Nationality in Namibia is governed by the 1990 Constitution and citizenship act, as amended in 2010. The law provides for citizenship on the basis of descent, and also for a child born in Namibia to acquire citizenship at birth if the parents are “ordinarily resident” in the country. Dual citizenship is permitted for those who have citizenship from birth; the courts have confirmed this in several cases.
The 2010 amendments to the citizenship act reflected a trend to restrict access to citizenship, increasing the period of residence required for acquisition of citizenship through marriage or by naturalisation.
The interpretation of “ordinarily resident” has been questioned, and in 2016, the Supreme Court ruled that the interpretation could include a person in Namibia on a temporary residence permit. The government immediately moved to amend the law to restrict acquisition of citizenship at birth to chidren whose parents had permanent residence in Namibia, but later backed down from this proposal.
The Namibian constitutional provisions include a protection against statelessness for children born in the territory, although it is not complete (requiring the parents to be ordinarily resident). The law does not provide for a presumption of citizenship in favour of children of unknown parents; an omission which was regretted by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2012. In practice, such children are usually granted Namibian citizenship.
By Niël Terblanche The Namibian government has taken steps to address issues of statelessness and improve civil registration processes through two new pieces of legislation. These include the Civil Registration and Identification Act, 2024, and the Regularisation of Status of […]
To regulate the solemnisation of marriages; to provide for the validation and recognition of certain marriages; and to provide for incidental matters. Section 32 provides: Good faith marriages(1) A marriage between a Namibian citizen and a foreign national who is […]
To provide for compilation and maintenance of a Civil Register; to provide for the appointment of Registrar-General and Registrars; to determine the age of certain persons recorded in the Civil Register in accordance with this Act; to provide for name […]
To provide for a process for application for acquisition of Namibian citizenship by naturalisation for holders of South West Africa identification documents; to provide for a process for application for acquisition of Namibian citizenship by birth or descent of the […]
By Yrika Maritz, Head of Experimentation Over the past few months, I have had the privilege of working with UNDP’s Chief Digital Office by engaging in focused discussions with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security in Namibia regarding […]
By Envaalde Matheus Namibia’s home affairs minister has tabled a bill that will grant people born with South West Africa (SWA) identification documents (IDs) full Namibian citizenship. Up to now, many of these individuals have been unable to get Namibian […]
To provide for a process for application for acquisition of Namibian citizenship by naturalisation for holders of South West Africa identification documents; to provide for a process for application for acquisition of Namibian citizenship by birth or descent of the […]
Niël Terblanché The government’s mass registration outreach programme, aimed at providing national documents to residents across the country, is nearing its conclusion. Over 94 317 individuals have already benefited from this initiative, which started on 5 February and will conclude […]
Cabinet had directed the ministry of home affairs to address the issue of undocumented and stateless persons in the country in 2021. Although the ministry ambitiously set sights on realising this target and resolving the problem by 2025, eradicating statelessness […]
The Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security says a total of 141 048 individuals have been identified and registered as stateless and undocumented. This was revealed by home affairs minister Albert Kawana in parliament this week while delivering […]
The home affairs ministry has drafted two pieces of legislation to cater to South Africans who came to Namibia in the 1980s and missed the one-year deadline at independence that allowed them to renounce citizenship of any other country. *Fiona, […]
WINDHOEK, 24 SEP (NAMPA) – Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security Minister Albert Kawana has said that his ministry is drafting a bill aimed at preventing statelessness and regularising the status of specified categories of stateless and undocumented persons. Speaking […]