Kiribati 1979 Constitution (reviewed 2013)

CHAPTER III. CITIZENSHIP

19. Rights of persons of I-Kiribati descent

Every person of I-Kiribati descent shall have an inalienable right to enter and reside in Kiribati and on Independence Day shall, as hereinafter provided, become or have and continue to have thereafter the right to become a citizen of Kiribati.

20. Persons born, naturalised or registered in Kiribati before Independence Day

1. Every person of I-Kiribati descent who, having been born in Kiribati, is on the day prior to Independence Day a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies shall become a citizen of Kiribati on Independence Day.
2. Every person not of I-Kiribati descent who, having been born in Kiribati, is an eligible person shall become a citizen of Kiribati on Independence Day.
3. Every person who is of I-Kiribati descent or an eligible person and who acquired the status of citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies under the British Nationality Acts 1948 to 1965 [FN: 1948 c. 56; 1958 c. 10; 1964 c. 22; 1964 c. 54; 1965 c. 34.] by virtue of having been naturalised or registered under those Acts, or naturalised as a British subject before 1949, while resident in Kiribati, shall become a citizen of Kiribati on Independence Day.

21. Persons born outside Kiribati before Independence Day

1. Every person of I-Kiribati descent who having been born outside Kiribati is on the day prior to Independence Day a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies shall, if his father becomes or would but for his death or renunciation of his citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies have become a citizen of Kiribati by virtue of subsection (1) or (3) of the preceding section, become a citizen of Kiribati on Independence Day.
2. Every person not of I-Kiribati descent who having been born outside Kiribati is an eligible person shall, if his father becomes or would but for his death have become a citizen of Kiribati by virtue of subsection (2) or (3) of the preceding section, become a citizen of Kiribati on Independence Day.

22. Wives of persons who become citizens on Independence Day

Every woman who, having been married to a person who becomes, or would but for his death or renunciation of his citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies have become, a citizen of Kiribati by virtue of section 20 or 21 of this Constitution, acquired the status of citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies, automatically or by registration, on the grounds of that marriage and who possesses that status on the day prior to Independence Day, shall become a citizen of Kiribati on Independence Day.

23. Persons entitled to be registered as citizens

Every person of I-Kiribati descent who does not become a citizen of Kiribati on Independence Day by virtue of section 20, 21 or 22 of this Constitution shall, at any time thereafter, be entitled upon making application in such manner as may be prescribed to be registered as a citizen of Kiribati.

24. Avoidance of dual nationality

Any person, other than a person of I-Kiribati descent, who—

1. has attained the age of eighteen years before Independence Day;
2. becomes a citizen of Kiribati by virtue of section 20 or 21 of this Constitution; and
3. is on Independence Day a national of some other country,

shall cease to be a citizen of Kiribati at the expiry of a period of two years after Independence Day or such longer period as may be prescribed, unless before the expiry of that period he has renounced or lost his nationality of that other country or, if the law of that other country makes no provision for or does not permit him to renounce his nationality of that other country, made such a declaration as may be prescribed.

25. Persons born after the day prior to Independence Day

1. Every person born in Kiribati after the day prior to Independence Day shall become a citizen of Kiribati at the date of his birth unless on that date, not being a person of I-Kiribati descent or a person whose father is a citizen of Kiribati, he becomes a citizen of some other country:Provided that a person shall not become a citizen of Kiribati by virtue of this subsection if at the time of his birth—
   1. his father possesses such immunity from suit and legal process as is accorded to any envoy of a foreign sovereign power accredited to Kiribati and neither of his parents is a citizen of Kiribati; or
   2. his father is a citizen of a country with which Kiribati is at war and the birth occurs in a place then under occupation of such country.
2. Every person born outside Kiribati after the day prior to Independence Day shall become a citizen of Kiribati at the date of his birth if at that date his father is, or would but for his death have been, a citizen of Kiribati.

26. Marriage to citizens of Kiribati

Any woman who after the day prior to Independence Day marries a person who is or becomes a citizen of Kiribati shall be entitled, upon making application in such manner as may be prescribed, to be registered as a citizen of Kiribati.

27. Commonwealth citizens

1. Every person who under this Constitution or any other law is a citizen of Kiribati or under any enactment for the time being in force in any country to which this section applies is a citizen of that country shall, by virtue of that citizenship, have the status of a Commonwealth citizen.
2. Every person who is a British subject without citizenship under the British Nationality Act 1948, continues to be a British subject under section 2 of that Act or is a British subject under the British Nationality Act 1965 shall, by virtue of that status, have the status of a Commonwealth citizen.
3. Save as may be otherwise provided by the Maneaba in Maungatabu the countries to which this section applies are Australia, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Botswana, Canada, Cyprus, Dominica, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Southern Rhodesia, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, the United Kingdom and Colonies, Western Samoa and Zambia.

28. Powers of the Maneaba ni Maungatabu

The Maneaba ni Maungatabu may make provision—

1. for the acquisition of citizenship of Kiribati by persons who are not eligible or who are no longer eligible to become citizens of Kiribati by virtue of this Chapter;
2. for the renunciation by any person of his citizenship of Kiribati;
3. for the maintenance of a register of citizens of Kiribati who are also citizens of other countries;
4. for depriving of his citizenship of Kiribati—
   1. any person not of I-Kiribati descent who is a citizen of Kiribati otherwise than by virtue of this Chapter;
   2. any other person not of I-Kiribati descent who being a citizen of Kiribati has after the day prior to Independence Day acquired another nationality.

29. Interpretation

1. For the purpose of this Chapter—
   1. “a person of I-Kiribati descent” means a person one of whose ancestors was born in Kiribati before 1900;
   2. “an eligible person” means a person who on the day prior to Independence Day—
      1. is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies, and
      2. has no other nationality,provided that—
      3. neither he, his father nor his father’s father was born in the United Kingdom or was registered or naturalised in the United Kingdom as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies or a British subject;
   3. any reference to the father of a person shall, in relation to a person born out of wedlock, be construed as a reference to the mother of that person;
   4. a person born aboard a registered ship or aircraft, or aboard an unregistered ship or aircraft of the Government of any country, shall be deemed to have been born in the place in which the ship or aircraft was registered or, as the case may be, in that country.
2. For the purpose of the definition of “an eligible person” in subsection (1) (b) of this section, where a person has a nationality other than citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies he shall be deemed to have lost that other nationality if—
   1. the law of the country of that other nationality makes no provision for or does not permit him to renounce that nationality; and
   2. he has before Independence Day signed and delivered to the Government of the Gilbert Islands a declaration that he no longer regards himself as having that other nationality and will not claim the benefits of that nationality and wishes to become a citizen of Kiribati.