Naturalization is the legal act or process
by which a non-citizen in a country may acquire
citizenship or nationality of that country.
It may be done by a statute, without any effort
on the part of the individual, or it may involve
an application and approval by legal authorities.
The rules of naturalization vary from country
to country and typically include a minimum
legal residency requirement, and may specify
other requirements such as knowledge of the
national dominant language or culture, a promise
to obey and uphold that country's laws. An
oath or pledge of allegiance is also sometimes
required. Some countries also require that
the person renounce any other citizenship
that they currently hold, forbidding dual
citizenship, but whether this renunciation
actually causes loss of the person's original
citizenship, as seen by the host country and
by the original country, will again depend
on the laws of the countries involved.
The massive increase in population flux due
to globalization and the sharp increase in
the numbers of refugees following World War
I created a large number of stateless persons,
people who were not citizens of any state.
In some rare cases, procedures of mass naturalization
were passed. As naturalization laws had been
designed to cater for the relatively few people
who had voluntarily moved from one country
to another, western democracies were not ready
to naturalize the massive influx of stateless
people which followed massive denationalizations
and the expulsion of ethnic minorities from
newly created nation states in the first part
of the 20th century, but they also counted
the Russians who had escaped the 1917 October
Revolution and the war communism period, and
then the Spanish refugees. As Hannah Arendt
pointed out, internment camps became the "only
nation" of such stateless people, since they
were often considered "undesirable" and were
stuck in an illegal situation.
Since World War II, the increase in international
migrations created a new category of refugees,
most of them economic refugees. For economic,
political, humanitarian and pragmatic reasons,
many states passed laws allowing a person
to acquire their citizenship after birth,
in order to reduce the scope of this category.
However, in some countries this system still
maintains a large part of the immigrated population
in an illegal status, albeit some massive
regularizations.
Laws by country
United Kingdom
There has always been a distinction in the
law of England and Wales between the subjects
of the monarch and aliens: the monarch's subjects
owed the monarch allegiance, and included
those born in his or her dominions and those
who later gave him or her their allegiance.
Today, the requirements for naturalisation
as a citizen of the United Kingdom depend
on whether or not one is the spouse or civil
partner of a citizen. An applicant who is
a spouse or civil partner of a British citizen
must:
hold indefinite leave to remain in the UK
have lived legally in the UK for three years
been outside of the UK no more than 90 days
during the one-year period prior to filing
the application.
show sufficient knowledge of life in the UK,
either by passing the Life in the United Kingdom
test or by attending combined English language
and citizenship classes. Proof of this must
be supplied with one's application for naturalisation.
Those aged 65 or over may be able to claim
exemption.
meet specified English, Welsh or Scottish
Gaelic language competence standards. Those
who pass the Life in the UK test are deemed
to meet English language requirements.
For those not married to or in a civil partnership
with a British citizen, the requirements are:
Five years legal residence in the UK
Indefinite leave to remain or "equivalent"
for this purpose must have been held for 12 months
the applicant must intend to continue to live
in the UK or work overseas for the UK government
or a British corporation or association
the same "good character" standards apply
as for those married to British citizens
the same language and knowledge of life in
the UK standards apply as for those married
to British citizens.
United States
In the United States of America, the Constitution
gives Congress the power to prescribe a uniform
rule of naturalization, which is administered
by state courts. There was some confusion
about which courts could naturalize; the final
ruling was that it could be done by any "court
of record having common-law jurisdiction and
a clerk and seal."
The Constitution also mentions "natural born
citizen". The first naturalization Act used
the phrases "natural born" and "native born"
interchangeably.
The Constitution does not mandate race-neutral
naturalization. Until 1952, the Naturalization
Acts allowed only white persons to become
naturalized citizens.
