Report on Citizenship Law: Zambia in Zambia by virtue of being granted asylum as a refugee. The Refugees Act, 2017148 provides for cessation of one’s status as a refugee upon acquisition of Zambian citizenship.149 It also provides that: “The Commissioner shall assist a person who has ceased to be recognised refugee who has met the conditions for the acquisition of Zambian citizenship to acquire citizenship.”150 On the other hand, the requirement that residence in Zambia be under a permit suggests that refugees may not be eligible since their residence in Zambia is no strictly by virtue of a permit. The Immigration and Deportation Act, 2010151 does allow the Department of Immigrations to issue a permit to an asylum seeker or a person seeking refuge.152 However, this permit is for a limited time and does not appear to extend to the time a refugee is granted asylum.153 In fact, once asylum is granted, the refugee is granted an identity document154 and a permit155 by the Commissioner of Refugees by virtue of which the person’s residence in Zambia is authorised. Since this law is fairly new, there is little literature or court decisions on the issue to shed some light on how this issue will be resolved in future. In practice, it appears that refugees do not become eligible to apply for citizenship as a consequence of residence in Zambia for 10 years unless they first transition to the status of permanent residence. 4.4 Expatriates Under the 2016 Constitutional regime, the status and rights of expatriates depend on whether they hold Zambian citizenship. If they do, their status and rights are the same as Zambian citizens ordinarily resident in Zambia except where such status and rights are limited or otherwise affected by their geographical location. 5. Conclusions In conclusion, Zambia’s legal regime regulating citizenship has undergone significant transformation. This transformation coincided with Zambia’s transition from a territory inhabited by several tribes, which are groups of people organised around a common ethnic origin, to a British protectorate and then an independent nation. At independence, the focus of the citizenship policy was to carve out a distinct Zambian citizenship distinct from the settler community. Subsequent constitutional regimes expanded on the concept of citizenship by entitling people resident in Zambia for at least 10 years to apply for citizenship and 148 Act Number 1 of 2017 Section 20(1) (c) of the Refugees Act, 2017 150 Section 49(2) of the Refugee Act, Number 1 of 2017 151 Act Number 18 of 2010 152 Section 31(1) of the Immigration and Deportations Act, 2010 153 See section 31(3) of the Immigration and Deportations Act, 2010 154 Section 51 of Refugees Act, 2017 155 Section 71 (3) of the Refugees Act, 2017 149 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/14 - © 2020 Author(s) 23