Report on Citizenship Law: Mozambique
made at the Central Registry Office and must include the interested party’s full name, age,
civil status, profession, place of birth, residence and current citizenship, number and date of
birth registration (if done in Mozambique); the full name, civil status, place of birth and
residence of the interested party’s parents; and the purpose of the declaration. It must
furthermore be accompanied by the birth registration certificate of the interested party and by
proof of possession of a foreign citizenship by means of a consular document issued by the
respective state [Article 21 (1) and (5)].
3.3. Reacquisition of Mozambican citizenship
Since the entry into force of the 2004 Constitution, reacquisition of Mozambican citizenship
is no longer conditional on renunciation to a foreign citizenship. Article 32 of the 2004
Constitution continues to set different rules for cases where loss resulted from marriage to
foreign men under the previous regime vis-à-vis all other cases of loss. Women who lost their
Mozambican citizenship as a result of marriage may reacquire it by expressing their wish to
do so before the competent authorities [Article 32 (2)], while men and women who lost or
lose their Mozambican citizenship on any other grounds may reacquire it, upon request,
provided that they establish domicile in Mozambique and meet the requirements and offer the
guarantees set by ordinary legislation [Article 32 (1)]. To the extent that it is still applicable,
Article 16 of the Nationality Act adds that the guarantees to be offered are ‘political and
moral guarantees of reintegration into Mozambican society’, a vague phrasing which, as we
noted earlier, seems to be interpreted by the Mozambican authorities as requiring mostly that
applicants have means of subsistence and a work contract and that they submit a copy of their
criminal record.
The discretion enjoyed by state authorities in reviewing the applications for
reacquisition is very different depending on whether the interested party invokes paragraph 1
or paragraph 2 of Article 32 of the Constitution. In the first case state authorities have wide
discretion in their appraisal of whether or not applicants meet the integration requirements
and other guarantees, whereas in the second case they have no discretion at all. Women who
lost their Mozambican citizenship as a result of marriage to a foreign man are entitled to
reacquire their citizenship and do not have to follow the general reacquisition procedure.
Since renunciation to a foreign citizenship is no longer a condition for reacquisition, Article
20 (2) of the Nationality Regulation is mostly inapplicable. The only segment of Article 20
(2) which has not been repealed with the entry into force of the 2004 Constitution is that
which establishes that the registration of the reacquisition is made ex officio. So, women
interested in reacquiring Mozambican citizenship under Article 32 (2) of the Constitution
only have to make a declaration to that effect before the Central Registry Office. According
to Article 21 (1) of the Nationality Regulation, the declaration must mention the interested
party’s full name, age, civil status, profession, place of birth, residence and current
citizenship (if applicable), number and date of birth registration (if done in Mozambique); the
full name, civil status, place of birth and residence of the interested party’s parents; and the
purpose of the declaration.88
The general reacquisition procedure for cases falling under the hypothesis of Article
32 (1) of the Constitution is the same as for naturalisation, per Article 20 (1) of the
Nationality Regulation. Applications are addressed to the Minister of Interior and submitted
88
Furthermore, the declaration must be accompanied by the birth registration certificate of the interested party
[Article 21 (5) of the Nationality Regulation].
RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2019/6 - © 2019 Author
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