Constitution of the Republic of Seychelles

Date of entry into force: 1979

Part II - CITIZENSHIP

9. Persons continuing to be citizens

A person who is a citizen of Seychelles immediately before the appointed day continues, by virtue of this section, to be a citizen of Seychelles.

10. Persons in Seychelles

Subject to section 11, a person born in Seychelles on or after the appointed day, becomes a citizen of Seychelles at the date of his birth.

11. Limitations on operation of section 10

(1)A person does not become a citizen of Seychelles by virtue of section 10 if, at the date of his birth, neither of his parents are citizens of Seychelles.

(2)A person does not become a citizen of Seychelles by virtue of section 10 if, at the date of his birth -

(a)his father possesses such immunity from suit and legal process as is accorded to an envoy of a foreign sovereign power accredited to Seychelles; or

(b)his father is a citizen of a country with which Seychelles is at war and the birth occurs in a place then under occupation by that country.

12. Persons born outside Seychelles before 29th June, 1976

(1)This section applies to a person -

(a)who would not, but for this section, be or become a citizen of Seychelles;

(b)who was born outside Seychelles before 29th June, 1976;

(c)who is resident in Seychelles on the appointed day; and

(d)any of whose grand parents or parents was born in Seychelles.

(2)A person to whom this section applies becomes a citizen of Seychelles, by virtue of this section, on the appointed day.

(3)Subject to any Act, a person who satisfies all the requirements of subsection (1) with the exception of the requirements in paragraph (c), is eligible to become a citizen of Seychelles by registration.

13. Persons born outside Seychelles on or after appointed day

A person born outside Seychelles on or after the appointed day becomes a citizen of Seychelles at the date of his birth if at the date of his birth his father or his mother is a citizen of Seychelles.

14. Marriage to citizen of Seychelles

(1)A person who, on or after the appointed day, marries another person who is or becomes a citizen of Seychelles, is, subject to any Act, eligible to become a citizen of Seychelles by naturalisation; and for that purpose he or she is deemed to have completed any qualifying period of residence when he or she takes up residence in Seychelles.

(2)Subject to subsection (3), subsection (1) applies to a person who, on or after the 29th June, 1976, and before the appointed day, married another person who was or became, or who becomes, a citizen of Seychelles, as it applies to a person of a kind referred to in subsection (1).

(3)Subsection (2) does not apply to a person who becomes a citizen of Seychelles, by virtue of section 9, on the appointed day.

15. Acquisition of citizenship

An Act may make provision -

(a)for the acquisition of citizenship of Seychelles by persons who are not eligible or who are no longer eligible to become citizen of Seychelles by virtue of the provisions of this Part;

(b)for depriving of his citizenship any person who is a citizen of Seychelles and who -

(i)is not a citizen by virtue of section 10, 12 or 13; or

(ii)is a person to whom section 9 applies by reason of his having been registered as citizen of Seychelles before the appointed day;

(c)for the renunciation by any person of his citizenship of Seychelles;

(d)for the maintenance of a register of citizen of Seychelles who are also citizens of other countries;

(e)for depriving of his citizenship of Seychelles any citizen of Seychelles who has attained the age of 21 years after the appointed day and who, being a citizen of some other country, has not within such period after his attainment of that age as may be prescribed by an Act, renounced his citizenship of that other country or, if the law of that other country does not permit him to so renounce his citizenship, made such declaration as may be prescribed by an Act.

16. Interpretation

(1)For the purposes of this Part -

(a)a person born on a registered ship or aircraft is deemed to have been born at the place where the ship or aircraft was registered; and

(b)a person born on an unregistered ship or aircraft belonging to the government of a country is deemed to have been born in that country.

(2)Any reference in this part to the national status of the father or mother of a person at the time of the birth of that person shall, in relation to a person born after the death of the father or mother, be construed as a reference to the national status of the father or mother at the time of the father's or mother's death; and accordingly, where the death occurred before the coming into operation of this Constitution, the national status that the father or mother would have had if he or she had died on the coming into operation of this Constitution is deemed to be his or her national status at the time of his or her death.