Zimbabwe: Rory Vashon Wheeler v Registrar General and Others
Published: 6/Nov/2020
Source: Supreme Court of Zimbabwe / Tafadzwa Ralph Mugabe Attorneys (Harare)
High Court Judgement: Wheeler v RG and Others HH 181-20 judgment
Supreme Court Order: Wheeler v RG and Others Supreme Court Order 2020-11-06
Note on the case by Tafadzwa Ralph Mugabe Legal Counsel:
CITIZENSHIP & IMMIGRATION ADVISORY NOTE #13 of 18|11|2020
Supreme Court of Zimbabwe again upholds citizenship of Zimbabwe for persons born abroad to Zimbabwean parents On Friday 6th November 2020, the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe granted a final order by consent declaring the Appellant in that case to be a citizen of Zimbabwe by birth even though he was born abroad, but to Zimbabwean parents; The case was an appeal from a March 2020 decision of the High Court of Zimbabwe which had declined to declare the man to be a citizen of Zimbabwe by birth because he had failed to prove that at the time of his birth abroad, either one or both of his parents were ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe; On appeal, the Registrar General’s Department conceded that the parents were ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe and on that basis the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe issued an order declaring the parents to have been ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe and therefore entitling the Appellant to be a citizen of Zimbabwe by birth in terms of Section 36 (2) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013; The Court ordered the Registrar General of Zimbabwe to forthwith and upon sight of the order issue the Appellant with a citizen identity card and passport; This is the second time that the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe has confirmed the entitlement to citizenship of Zimbabwe by birth for persons born abroad to Zimbabwean parents who are ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe at the time of birth.