Dual Nationality

Article 63 of the 2016 Constitution places restrictions on dual citizens from senior responsibilities in the state and political positions.

Law No. 21 amends the 1963 Nationality Act and makes important changes around dual citizenship by allowing Bahraini citizens to acquire another nationality with prior approval from the Ministry of the Interior and Cabinet.

The Nationality Act introduces several openings for acquiring nationality such as allowing non-Omani women widowed or divorced from Omani men, and minors born to an Omani mother and non-Omani father to apply for nationality, but it also tighten the overall rules with stricter requirements for applicants. Also, Article 5 states an Omani national must obtain permission by royal decree to hold another nationality.

Amendments made in 2011 to the Sudanese Nationality Act 1994 include prohibiting dual nationality with South Sudan by having individuals who acquire South Sudanese citizenship, either “de jure or de facto”, to automatically lose their Sudanese nationality. The amendments also stipulate that a foreign national must reside in Sudan for more than 10 years (an increase of five years) to be granted nationality.

The 2006 Nationality Law amends previous versions and outlines the process of naturalization for non-Iraqi spouses and, among other things, allows dual citizenship. In particular, the Law echoes the Iraqi Constitution of 2005 that allows both Iraqi men and women to pass on their nationality to their children but newly limits the ability of Iraqi women married to a foreigner to confer nationality to children born outside the country.