Comparative regional report on citizenship law: Anglophone Caribbean
With the exception of Trinidad and Tobago, these countries also allow for the spouses
of individuals who become citizens to acquire citizenship (spousal extension). Thus, whereas
the previous Table illustrates the similarities and differences in approach to the spouses of
people who are already citizens of a particular country, the comments here relate to the
registration of spouses of individuals who become citizens later in life. For the most part, a
spouse may register for citizenship once her or his spouse has already acquired citizenship. In
The Bahamas and Barbados, this stipulation is once again gendered as it only applies to the
wives of noncitizen men who become citizens. In half of the countries, an oath is required,
but with the exception of Antigua and Barbuda, no residency requirements are stipulated.
All Anglophone Caribbean countries also provide for the spouses of their deceased
citizens to acquire citizenship, but only within the context of the immediate Independence
period. That is, the widow(er)’s spouse must have been, or could have become, but for her or
his death, a citizen upon Independence. It is of note that, in many cases, these Independenceera procedures are gendered; only the deceased husband’s noncitizen wife may register for
citizenship. The noncitizen husband of the deceased female citizen (or female who would
have become a citizen at Independence, but for her death) is not always afforded the same
entitlement.
Children
In those cases where the child is born to a deceased parent, the countries differ in their preIndependence and post-Independence provisions. While five countries stipulate that the
transfer of citizenship to the child of a deceased parent may only take place when the child is
born overseas, all countries contain an interpretive article that basically reads, as follows:
Any reference…to the national status of the father of a person at the time of that person’s birth shall, in
relation to a person born after the death of his father, be construed as a reference to the national status
of the father at the time of the father’s death.
The existence of such an interpretive article should allow for the other nationality provisions
in the transmission of citizenship from parent to child to have effect. Thus, although several
countries are noted as having the “birth abroad” restriction, the aforementioned interpretive
article in every country’s Constitution tempers the qualification. Moreover, it is of note that
the interpretive provision is gendered in half of the countries; that is, it refers only to the
deceased male parent.29
Table 4 provides an overview of existing provisions. Three of the countries (Antigua
and Barbuda, Belize, and St. Kitts and Nevis) also allow a grandparent to transfer citizenship
if the grandparent would have become a citizen at Independence, but for her or his death.
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The countries with a gender discriminatory interpretive article are: The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize,
Dominica, Grenada and St. Kitts and Nevis. The latter country, however, also has explicit constitutional
citizenship transfer provisions for the child born to any citizen parent, regardless of sex.
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RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-Comp. 2020/3 - © 2020 Authors