Report on Citizenship Law: Mozambique Article 8 of the Nationality Regulation, applied by analogy and with the necessary adaptations. As with all other cases of citizenship attribution in the 2004 Constitution, state authorities have no discretion. Acquisition based on marriage to Mozambican citizen: Departing considerably from the previous regime, Article 26 (1) of the Constitution entitles foreigners (men and women) who are married to Mozambican citizens for more than five years to acquire Mozambican citizenship, provided that they (a) declare their wish to acquire Mozambican citizenship, and (b) meet the requirements and offer the guarantees set by ordinary legislation. Stateless individuals who marry Mozambican citizens are not required to wait five years after the wedding to acquire Mozambican citizenship under Article 26, provided that they make the declaration and offer the guarantees required by law. Per Article 26 (2) of the Constitution, the annulment of the marriage or its dissolution do not hinder the Mozambican citizenship acquired by the spouse.83 The phrasing of Article 26 (1) – ‘Mozambican citizenship is acquired’84 – suggests that state authorities have no discretion in granting Mozambican citizenship to spouses of Mozambican citizens if they meet the requirements. However, the open reference to ‘requirements and guarantees’ set by ordinary legislation gives state authorities plenty of leeway in the review of the applications made under Article 26 (1). Article 10 of the 1975 Nationality Act applies, with the necessary adaptations, i.e. with no gender discrimination and no requirement to renounce to previous citizenship. This means that the foreign or stateless spouses of Mozambican citizens are required to (i) establish their domicile in Mozambique, (ii) offer political and moral guarantees of integration into Mozambican society, (iii) not have had any involvement with fascist or pro-colonial political organisations, and (iv) not have been convicted for crimes against the Mozambican people and decolonisation or against the safety of the people and of the state. The need to offer ‘political and moral guarantees of integration into Mozambican society’ is vague enough to cover almost any pretext that the authorities may want to use to refuse the acquisition of Mozambican citizenship on grounds of marriage. There is no official information available on how Mozambican authorities interpret this requirement in practice. Relying on information obtained from the webpage of Mozambican lawyer Clayton Johnam, it would seem that, in order to offer guarantees of integration into Mozambican society, applicants are only required to prove that they have means of subsistence and a work contract, and to submit copy of their criminal records in Mozambique and in their country of origin.85 The legal uncertainty surrounding this point is all the more problematic since, if Article 22 (3) of the 1975 Nationality Regulation is deemed to be applicable, the registration of citizenship acquired by marriage can be annulled, without informing the interested party and with no right to appeal, whenever he or she is considered by Mozambican authorities as not offering moral and political guarantees of integration into Mozambican society. 83 As Gouveia (2004: 123) pointed out, this equivalency between annulment and dissolution does not seem to make much sense. The annulment usually means that the marriage was not validly entered into and therefore never had any legal effects. It seems odd that a foreigner who illegally marries a Mozambican citizen and then acquires Mozambican citizenship on the basis of that marriage gets to keep his or her Mozambican citizenship after the marriage is annulled. 84 Especially if we compare it with the wording of Article 27 (‘naturalisation may be granted’). 85 Clayton Johnam does not indicate, however, any primary sources to substantiate his analysis. See https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/aquisi%C3%A7%C3%A3o-da-nacionalidade-mo%C3%A7ambicana-por -viado-clayton-johnam?trk=related_artice_AQUISI%C3%87%C3%83O%20DA%20NACIONALIDA DE%20%20MO%C3%87AMBICANA%20POR%20VIA%20DO%20MATRIM%C3%93NIO_articlecard_title [02.04.2019]. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2019/6 - © 2019 Author 31