Cabinet approves amendment of Namibian Citizenship Act
New Era 5 July 2010
by Fifi Rhodes
WINDHOEK - Cabinet has authorised the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration to seek an amendment of Section 3 and 5 of the Namibian Citizenship Act (Act 14 of 1990).
This means Home Affairs and Immigration will extend the period for acquiring Namibian citizenship by marriage from the current two years to 10 years of marriage.
Cabinet further authorised the ministry to extend the period for citizenship by naturalisation from the current five to a 10-year period.
Cabinet instructed the ministry to submit the Amendment Bill to the Ministry of Justice for scrutiny of the legal language before it is debated in the National Assembly.
This comes after the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration approached Cabinet with a request to amend Section 3 and 5 of the Namibian Citizenship Act, (Act 14 of 1990).
The ministry also sought permission to extend the period for acquiring Namibian citizenship by marriage from two years to 10 years and to extend the period of acquiring citizenship by naturalisation from five to 10 years.
These amendments, the ministry said, will be in line with the amendments of the Namibian Constitution, as per Article 4 (3bb) and 4(5b). For citizenship by marriage, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration wants to insert the requirements that a person will only qualify for Namibian citizenship by marriage if he/she has been staying in Namibia in the company of the Namibian spouse for a period for not less than 10 years from the date of their marriage, provided that their marriage was entered into in good faith and such citizenship status is not transferable to the second spouse.
The amended Namibian Citizenship Act will also provide for a person, who intends to obtain Namibian citizenship by marriage to first renounce his/her current citizenship before acquiring citizenship by marriage.
As for citizenship by naturalisation, the ministry wants to amend the said Act to read that: He/she has been lawfully admitted to Namibia for residence therein for not less then 10 years and should be a permanent residence holder.