Comparative Regional Report on Citizenship Law: Oceania States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands continue to have laws to avoid dual citizenship,119 while Kiribati still prohibits dual citizenship for people not of i-Kiribati descent. Table 7 Dual citizenship At birth FSM Dual citizenship permitted? Incoming naturalisation Outgoing naturalisation No No Yes Yes (i-Kiribati descent only) No Yes Yes Yes (i-Kiribati descent only) No (except for acquisition of foreign citizenship upon marriage) Yes Yes Yes (only for prescribed countries) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Nauru Yes (but dual citizenship must be relinquished at adulthood) Yes Yes (i-Kiribati descent only) Yes (but dual citizenship must be relinquished at adulthood) Yes Palau PNG Yes No Samoa Yes Yes Yes (only for prescribed countries) Yes Solomon Is Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Fiji Kiribati Marshall Is Date of legal change to permit dual citizenship 2009 1997 (for incoming naturalisation) 2005 (for all) 2008 2014 2004 2018 2007 2009 2013 In this shift towards recognition and acceptance of dual citizenship, states in Oceania are following a wider global trend.120 In making the change, however, law-makers have given a range of reasons pertinent to the particular circumstances of Pacific states. One of the most common is the desire to reintegrate peoples of Pacific island descent into their home countries. Samoa and Tonga have large diasporas and there are growing numbers of migrants from Fiji and Micronesian states living permanently in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. 121 These diasporic populations are large, relative to the populations remaining in their home states: for example, there are more Tongans living overseas than in Tonga.122 The main reasons for migration from Pacific islands are economic – as people seek work, higher pay and education opportunities abroad – and social, such as marriage and family connections. Many retain strong links to their home states, sending remittances to their family and community, travelling between their home state and state of 119 Constitutional changes to permit dual citizenship have been proposed in FSM but have failed to pass: Rosalinda Yatilman, ‘FSM Constitutional Amendment of Dual Citizenship’ (The Fourth Branch, 30 April 2012) <http://www.tfbmicronesia.com/articles/2012/4/30/fsm-constitutional-amendment-of-dual-citizenship-byrosalind.html>. 120 Spiro (n 95). 121 John Connell, ‘The Pacific Diaspora’, Migration and Development: Perspectives from Small States (Commonwealth Secretariat 2015) 245. 122 Helen Lee, ‘Pacific Migration and Transnationalism: Historical Perspectives’ in Helen Lee and Steve Tupai Francis (eds), Migration and Transnationalism: Pacific Perspectives (ANU E Press 2009) 8. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-Comp 2020/1 - © 2020 Author 23