Zimbabwe: Migration and citizenship
Published: 6/May/2017
Source: NewsDay (Harare)
Over the last few weeks, we have looked at some basic immigration laws in Zimbabwe. More information on regulations and requirements can be found on the Department of Immigration Zimbabwe website. There is relevant information pertaining to the various permits that are issued for a valid stay in the country.
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The different types of permits regulate the visit, depending on the purpose of the visit. The discussion on immigration generated a lot of interest and questions about citizenship.
We have discussed it before, but for the sake of completion will revisit it. People always want to know whether or not dual citizenship is allowed in Zimbabwe. They want to know if they can maintain their Zimbabwean citizenship simultaneously with that of another country.
The Registrar-General’s website is not the best source of information regarding citizenship. It is very misleading and we had hoped that since highlighting the issue in 2015 about the outdated information peddled on the website, it would have been updated by now.
The site was last updated in 2012 before the 2013 Constitution came into force. The page refers to the Zimbabwe Citizenship Act of 1984 with amendments in 2001 and 2004. That Act outlawed dual citizenship, but it was superseded by the 2013 Constitution.
So misleading and unreliable is information given by the Registrar-General’s department that even the passports still being issued to date contain this misleading and false message. The conditions of issue written on page 4 of the Zimbabwean expressly outlaws dual citizenship.
It states unequivocally that it is a criminal offence to simultaneously own passports from different countries. The confusion and uncertainty between what is officially stated and what the Constitution says after 2013, only entrenches fear and forces many people to lie and conceal their citizenship status to immigration officials.
Read further: https://www.newsday.co.zw/2017/05/06/migration-and-citizenship/