Naturalization is also mentioned in the Fourteenth
Amendment. The Supreme Court, in the case
of Minor v. Happersett explained who the citizens
of the U.S. were before its adoption, the
Court said, Before the 14th Amendment, "the
Constitution of the United States did not
in terms prescribe who should be citizens
[of the United States] or of the several states,
yet there were necessarily such citizens without
such provision. Additions might always be
made to the citizenship of the United States
in two ways: first, by birth, and second,
by naturalization." Before the U.S. Constitution
was adopted, individual states set their own
standards for citizenship; After Adoption,
all state citizens "became ipso facto a citizen"
of the United States and all children born
in the United States "of parents who were
its citizens became themselves, upon their
birth, citizens [of the United States]. These
were natives or natural-born citizens, as
distinguished from aliens or foreigners.".
The 14th Amendment states that "all persons
born or naturalized in the United States and
subject to the jurisdiction thereof shall
be citizens of the United States and of the
State in which they reside." The Minor v.
Happersett Court went on to say, "Some authorities
go further and include as citizens children
born within the jurisdiction without reference
to the citizenship of their parents. As to
this class there have been doubts, but never
as to the first." The Supreme Court later,
in the case of Afroyim v. Rusk, interpreted
this clause to imply that a naturalized citizen
cannot be subsequently deprived of US citizenship
involuntarily.
The Naturalization Act of 1795 set the initial
rules on naturalization: "free, White persons"
who had been resident for five years or more.
The Naturalization Act of 1798, part of the
Alien and Sedition Acts, was passed by the
Federalists and extended the residency requirement
from five to fourteen years. It specifically
targeted Irish and French immigrants who were
involved in Democratic-Republican Party politics.
It was repealed in 1802.
An 1862 law allowed honorably discharged Army
veterans of any war to petition for naturalization,
without having filed a declaration of intent,
after only one year of residence in the United
States. An 1894 law extended the same privilege
to honorably discharged 5-year veterans of
the Navy or Marine Corps. Over 192,000 aliens
were naturalized between May 9, 1918, and
June 30, 1919, under an act of May 9, 1918.
Laws enacted in 1919, 1926, 1940, and 1952
continued preferential treatment provisions
for veterans.
Passage of the Fourteenth Amendment meant
that, in theory, all persons born in the U.S.,
and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are
citizens regardless of race. Citizenship by
birth in the United States, however, was not
initially granted to Asians until 1898, when
the Supreme Court, in the case of United States
v. Wong Kim Ark held that the Fourteenth Amendment
did apply to Asians born in the United States
to Alien parents who have a permanent domicile
and residence in the United States.
The enabling legislation for the naturalization
aspects of the Fourteenth Amendment was the
Naturalization Act of 1870, which allowed
naturalization of "aliens of African nativity
and to persons of African descent", but is
silent about other races.
The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act banned Chinese
workers and specifically barred them from
naturalization. The Immigration Act of 1917,
extended those restrictions to almost all
Asians.
The 1922 Cable Act specified that women marrying
aliens ineligible for naturalization lose
their US citizenship. At the time, all Asians
were ineligible for naturalization. The Immigration
Act of 1924 barred entry of all those ineligible
for naturalization, which again meant non-Filipino
Asians.
Following the Spanish American War in 1898,
Philippine residents were classified as US
nationals, and the 1917 Jones–Shafroth Act
made all citizens of Puerto Rico U.S. citizens.
But the 1934 Tydings–McDuffie Act, or Philippine
Independence Act, reclassified Filipinos as
aliens, and set a quota of 50 immigrants per
year, and otherwise applying the Immigration
Act of 1924 to them. The quotas did not apply
to Filipinos who served in the United States
Navy, which actively recruited in the Philippines
at that time.
Asians were first permitted naturalization
by the 1943 Magnuson Act, which repealed the
Chinese Exclusion Act. India and the Philippines
were allowed 100 annual immigrants under the
1946 Filipino Naturalization Act. The War
Brides Act of 1945 permitted soldiers to bring
back their foreign wives and established precedent
in naturalization through marriage.
The 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act lifted
racial restrictions, but kept the quotas in
place. The Immigration Act of 1965 finally
allowed Asians and all persons from all nations
be given equal access to immigration and naturalization.
Illegal immigration became a major issue in
the US at the end of the 20th century. The
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986,
while tightening border controls, also provided
the opportunity of naturalization for illegal
aliens who had been in the country for at
least four years. Today, lawful permanent
resident aliens can apply for naturalization
in the U.S. after five years, unless they
continue to be married to a U.S. citizen,
in which case they can apply after three years
of permanent residency.
