Tigranna Zakaryan be a citizen by birth [Article 11(1)]. A child is entitled to citizenship through registration in the case they are under the age of eighteen and is adopted by a citizen of Uganda [Article 11(2)]. In accordance with the 2009 Regulations, an adopted child above the age of sixteen is to take an oath of allegiance in the presence of their parents, while those under the age of sixteen are not required to do so (Part II, Section 4). 3.2.3 Registration based on birth in Uganda and residence since 1962 Article 12(1) of the 1995 Constitution establishes entitlement to citizenship through registration for a person born in Uganda on the basis that at the time of birth, “(i) neither of his or her parents and none of his or her grandparents had diplomatic status in Uganda; and (ii) neither of his or her parents and none of his or her grandparents was a refugee in Uganda; and (b) who has lived continuously in Uganda since the ninth day of October, 1962”. Given the requirement to have lived continuously in Uganda since independence day in 1962, this provision appears to be aimed at providing a solution for those persons born before independence who did not acquire citizenship automatically based on the transitional provisions in place at independence, but who are also not a member of an ‘indigenous community’ to whom citizenship is attributed by Article 10(a). 3.2.4. Residence-based acquisition Ugandan citizenship can be acquired in two ways, after a certain period of residence. First, a more facilitated form of acquisition by ‘registration’ is available on application to persons who have either ‘legally and voluntarily’ migrated to Uganda and lived there for at least ten years (Constitution, Article 12(2)(b)) or who, on the commencement of the 1995 Constitution, have lived in Uganda for at least twenty years (Constitution, Article 12(2)(c)). The constitutional provision allows parliament to change the length of residence required for registration under Article 12(2)(b) based on ‘legal and voluntary’ migration, and the original version of UCICA adopted in 1999 raised the period to 20 years -- but this was reduced again to ten years by its 2009 amendments. 34 Second, a discretionary ‘naturalisation’ procedure of residence-based acquisition is open to persons who have resided in Uganda for an "aggregate period of twenty years" and for twenty-four month following their application for naturalisation (Constitution, Article 13; UCICA, Article 16). In addition, persons should have knowledge of a “prescribed vernacular language” or English [which is the official language of Uganda]; and maintain good character. Uganda’s naturalisation laws have a major gap as it pertains to children because in the case a child’s parent has become a citizen through means of naturalisation, a child must also undergo the same process in order to acquire Ugandan citizenship. As indicated above, the twenty-year residency period does not apply to minors despite having either been born or grown up in Uganda. Therefore, in practice, once a minor becomes an adult at the age of eighteen, they have the opportunity to naturalise twenty years later at the age of thirty-eight. Under the 1995 Constitution, anyone who became a citizen of Uganda was required to renounce any citizenship of another country (Article 15). Following the Constitutional Amendments Act of 2005, however, renunciation of a previous citizenship is no longer required. 34 Uganda Citizenship and Immigration Control Act, 1999, Section 14(2)(b), as amended by Uganda Citizenship and Immigration Control (Amendment) Act 2009, Section 4. 8 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/8 - © 2020 Author