Citizenship in Lesotho is governed by the 1993 Constitution, Chapter IV on Citizenship, which provides in principle for citizenship to be attributed at birth based on birth in Lesotho. It is not clear to what extent this rule is applied in practice. Further detail is provided by the Lesotho Citizenship Order, No.16 of 1971, which was partially repealed by the 1993 Constitution.

The 1993 Constitution provides for gender equality in transmission of citizenship from parent to child, but until 2018 only a foreign woman could acquire citizenship on the basis of marriage to a citizen. In 2018, the constitution was amended to provide for gender equality in transmission of citizenship by marriage, as well as to permit dual citizenship for the first time.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has expressed concern about the low level of birth registration, while the Migrant Workers Committee also expressed concern about the lack of access to consular registration for children of migrant workers born in South Africa.