31.5.2006 Decree No. 200676 of 31 May 2006 enacting implementing measures of Law No. 2004-663 of 17 December 2004 regarding special naturalization procedures as modified by Presidential Decisions No. 2005-04/PR of 15.7.2005 and No. 2005-10/PR of 29.8.2005 Beneficiaries Procedures Effect of Naturalization “Article 1 – Those benefiting from Law No. 2004-663 of 17 December 2004 establishing special provisions on naturalization as modified by Decisions No. 200504/PR of 15 July 2005 and 2005-10/PR of 29 August 2005 are those persons born in Côte d’Ivoire to foreign parents fulfilling one of the following conditions: 1 - were less than 21 years old on the date of 20 December 1961; 2 - were born between 20 December 1961 and 25 January 1973. Also benefitting from this law are foreigners who had their habitual residence without interruption in Côte d’Ivoire prior to 7 August 1960.”  Established the role of Courts of First Instance in receiving naturalization applications at a local level to transfer to the Ministry of Justice for review prior to approval or rejection by the President.  Established a one-year deadline for the special naturalization program.  Clarified that any person who was naturalized pursuant to this provision would be subject to a number of restrictions, i.e. naturalized persons would not be able to serve in a function or elected mandate for which Ivorian nationality is required for a period of 10 years; would not be able to vote for a period of five years where Ivorian nationality is required to be registered on the voter rolls; would not be able to be named to a public function designated by the State, become a member of the legal bar, occupy a ministerial office or exercise a liberal profession regulated by a national order for five years.  Naturalized persons could be subject to any other limitations adopted by subsequent special law, although someone who rendered exceptional services to Côte d’Ivoire could be exempted from any or all limitations either as specified in the naturalization decree or a subsequent decree.  In adopting these restrictions on naturalized persons, the implementing decree endorsed the position taken on this point in Law No. 2004-663 and casted aside the conflicting stance taken in Decision 2005-10/PR. Acquisition of Nationality by Declaration Program (2014 – 2016) Côte d’Ivoire adopted a second special nationality-related program, which incorporated several lessons from the experience with the Linas-Marcoussis program. For one, this second program elected to promote acquisition of Ivorian nationality by declaration, rather than naturalization. This is a (somewhat) more straightforward procedure and acquisition of nationality by declaration occurs as a matter of right when a person fulfills the relevant criteria, rather than being a matter of executive discretion, like naturalization. Second, those who acquire Ivorian nationality by declaration are not subject to the restrictions (incapacités) foreseen in Article 43 of the Nationality Code. Rather, they accrue all rights as Ivorian nationals upon acquisition of nationality by declaration. This fulfills the original intention of the 1961 Nationality Code. Finally, the lawmakers in 2013 benefitted from prior trial-and-error in defining the scope of the beneficiaries of the program. That said, ongoing problems and ambiguities persisted with respect to which legal descendants 70