Report on Citizenship Law: Mozambique Mozambican citizenship on the grounds of marriage to a Mozambican citizen (Article 10), while Mozambican women who married foreign citizens after independence would automatically lose their Mozambican citizenship [Article 14 (1) (e)]. These provisions were eventually repealed and replaced by gender neutral ones, but overall the 1975 Nationality Act set remarkably durable criteria which continue to be part of the citizenship regime, as is the case with the ius soli and double ius soli criteria for attribution of Mozambican citizenship by birth. As was to be expected on the eve of independence, the 1975 Nationality Act rewarded the participation in the liberation struggle and suspected dual citizens, two features that proved resilient over the years until they were finally eliminated by the 2004 Constitution. The 1975 Nationality Act differentiated between ‘citizenship by origin’ (nacionalidade originária), which was granted on several grounds besides birth (Articles 1 to 9), and ‘citizenship acquisition’ (aquisição da nacionalidade), treated in a separate section, which covered only acquisition on grounds of marriage and naturalisation (Articles 10 to 13). Per Article 1 (1) of the 1975 Nationality Act, Mozambicans by birth were those born in Mozambique who either: (a) were born to a father or mother also born in Mozambique (double ius soli); (b) were born to unknown or stateless parents or to parents of unknown citizenship; (c) were domiciled in Mozambique on the date of independence; or (d) established their domicile in Mozambique within 90 days after independence.33 Those born in Mozambique and there domiciled on the date of independence who were children of foreign parents would not have Mozambican citizenship if they or their legal representatives declared their wish not to be Mozambican [Article 1 (2)] within 90 days after the date of independence [Article 1 (3)]. Nothing being said within this deadline, they were Mozambican citizens by birth. All individuals born in Mozambique after the proclamation of independence were Mozambican citizens (ius soli), save for the children of foreign parents when either the father or the mother was in Mozambique in the service of his/her respective state (‘diplomatic exception’) [Article 2 (1) and (2)]. Individuals born to foreign parents in Mozambique after independence were entitled to Mozambican citizenship, sufficing that they declared their wish to be Mozambican citizens, either by themselves if over 18 years of age or by their legal representatives if under that age [Article 2 (3)]; the deadline for the declaration was 90 days counting from the date of birth or from the 18th anniversary, depending on who made the declaration [Article 2 (4)]. The phrasing of Article 2 (3) could be read as meaning that even children born in Mozambique to foreigners in the service of their state could obtain Mozambican citizenship by declaration if they so wished, but the Nationality Regulation adopted by Decree no. 3/75, of 16 August 1975, narrowed the scope of the provision by prescribing that the declaration referred to in Article 2 (3) of the Nationality Act should mention that, at the time of birth, none of the parents had been in Mozambique in the service of their respective state [Article 8 (1) of Decree no. 3/75].34 According to Article 4, individuals who met the legal requirements for attribution of Mozambican citizenship by birth, but who had not been granted the status due to option made by their legal representatives, were entitled to Mozambican citizenship provided that they 33 The same provision prescribed that, in duly justified cases, the President of the Republic could grant citizenship by origin to individuals who established their domicile in Mozambique at a later date. 34 The rule of interpretation governing the interplay between the Nationality Act and Decree no. 3/75 is Lex posterior derogat legi priori, i.e. a later law repeals an earlier law, since both legal acts can be considered to be on the same hierarchical level, the first adopted by decision of FRELIMO’s Central Committee and the second by the Popular Republic’s Council of Ministers, which was in effect controlled by FRELIMO. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2019/6 - © 2019 Author 9