Patrícia Jerónimo proof of domicile by means of a certificate attesting the residence in Mozambique at the date of independence and of a declaration under oath which included, to the extent possible, the date when the signatory settled domicile in Mozambique, the localities where he or she had lived and the entities for which he/she had rendered services, where applicable. If the undersigned was or had been a civil servant for 20 years or more, a statement issued by the respective services would suffice. Per Article 11 of Decree no. 3/75, the registration of citizenship obtained under Article 8 (1) of the Nationality Act was made by presenting the birth registration certificates of the interested party and of his or her father, while the registration of citizenship obtained under Article 8 (2) was made by presenting the birth registration certificates of the interested party and of his or her mother, plus a document issued by FRELIMO’s Political and Military Committee. Per Article 13 of Decree no. 3/75, the registration of citizenship acquired on the grounds of marriage was made by presenting the marriage certificate, the declaration of the wish to be Mozambican and proof of domicile as established by Article 10 of Decree no. 3/75. Per Article 14 (1) of Decree no. 3/75, those interested in acquiring Mozambican citizenship by naturalisation had to submit an application addressed to the Minister of Interior (Ministro do Interior), with full name, date of birth, civil status, filiation, citizenship, place of birth, place of current residence and activity developed in Mozambique. Furthermore, the application had to be accompanied by a birth registration certificate, proof of habitual and legal residence in Mozambique for a minimum period of five years, and a criminal record or similar document [Article 14 (2)]. The applicants wishing that their unmarried underage children also acquired Mozambican citizenship had to enclose the children’s birth registration certificates and, if the children were over 18 years of age, a declaration by the children agreeing to the naturalisation [Article 14 (3)]. The application was to be submitted at the Central Registry Office and from there sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for an opinion on the merits of the application and possible repercussions for the relations between Mozambique and the state from which the applicant was a citizen, to be issued within six months. From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the file would then be forwarded to the Minister of Internal Affairs who presented it to the Council of Ministers with his or her own opinion on whether or not the requirements for naturalisation were met [Article 14 (4)]. Per Article 16 of Decree no. 3/75, the loss of Mozambican citizenship resulted from the verification of any of the causes listed in Article 14 of the Nationality Act following a procedure instructed by the Central Registry Office by order of the Minister of Justice. Any person and all authorities had the obligation to report to the Government all facts pertaining to any citizen which could lead to loss of citizenship, by indicating or providing corroborating evidence (Article 17 of Decree no. 3/75). The procedure would not be completed without having informed the interested party and giving him or her the opportunity to submit his or her defence within 60 days [Article 18 (1) and (3)]. No procedure was required if loss resulted from declaration by the interested party or from marriage, in which cases the decision belonged to the Minister of Justice who ordered the registration of the loss [Article 18 (4)]. No procedure was required also for cases of loss for indignity, the registration being made ex officio following the publication of the Council of Ministers’ decree [Article 18 (5)]. Many individuals entitled to Mozambican citizenship under the 1975 Nationality Act did indeed renounce it in the immediate aftermath of independence. Some moved abroad, while others remained in Mozambique but used their foreign citizenship in order to be allowed to transfer their salaries abroad, a ‘traffic in citizenship’ for which many were expelled from the country. The FRELIMO-run Government issued a ‘24/20 decree’ giving those in possession of foreign or dual citizenship 24 hours to renounce all other ties and apply 12 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2019/6 - © 2019 Author