The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 streamlined
the naturalization process for children adopted
internationally. A child under age 18 who
is adopted by at least one U.S. citizen parent,
and is in the custody of the citizen parent(s),
is now automatically naturalized once admitted
to the United States as an immigrant or when
legally adopted in the United States, depending
on the visa under which the child was admitted
to the U.S.
India
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. Relevant Indian legislation is the
Citizenship Act 1955, which has been amended
by the Citizenship Act 1986, the Citizenship
Act 1992, the Citizenship Act 2003, and the
Citizenship Ordinance 2005. The Citizenship
Act 2003 received the assent of the President
of India on 7 January 2004 and came into force
on 3 December 2004. The Citizenship Ordinance
2005 was promulgated by the President of India
and came into force on 28 June 2005.
Following these reforms, Indian nationality
law largely follows the jus sanguinis as opposed
to the jus soli.
China
The People's Republic of China gives citizenship
to persons with one or two parents with Chinese
nationality who have not taken residence in
other countries. The country also gives citizenship
to persons born on its territory to stateless
persons who have settled there. Furthermore,
individuals may apply for nationality if they
have a near relative with Chinese nationality,
if they have settled in China, or if they
present another legitimate reason.
The naturalization process starts with a written
application. Applicants must submit three
copies, written with a ball-point or fountain
pen, to national authorities, and to provincial
authorities in the Ministry of Public Security
and the Public Security Bureau. Applicants
must also submit original copies of a foreign
passport, a residence permit, a permanent
residence permit, and four two-and-a-half
inch long pictures. According to the conditions
outlined in the Nationality Law of the People's
Republic of China, authorities may also require
"any other material that the authority believes
are related to the nationality application."
Israel
After Israel Declaration of Independence was
made on 14 May 1948, the day before the British
Mandate was due to expire as a result of the
United Nations Partition Plan. The Israeli
parliament created two laws regarding immigration,
citizenship and naturalization: the Law of
Return and the Israeli nationality law. The
Law of Return, enacted on July 15, 1950, gives
Jews living anywhere in the world the right
to immigrate to Israel. This right to immigrate
did not and still does not grant citizenship.
In fact, for four years after Israel gained
independence, there were no Israeli citizens.
On July 14, 1952, the Israeli parliament enacted
the Israeli Nationality Law. The Nationality
Law naturalized all citizens of Mandated Palestine,
the inhabitants of Israel on July 15, 1952,
and those who had legally resided in Israel
between May 14, 1948 and July 14, 1952. The
law further clarified that naturalization
was available to immigrants who had arrived
before Israel's creation, immigrants who arrived
after statehood was granted, and those who
did not come to Israel as immigrants but have
since expressed desire to settle in Israel,
with restriction. Naturalization applicants
must also meet the following requirements:
be over 18 years of age, have resided in Israel
for three out of the five preceding years,
have settled or intend to settle permanently
in Israel, have some knowledge of Hebrew,
and have renounced prior nationality or demonstrated
ability to renounce nationality after becoming
a citizen of Israel.
Because of Israel's relatively new and culturally-mixed
identity, Israel does not grant citizenship
to persons born on Israeli soil. Instead,
the government chose to enact a jus sanguinis
system, with the naturalization restrictions
listed above. There is currently no legislation
on second-generation immigrants. Furthermore,
foreign spouses can apply for citizenship
through the Minister of the Interior, but
have a variety of restrictions and are not
guaranteed citizenship.
South Africa
Chapter 2 of the South African Citizenship
Act, enacted on October 6, 1995, defines who
is considered a naturalized citizen at the
time of the act and also outlines the naturalization
process for future immigrants.
Any person who immediately prior to the commencement
of the act had been a South African citizen
via naturalization, had been deemed to be
a South African citizen by registration, or
had been a citizen via naturalization of any
of the former states now composing South Africa
is now considered to be a naturalized citizen
of South Africa.
Those wishing to apply for naturalization
in the future must apply to the Minister of
Home Affairs and must meet a slew of requirements.
