Report on Citizenship Law: Mozambique Attribution based on birth abroad to a Mozambican father or mother in the service of Mozambique: Article 23 (2) of the Constitution recognises as Mozambican citizens those born abroad to a Mozambican father or to a Mozambican mother provided that the Mozambican parent is abroad in the service of the state.77 This provision reciprocates the ‘diplomatic exception’ that is common in countries which adopt ius soli as the main criterion for citizenship attribution [see Article 24 (2) of the Constitution] and is based on the ‘extraterritorial fiction’ according to which the Mozambican diplomatic missions are considered to be part of Mozambican territory. That explains why the attribution in this case is automatic, by mere effect of the law, whereas the attribution to children born abroad to a Mozambican parent not in the service of the state is conditional upon a declaration of the wish to be Mozambican [Article 23 (3)]. The provision’s roots in diplomatic practice do not mean, however, that the term ‘service’ should be interpreted narrowly to only cover diplomatic functions. It should instead be interpreted broadly to cover any activity performed in a foreign country as a representative of Mozambique, including travels abroad as holders of offices or public positions (e.g. a courtesy visit to a foreign country by the President of the Republic or other office holder) or as members of official sports organisations or athletes representing Mozambique in athletic competitions. This broad interpretation of the term ‘service’ is consistent with the way the term is used in the Nationality Regulation for the cases of children born in Mozambique to foreigners in the service of their state (Article 5 of the Nationality Regulation). For Article 23 (2) of the Constitution to apply, the birth must occur at a time when the Mozambican father or the Mozambican mother is abroad in the service of Mozambique. It should be irrelevant if the Mozambican parent was already domiciled abroad for personal reasons before the start of the exercise of public functions, the same way that it should not matter if he or she ceases to exercise such functions at a later date. The child’s date of birth is also the date of reference to determine whether the father or the mother are Mozambican citizens for the purposes of Article 23 (2). Even if the Mozambican parent loses his or her Mozambican citizenship later, that fact does not hinder the attribution of Mozambican citizenship by birth under Article 23 (2). Since this ground for attribution was only introduced in Mozambican citizenship law with the 1990 Constitution, it is not prescribed for in the Nationality Act nor in the Nationality Regulation. By analogy with the provisions in the Act and the Regulation regarding the attribution of citizenship on the basis of birth abroad to a Mozambican citizen, it may be argued that registration of the attribution is mandatory and that proof of citizenship is made by means of a citizenship certificate or of a birth registration certificate which mentions the attribution of citizenship, per Articles 2 (2) and 3 (1) of the Nationality Regulation. By the same token, the registration of citizenship obtained under Article 23 (2) of the 2004 Constitution is made before the Central Registry Office in accordance with Article 11 of the Nationality Regulation with the necessary adaptations, which means that it requires the presentation of the birth registration certificates of both the child and his or her Mozambican parent, and of a document issued by the Mozambican diplomatic or consular 77 The actual phrasing of Article 23 (2) is not so straightforward, however, due to the use of the expression ‘even if born abroad’, which suggests that the birth abroad is only one of the hypotheses covered by the norm. This oblique phrasing is common in ius sanguinis provisions, but seems to be out of place here. Article 23 (2) should simply read ‘born abroad’, since its purpose is clearly to recognise as Mozambican citizens the children born abroad to Mozambican parent(s), not the children born in Mozambique to Mozambican parents. With the adoption of a broad ius soli rule for all births occurred in Mozambique after independence, the Mozambican citizenship of the parents is naturally only relevant in cases of births occurred abroad. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2019/6 - © 2019 Author 27