namibians, Legal Assistance Center, July 9, 2008
  9. ↑ a b INTERPRETATION ON AQUISITION AND LOSS OF NAMIBIAN CITIZENSHIP BY BIRTH. Office of the Ombudsman, March 14, 2015.
  10. ↑ Issue of nationality clarified: Dual citizenship made possible for born Namibians, Allgemeine Zeitung, June 7, 2011 ( Memento of February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ Dual citizenship legal for born Namibians, The Namibian, June 7, 2011 ( Memento of January 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ^ Citizenship Act. Government of the Republic of Namibia, 1990, Paragraph 5.
  13. ^ Landmark citizenship ruling. Namibian Sun, June 24, 2016.
  14. ↑ Jolie-Pitt child to lose citizenship. The Namibian, August 1, 2016.
  15. ↑ August 3, 2016 - Morning News. Hitradio Namibia, August 3, 2016.
  16. ↑ Directory of state names for official use (German), Federal Foreign Office, as of April 22, 2009 (PDF; 39 kB)