First, naturalization applicants must be over
the age of 18 and must have been a permanent
resident of South Africa for one year prior
to application and for four out of the eight
years prior to application. Applicants must
also demonstrate good character and knowledge
of the basic responsibilities and privileges
of a South African citizen. The ability to
communicate in one of the official languages
of South Africa is also required. Applicants
must show the intention to reside in South
Africa after naturalization, and they are
required to make a declaration of allegiance.
Being a naturalized South African citizen
is a privilege, not a right. Even after meeting
all the requirements and going through the
naturalization process, the minister holds
the right to deny citizenship. Foreign spouses
of South African citizens can apply for naturalization
after two years of marriage, but is subject
to potential denial of the minister. The minister
can also grant citizenship to minors, if their
parent applies for them.
The minister also holds the power to revoke
naturalization at any time for specific reasons
listed in the Act. Reasons for revoking the
naturalization certificate include marrying
someone who is a citizen of another country
and holding citizenship in another country,
or applying for citizenship of another country
without prior authorization for retention
of citizenship. If a permanent resident is
denied naturalization, he or she must wait
at least one year before reapplying.
Other countries
The following list is a short summary of the
duration of legal residence before a national
of a foreign state, without any cultural,
historical, or marriage ties or connections
to the state in question, can request citizenship
under that state's naturalization laws.
Albania: 5 years continuous residence.
Andorra: 20 years permanent resident, unless
the applicant has spent all of his mandatory
education in Andorra in which case 10 years
permanent residence.
Angola: 10 years continuous as a permanent
resident immediately before the application
Argentina: 2 years continuous as a permanent
resident immediately before the application
Australia: 4 years as a permanent resident
in Australia immediately prior to making an
application
Austria: 10 years residence, with exceptions
for those born in Austria, citizens of another
EEA country, refugees or "exceptionally integrated"
in which case it is 6 years.
Belgium: 3 years continuous
Bangladesh: 5 years residence.
Barbados: 5 years residence.
Belarus: 7 years residence.
Bhutan: 20 years residence.
Brazil: 4 years of uninterrupted residence.
Bulgaria: The applicant should be at least
18 years old; have permission for permanent
or for long-term residence in Bulgaria since
at least 5 years; have not been investigated
or sentenced by the Bulgarian authorities;
have income or occupation; be able to speak
and write in Bulgarian; renounce previous
citizenship.
Burkina Faso: 10 years residence.
Burma: Foreigners cannot become naturalized
citizens of Burma.
Canada: 3 years as a permanent resident
Chile: 5 years continuous.
Colombia: 5 years as a permanent resident.
Czech Republic: 5 years permanent residence
or 10 years residence.
Denmark: 9 years continuous as a permanent
resident immediately before the application
Estonia: 8 years residence out of which 5
years as a permanent residence.
Finland: 5 years of continuous residence.
France: 5 years continuous residency. Two
years continuous residency for applicants
who have had at least two years of higher
education in France.
Germany: 8 years continuous.
Greece: 7 years residence.
Hungary: 8 years continuous residence.
Iceland: 7 years residence.
Ireland: 5 years over the last 9 years, including
at least 1 year before applying. Dual citizenship
is allowed, however Irish citizenship can
be revoked if a naturalized citizen obtains
citizenship of another state subsequent to
naturalization.
Israel: 3 years out of the previous 5 as a
permanent resident. All naturalization requests
are at the discretion of the Minister of the
Interior.
Italy: 10 years continuous.
Japan: 5 years continuous. 3 years if married
to a Japanese national.
Luxembourg: 7 years continuous residence.
Macedonia: 8 years continuous residence.
Malta: 5 years residence.
Monaco: 10 years continuous residence.
Netherlands: 5 years continuous
New Zealand: 5 years continuous as a permanent
resident immediately before the application
Norway: 7 years out of the previous 10 as
a permanent resident immediately before the
application
Paraguay: 3 year residence.
Peru: 2 years continuous residence.
Poland: 10 years residence or 3 years permanent
residence.
Portugal: 10 years continuous residence.
Romania: 8 years residence.
