Tweet

Growing mountain of litigation being brought over a policy regarding citizenship through marriage  has moved the Team Unity government to take action. The Team unity cabinet considered  submissions on the  policy regarding the number of years an individual can be married before citizenship can be granted.

For many years starting under  the previous administration the Ministry of National Security had adopted a policy which spoke to a minimum time period of 3 years before an individual could become a citizen after they are married to a citizen. This practice has no presence in the constitution. In other words the 3 years minimum policy was an unconstitutional one. This was made growingly pellucid after the government began receiving numerous notices of intended litigation over the matter .

The Cabinet researched the issue in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs and concluded that there is no legal requirement to prevent persons from obtaining citizenship by marriage except for any unwritten policy which seems to be at variance with the law. As of the 13^th May 2019, the Cabinet has approved that the Ministry of National Security will process application for citizenship by marriage on requests subject to the relevant legal documentation being provided.