Maria Lorena Leiva Salinas
procedures established in internal regulations, and is granted by the President of the
Plurinational State of Bolivia, through Supreme Resolution.
The procedure of naturalisation for services to the country differs from the previous ones
since it is done before the Plurinational Legislative Assembly. According to Bolivian writers,
there are no cases in constitutional history in which nationality had been granted as a privilege33.
3.1.3. Loss of nationality
The current legislation is incomplete given that it indicates the cases in which nationality is not
lost in article 143; for example, stating that no Bolivian who marries a foreigner will lose their
nationality of origin and that one does not lose Bolivian nationality by acquiring a foreign
citizenship.
But it does not establish when it can be lost. The constitution prior to the current reform
did establish that one of the causes for losing Bolivian nationality was the acquisition of another
citizenship.
The new constitutional reform, in the records that are held, did not engage in any
discussion regarding the elimination of this part by the appointed commission. Therefore, it
creates a vacuum since currently there is no cause for which nationality could be lost.
3.1.4. Dual nationality
The current constitution, in establishing that by marrying a foreigner or vice-versa one does not
lose Bolivian nationality, allows for double nationality. The regulatory norm that supports this
was promulgated by Supreme Decree 27698, of 24 August 2004, which regulates nationality
and its recovery. This rule establishes that immigration authorities are the ones who must
address the issues of migration, nationality and naturalisation in the administrative order, in the
exercise of their jurisdiction and competence.
The consular offices of Bolivia are in charge of managing the registration of children of
Bolivian parents born abroad in the Civil Registry, as well as fulfilling the role of Notaries of
Public Faith; and both have the responsibility to process any request for the recovery of
nationality.
Currently, many people are benefiting from, and making use of, this legal resource, the
place that is most often processing this type of procedure is Argentina, where a large percentage
of Bolivians have gone to reside.
3.2. Citizenship
Only those declared and registered as Bolivians can be citizens, and they may exercise their
citizenship through political participation from the age of 18, regardless of their level of
education, occupation or income.
Throughout the constitutions that Bolivia has had, we can see an evolution in the
requirements established for granting citizenship. The first constitution as was mentioned
before was quite demanding and led to inequality. The present constitution has broadly opened
33
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CIRO FELIX TRIGO, DERECHO CONSTITUCIONAL BOLIVIANO, 2003/PAG. 467
RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/2 - © 2020 Author