South Africa: Automatic Loss of South African Citizenship Declared Unconstitutional
June 15, 2023
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has ruled unconstitutional a provision of law that caused South African citizens to automatically lose their South African citizenship if they failed to apply to retain their citizenship before becoming citizens of another country. South African citizens who lost their citizenship during the validity of this rule must apply for South African passports for purposes of entry or departure from the country. The Department of Home Affairs has not confirmed whether it will appeal the decision to the constitutional court. If it appeals and wins, the provision may again be held valid and South African citizens seeking another country’s citizenship will need to continue to apply to retain their South African citizenship. If the Department does not appeal the decision, South African citizens will be able to retain their South African citizenship even if they are citizens of other countries, without applying to retain their South African citizenship. Fragomen will monitor this development and provide updates.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].
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