Report on Citizenship Law: Bahrain 2.2 Former Law: Bahraini Citizenship Act of 1937 Bahrain got its first law on citizenship on 8 May 1937. From that date, the state began registering subjects under its jurisdiction: firstly, the citizens who were born in Bahrain and, secondly, the citizens by descent who were residing either in Bahrain or abroad in neighbouring countries and even countries farther away such as India. Those who were regarded as Bahrainis were registered by the Bahraini government, while the inhabitants in Bahrain who were nonBahrainis were registered by the British administration. In this way, the birth date of Bahraini citizenship is believed to be 8 May 1937 when the first law on citizenship entered into force.5 The 1937 Citizenship Act defined who could be registered as Bahraini citizens. It regulated the modes of acquisition of Bahraini citizenship, as well as the modes of its loss.6 A main distinction from the current citizenship law (see chapter 3 for the latter) was a more extensive right to acquisition after birth. All persons born in the country before or after 1937 acquired Bahraini citizenship except persons whose fathers were citizens of another state. That meant that children born in Bahrain who would otherwise be stateless, could acquire Bahraini citizenship by birth. Today, persons can acquire Bahraini citizenship after birth in rare cases, primarily only if they are foundlings. The right of acquisition of citizenship by descent also differed from today; persons who were born abroad but had fathers or grandfathers from the side of the father who were born in Bahrain, could acquire Bahraini citizenship. Differently from today, that would mean that persons whose fathers may have been denaturalised, still could obtain Bahraini citizenship because their grandfather from their father’s side were Bahraini citizens by birth. The 1937 law stated that the ruler of Bahrain could give persons residing in Bahrain citizenship by naturalisation after application. In a decree on 20 May 1955, the requirements for naturalisations were defined. To a large extent, they are the same as today except that the residence requirement was set to at least 10 years, which is less than what follows from the current legislation.7 Citizenship could be deprived from naturalised persons who no longer resided in Bahrain. Moreover, spousal extension of citizenship to wives of male citizens was established in 1937, in which all foreign women married to male citizens could acquire Bahraini citizenship. Today, the law requires the marriage to be upheld five years after application, before the foreign women can acquire Bahraini citizenship. In the 1937 law, the foreigner woman could lose Bahraini citizenship she acquired based on her marriage in the case of divorce. The other modes of loss of Bahraini citizenship were primarily related to cases in which Bahraini citizens had acquired another foreign citizenship. When the 1963 law enacted, the modes of loss of citizenship were further developed, among other things. 2.3 Bahraini Citizenship Act of 1963 – Current Law On 16 September 1963, Bahrain’s current citizenship law was published and ordered to be put into force from the same date. According to its first provision, the law was to be called the 5 Yacoob Seyadi, ‘1937 ‫ ﻣﺎﯾﻮ‬8 ‫[ ﺗﺄﺻﯿﻞ اﻟﺠﻨﺴﯿﺔ اﻟﺒﺤﺮﯾﻨﯿﺔ ﺑﺪأ ﻓﻲ‬The origin of the Bahraini citizenship began on 8 May 1937]’, Al-Wasat, 30 August 2014, http://www.alwasatnews.com/news/917323.html (accessed 2 January 2021). 6 An unofficial copy of the Bahraini Citizenship Act of 1937 ‘[1937 ‫]ﻗﺎﻧﻮن اﻟﺠﻨﺴﯿﺔ اﻟﺒﺤﺮﯾﻨﯿﺔ‬, is available here: https://www.bahrainlaw.net/1937-t1139.html#p1270 (accessed 2 January 2021). 7 Yacoob Seyadi, ‘1937 ‫ ﻣﺎﯾﻮ‬8 ‫[ ﺗﺄﺻﯿﻞ اﻟﺠﻨﺴﯿﺔ اﻟﺒﺤﺮﯾﻨﯿﺔ ﺑﺪأ ﻓﻲ‬The origin of the Bahraini citizenship began on 8 May 1937]’, Al-Wasat, 30 August 2014, http://www.alwasatnews.com/news/917323.html (accessed 2 January 2021). RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2021/6 - © 2021 Author(s) 3