Report on Citizenship Law: Afghanistan • Automatic naturalisation applied to foreign citizens who had hidden their citizenship of origin during their stay in Afghanistan and had conducted transactions regarding property or real estate as Afghan citizens, bought properties which were restricted to Afghans, or owned assets, livestock, a business or agricultural interests;7 • Foreign citizens who were recruited abroad to serve the Afghan government for more than five years or contributed to Afghan public interest could obtain Afghan citizenship, regardless of the time consideration stipulated in Article 7;8 • The common method for naturalisation, which is still applicable today, was that foreign citizens who had resided in Afghanistan for five years either consecutively or cumulatively, and had not committed any crimes during their stay, could apply for naturalisation (Article 9). The law made renunciation of citizenship dependent on confirmation by the High Council of Ministers. The person needed to have reached the legal age of eighteen years, and was obliged to sell all his or her real estate within one year of the time of loss of citizenship (Article 16).9 If regardless of the consideration under Article 16 Afghan citizens obtained a foreign citizenship, their Afghan citizenship could not be withdrawn but they would be deprived of any government position they may have held. This meant that the government could not arbitrarily remove the citizenship of an Afghan citizen, but the choice was left to the citizen to decide whether to renounce or maintain Afghan citizenship. The law also reserved the right for the government to forcefully remove Afghan citizenship from the following categories of persons: 1) persons who served in the armed forces or civil services of foreign states; 2) persons who conducted their business in Afghanistan and failed to meet their social and public obligations; 3) persons who resided in a foreign country and had no contact nor interest in ensuring relations with Afghan embassies and consulates; 4) persons who committed treason and had fled the country; and 5) persons who issued propaganda which was against the general and national interests of Afghanistan (Article 18). The 1936 law on citizenship applied the ‘dependant principle’ of citizenship10 to the citizenship of married women. Thus, when an Afghan woman married a foreigner she lost her Afghan citizenship. However, she was readmitted as an Afghan citizen after divorce from her foreign husband or after his death. In both cases, she had to present a document of proof of separation. The same provision applied to an alien woman who married an Afghan citizen, 7 Article 6 stipulated that “persons who entered Afghanistan from foreign countries, who concealed their original citizenship, who have been treated as Afghan citizens, who have purchased property in Afghanistan reserved for Afghan citizens, who own herds, or who have been engaged in trade or agriculture in Afghanistan shall be considered citizens of Afghanistan.” 8 Article 7 provided that “foreign nationals who have been in the services of the Afghan government abroad for five years or people who have rendered considerable service to the cause of Afghanistan shall be accepted as Afghan citizens provided that they make the necessary application and meet the residence requirement defined in article 9 herein.” 9 Article 16 stipulated that “no Afghan national can renounce his citizenship until he has reached the adult age and the Council of Ministers has approved his renunciation. He should also have undertaken to sell all immovable property that he may own or inherit within one year of his renunciation.” 10 Article 7 stated that “An Afghan woman who marries an alien man according to religious rules will not be recognised as an Afghan citizen, but if she is separated either by divorce or the death of the husband and upon presenting documents of proof, she can be counted as an Afghan citizen.” Article 12 provided that “An alien woman who marries an Afghan man will be an Afghan citizen. If the woman is a widow or divorced and has children from a previous husband, her children will be Afghan citizens, unless they present an application within six months after reaching the legal age indicating that they accept their father’s citizenship, in which case they will be deprived of Afghan citizenship.” RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2017/9 - © 2017 Author 5