Russia: 5 years continuous. 3 years if married
to a Russian citizen. 1 year for valued specialists
and refugees. Dual citizenship is allowed.
Samoa: 5 years residence.
Slovakia: 8 years residence.
Slovenia: 10 years residence, 5 years continuous
before the application.
Spain: 10 years residence.
South Korea: 5 years continuous. 2 years continuous
if married to a South Korean national.
Sweden: 5 years continuous. 4 years continuous
for stateless people and refugees.
Switzerland: 12 years.
Tonga: 5 years residence.
Turkey: 5 years continuous residence. The
applicant must be a fluent speaker of the
Turkish language.
Mass naturalizations
A few rare mass naturalization processes have
been implemented by nation states. In 1891,
Brazil granted naturalization to all aliens
living in the country. In 1922, Greece massively
naturalized all the Greek refugees coming
back from Turkey. The second massive naturalization
process was in favor of Armenian refugees
coming from Turkey, who went to Syria, Lebanon
or other former Ottoman countries. Reciprocally,
Turkey massively naturalized the refugees
of Turkish descent or other ethnic backgrounds
in Muslim creed from these countries during
a redemption process.
Canada instituted a mass naturalization by
Act of Parliament with the enactment of the
Canadian Citizenship Act 1946.
After annexation of the territories east of
the Curzon line by the Soviet Union in 1945,
Soviets naturalized en masse all the inhabitants
of those territories—including ethnic Poles,
as well as its other citizens who had been
deported into the Soviet Union, mainly to
Kazakhstan. Those persons were forcibly naturalized
as Soviet citizens. Later on, Germany granted
to the ethnic German population in Russia
and Kazakhstan full citizenship rights. Poland
has a limited repatriation program in place.
The most recent massive naturalization case
resulted from the Argentine economic crisis
in the beginning of the 21st century. Existing
or slightly updated right of return laws in
Spain and Italy allowed many of their diasporic
descendants to obtain—in many cases to regain—naturalization
in virtue of jus sanguinis, as in the Greek
case. Hence, many Argentine and Latin Americans
acquired European nationality.
Since the Fourteenth Amendment to the United
States Constitution grants citizenship only
to those "born or naturalized in the United
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof",
and the original United States Constitution
only grants Congress the power of naturalization,
it could be argued that all acts of Congress
that expand the right of citizenship are cases
of mass naturalization. This includes the
acts that extended U.S. citizenship to citizens
of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands,
Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, as
well as the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
which made all Native Americans citizens.
In occupied territories
The mass naturalization of native persons
in occupied territories is illegal under the
laws of war. However, there have been many
instances of such illegal mass naturalizations
in the 20th century.
Denaturalization
Denaturalization is the reverse of naturalization,
when a state deprives one of its citizens
of his or her citizenship. From the point
of view of the individual, denaturalization
means "revocation" or "loss" of citizenship.
Denaturalization can be based on various legal
justifications. The most severe form is the
"stripping of citizenship" when denaturalization
takes place as a penalty for actions considered
criminal by the state, often only indirectly
related to nationality, for instance for having
served in a foreign military. In countries
that enforce single citizenship, voluntary
naturalization in another country will lead
to an automatic loss of the original citizenship;
the language of the law often refers to such
cases as "giving up one's citizenship" or
renunciation of citizenship. In another case,
affecting only foreign-born citizens, denaturalization
can refer to the loss of citizenship by an
annulment of naturalization, also known as
"administrative denaturalization" where the
original act of naturalization is found to
be invalid, for instance due to an administrative
error or if it had been based on fraud. In
the US, the Bancroft Treaties in the 19th
century regulated legislation concerning denaturalization.
After World War II
Loss of U.S. citizenship was a consequence
of foreign military service based on Section
349(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act until its provisions were found unconstitutional
by the Supreme Court in 1967.
Yaser Esam Hamdi was a U.S. citizen captured
in Afghanistan in 2001. He was fighting against
U.S. and Afghan Northern Alliance forces,
siding with the Taliban. He was named by the
Bush administration as an illegal enemy combatant,
and militarily detained in the country for
almost three years without receiving any charges.
