Patrícia Jerónimo declared their wish to be Mozambican citizens after turning 18 and within one year after reaching majority, i.e. within one year after turning 21 years of age.35 Individuals not covered by these provisions were nevertheless entitled to Mozambican citizenship by origin on other grounds. Per Article 5, individuals domiciled in Mozambique on the date of independence and who had resided in Mozambique for at least 20 years were entitled to Mozambican citizenship provided that they declared, within 90 days after independence, their wish to be Mozambican. Also, per Article 6, Mozambican citizenship was attributed to individuals younger than 40 years of age who were domiciled in Mozambique on the date of independence and who had resided in Mozambique for a period of time of more than half their age, provided that they (or their legal representatives) declared their wish to be Mozambican citizens, within 90 days after independence. However, individuals covered by Articles 5 or 6 would be denied Mozambican citizenship if they had been leading members of colonial-fascist political organisations, officials or informants of foreign political police forces, or if they had been convicted by court ruling for crimes against the Mozambican people or decolonisation (Article 7). Ius sanguinis a patre was established in Article 8 (1), which prescribed that the children of a Mozambican father, even if born abroad, were Mozambican citizens. Article 8 (2), however, recognised as Mozambican citizens the children born abroad to a Mozambican father or to a Mozambican mother who participated in the liberation struggle as a member of FRELIMO. The reference to ‘Mozambican father’ in Article 8 (2) is perplexing, since it contradicted Article 8 (1) and made it redundant. If Article 8 (2) covered both the cases in which the Mozambican parent of children born abroad was the father and those in which the Mozambican parent was the mother, as the letter of the law suggested, then Article 8 (1) would be pointless and the scope of ius sanguinis would be much narrower than what appeared in a first reading. The Nationality Regulation ‘clarified’ this point by ignoring the reference to ‘Mozambican father’ in Article 8 (2) and treating this provision as applying only to cases of children born abroad to a Mozambican mother (Article 11 of Decree no. 3/75). As a residual category, Article 3 attributed Mozambican citizenship to individuals who (i) had participated in the liberation struggle integrated in FRELIMO’s structures, (ii) declared their wish to be Mozambican, and (iii) expressly renounced any other citizenship. Furthermore, Article 9 established that, on proposal from FRELIMO’s Military and Political Committee, the President of the Republic could grant citizenship by origin to individuals who, while not falling under Articles 1 to 8, had rendered relevant services to the cause of the Mozambican revolution, provided that they expressly renounced any other citizenship. According to Article 10, foreign women married to Mozambican citizens would be entitled to acquire Mozambican citizenship, provided that they (i) renounced their previous citizenship, (ii) declared their wish to be Mozambican, (iii) established domicile in Mozambique, and (iv) offered political and moral guarantees of integration into Mozambican society. The Government could grant Mozambican citizenship by naturalisation to foreigners who, on the date of the application, met the following requirements: (a) resided habitually and legally in Mozambique for at least five years; (b) were 21 years or older; and (c) offered 35 At independence, it was decided that the Portuguese Civil Code, approved by Decree-Law no. 47344, of 25 November 1966, would remain in force, and, under Article 122 of the Code as it was in force in 1975, civil majority was attained at 21. The age threshold most commonly used by the 1975 Nationality Act is 18 years of age, but there are a few references to the ‘age of majority’, as is the case in this Article 4. The age of majority for civil purposes was (and continues to be) different from the age of majority for political purposes, which was/is set at 18 years of age. 10 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2019/6 - © 2019 Author