Report on Citizenship Law: South Africa difference is that the SACA could be interpreted to require five years of ‘ordinary residence’ as a permanent resident. Given that it ordinarily takes five years of residence to acquire permanent residence (§25 Immigration Act, No. 13 of 2002), this would result in the norm being a ten year residence requirement. Even so, both Acts allow for the Minister’s discretion in reducing this residence requirement in granting permanent residence (§27, Immigration Act) and naturalisation (§9 SACA). It is unclear, therefore, what might be the case for an individual who achieved a fast-tracked permanent residence due to ‘exceptional skills’ or another of the many exceptions listed in §27 who then applies for naturalisation after five years of residence as a permanent resident. See Section four of this report for a further discussion of the challenges of implementation of citizenship law. Individuals seeking naturalisation through marriage also face increased residency requirements under the current citizenship regime. There has been a shift from a requirement of two years of marriage and residence (which could be concurrent) to the unspecified ‘a prescribed period’ (§5(5)(c)). The current regulations specify the same residence requirements as those following non-spousal routes: residence for 10 years preceding, with no absence longer than 90 days in the 5 years immediately preceding application. In terms of the §26 of the Immigration Act, permanent residence through spousal routes requires five years of marriage or residence. The Department parliamentary briefing on the new regulations suggest that this shift was explicitly to prevent marriages of convenience and the noticed practice of South Africans being paid to marry foreigners to facilitate naturalisation (2013). Third, minor changes have been made to the wording of the subsection on the naturalisation of children: the provision has been split into two parts, with the reference to the need for an application to be made by the ‘responsible parent or legal guardian’ now emphasised in part (b). Regulations now clearly specify individual forms for children and the need for each individual to qualify for naturalisation (Regulation 3 (4)). The Department briefing to the Home Affairs parliamentary committee cited that “this expectation would combat the smuggling of children and would help solve the problem of bloating South Africa with children that were not South African” (2013). Fourth, the 2010 amendment (No. 17 of 2010) to SACA allows for significant Ministerial discretion: under ‘exceptional circumstances’ the Minister may grant a certificate of naturalisation to an applicant who does not meet the residency requirements (§5(9)(a)). The only limitation is that the Minister is required to table the names of those who have been granted citizenship through this channel at Parliament each year, within 14 days of the opening of parliament (§5(9)(b)). The definition of ‘exceptional circumstance’ was queried by opposition parties in the Departmental briefing on the Amendment and regulations (2013). Such circumstances were defined as individuals with ‘scarce skills’ and were cited as necessary in order to ensure the 10-year process did not put off individuals with scarce skills (2013). See section four of this report for a discussion of the use of this discretion power. Finally, in a step toward more inclusive citizenship, the SACA now also allows children of non-permanent residents to acquire citizenship upon reaching majority, if they have lived in the Republic from birth to majority, and their birth was registered in terms of the BDRA (§4(3)). Note that this will only apply to individuals whose parents were legally in the country, given that evidence of a valid permit or visa is required to register the birth. This provision goes beyond the “statelessness exception”, which grants citizenship by birth to children without access to any other citizenship. Upon reaching majority, children of nonpermanent resident, non-citizens can acquire citizenship through naturalisation, even if they have entitlement to another citizenship. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2018/1 - © 2018 Author(s) 9