Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

n nationality law is regulated by the

Constitution of Namibia The Constitution of Namibia is the supreme law of the Republic of Namibia. Adopted on 9 February 1990, a month prior to Namibia's independence from apartheid South Africa, it was written by an elected constituent assembly. Preamble "Whereas ...

, as amended; the Namibian Citizenship Act, and its revisions; and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Namibia. The legal means to acquire

nationality Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the ...

, formal legal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

. Nationality describes the relationship of an individual to the state under international law, whereas citizenship is the domestic relationship of an individual within the nation.

Commonwealth countries The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 56 sovereign states. Most of them were British colonies or dependencies of those colonies. No one government in the Commonwealth exercises power over the others, as is the case in a p ...

often use the terms nationality and citizenship as synonyms, despite their legal distinction and the fact that they are regulated by different governmental administrative bodies. Namibian nationality is typically obtained under the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in the territory, or jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth in Namibia or abroad to parents with Namibian nationality. It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalisation.

Acquiring Namibian nationality

Nationality can be obtained in Namibia at birth or later in life through naturalisation.

By birth

Typically, in Namibia, a combination of jus sanguinis and jus soli are used to determine nationality at birth. Those who are eligible include: * Persons born in Namibia whose parents are legal ordinary residents in the country and do not have

diplomatic immunity Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are recognized as having legal immunity from the jurisdiction of another country.

and are not employed in the service of another government; * Persons born in the country who would otherwise be stateless; or * Persons born anywhere who have at least one parent who is Namibian, as long as the parents do not have

By naturalisation

Naturalisation Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

can be granted to persons who have resided in Namibia for a sufficient period of time to confirm they understand the customs and traditions of the country and the responsibilities of citizenship. General provisions are that applicants have good character and have had no convictions for offenses. Applicants must verify legal residency of a minimum of ten years. Besides foreigners meeting the criteria, other persons who may apply for naturalisation include: * The legal or customary spouse of a Namibian national after a residency period of ten years; * Children of a naturalised Namibian; * Adoptees of Namibian nationals automatically acquire nationality upon completion of a legal adoption; or * Persons who have provided distinguished service to the state may qualify for honorary nationality.

Loss of nationality

Namibians are allowed to

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