On September 23, 2004, the United States Justice
Department agreed to release Hamdi to Saudi
Arabia on the condition that he give up his
U.S. citizenship, though since it was done
under duress it is possible that he can later
reclaim it.
In the United Kingdom
Section 4 of the British Nationality, Immigration
and Asylum Act 2002 gave power to the Home
Secretary to ‘deprive a person of a citizenship
status if the Secretary of State is satisfied
that the person has done anything seriously
prejudicial to the vital interests’ of the
United Kingdom etc., except in the case where
such might render the person stateless.
In Canada
Under Canadian citizenship law citizenship
can be revoked by an order from the federal
cabinet if:
naturalized Canadians is convicted of fraud
in relation to their citizenship application
or original admission to Canada as an immigrant
In the past revoking citizenship was more
broad:
naturalization in another country
long residence overseas
lost based on parent's loss of Canadian citizenship
Those who are revoked can appeal to the Federal
Court of Canada.
Between World Wars
Before World War I, only a small number of
countries had laws governing denaturalization
that could be enforced against citizens guilty
of "lacking patriotism". Such denaturalized
citizens became stateless persons. During
and after the war, most European countries
passed amendments to revoke naturalization.
In Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power or Bare Life,
philosopher Giorgio Agamben mentioned a number
of denaturalization laws that were passed
after World War I by most European countries:
It is important to note that starting with
the period of World War I, many European states
began to introduce laws which permitted their
own citizens to be denaturalized and denationalized.
The first was France, in 1915, with regard
to naturalized citizens of "enemy" origins;
in 1922 the example was followed by Belgium,
which revoked the naturalization of citizens
who had committed "anti-national" acts during
the war; in 1926 the Fascist regime in Italy
passed a similar law concerning citizens who
had shown themselves to be "unworthy of Italian
citizenship"; in 1933 it was Austria's turn,
and so forth, until in 1935 the Nuremberg
Laws divided German citizens into full citizens
and citizens without political rights. These
laws – and the mass statelessness that resulted
– mark a decisive turning point in the life
of the modern nation-state and its definitive
emancipation from the naive notions of "people"
and "citizen."
The 1915 French denaturalization law applied
only to naturalized citizens with "enemy origins"
who had kept their original nationality. Later
under Raymond Poincaré's government, another
law was passed in 1927 which entitled the
government to denaturalize any new citizen
who committed acts contrary to the national
interest.
In 1916, Portugal passed a law which automatically
denaturalized all citizens born to a German
father.
In 1922, Belgium enacted a law revoking the
naturalization of persons accused of having
committed "antinational acts" during the war;
this was supplemented in 1934 by a new decree
against people "in dereliction of their duties
as Belgian citizens."
After 1926 in Italy, people who were deemed
not to deserve the Italian citizenship or
who were considered to represent a threat
to the public order could lose their naturalization.
Egypt in 1926 and Turkey in 1928 enacted laws
authorizing denaturalization of any person
threatening the public order. Austria passed
a similar law in 1933 by which it could denaturalize
any citizen who participated in a hostile
action against the state. Russia also passed
several similar decrees after 1921.
In 1933, Nazi Germany passed a law authorizing
it to denaturalize any person "living abroad"
and began restricting the citizenship rights
of naturalized citizens of Jewish origin,
followed in 1935 by citizens by birth on the
basis of the Nuremberg laws.
During Vichy France, 15,000 persons, mostly
Jews, were denaturalized, following the setting
up, in July 1940, of a Commission charged
of revision of naturalizations since the 1927
reform of the nationality law.
Before World War I
In the United States, the proposed, but never
ratified, Titles of Nobility amendment of
1810 would revoke the American citizenship
of anyone who would "accept, claim, receive
or retain, any title of nobility" or who would
receive any gifts or honors from a foreign
power.
See also
Citizenship
Golden visa
History of citizenship
European Convention on Nationality
Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness
References
External links
PoliticosLatinos.com Videos of 2008 US Presidential
Election Candidates' Positions regarding Immigration
Naturalization First Appeared in the Constitution
EUDO CITIZENSHIP Observatory
