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CITIZENSHIP REGULATIONS: JUNE 2023 AMENDMENTS WITHDRAWN AND REPLACED
- 08 July 2023
- Home Affairs
- SA Legal Academy
The Department of Home Affairs has withdrawn and replaced amendments to the naturalisation application regulations gazetted on 12 June 2023 and in force from that date. The new amendments came into effect on 7 July 2023 but were only published in the eGazette the following day.
In the absence of a statement from the department, it is not clear how officials will deal with applications submitted according to criteria specified in the now-withdrawn amendments.
This is especially noting that latest set of amendments specifies that requirements set out in the regulations as amended on 12 June 2023 and since replaced apply expressly to naturalisation applicants:
- born in South Africa ‘between 6 October 1995 and the date of having attained the age of 18 years’,
- who have lived in South Africa and ‘have no citizenship, residency or connection in any manner whatsoever … (with) any other country’.
In that context, in addition to requirements set out in the June 2023 amendments, among other things the new amendments:
- specify the additional criteria to be met where an applicant’s marital status has changed
- require a naturalisation applicant to be able to communicate in one of South Africa’s official languages (as opposed to having ‘knowledge’ of one of those languages)
- require a signed ‘declaration of allegiance’ from every successful applicant, and
- provide that a citizen by naturalisation may be deprived of that status.
Where an applicant ‘was born of asylum seekers or refugees’ – or ‘of foreigners not admitted for permanent residence’ – in addition to requirements set out in the June 2023 amendments, the new amendments:
- provide that, where no proof of birth has been issued by a health facility, a sworn affidavit meeting specific criteria will suffice.
In addition, the new amendments provide that, in ‘appropriate circumstances’, an applicant may be required to appear before a hearing without the right to legal representation.
- 7 July 2023 amendments
- 12 June 2023 amendments, now withdrawn
Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch