Any dual citizenship gurus here?

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ChocolateBadger

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I've got a questions that I can't seem to find a solid answer to without having to mission to home affairs and do the rounds there.

I've been a dual citizen since the age of 10 holding a SA and UK passport. My UK passport recently came up for renewal so I sent it on and everything. Now a friend of mine told me that I now need to go to home affairs and declare that I'm holding dual citizenship or I lose my SA citizenship. What I've been reading online is that this only applies to those who obtained citizenship in another country after the age of 18 years.

So do I have to declare only now even though I've been holding two passports for years?

edit: Mods please fix spelling error in title.
 
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Any duel citizenship gurus here?

ChocolateBadger said:
I've got an questions that I can't seem to find a solid answer to without having to mission to home affairs and do the rounds there.

I've been a dual citizen since the age of 10 holding a SA and UK passport. My UK passport recently came up for renewal so I sent it on and everything. Now a friend of mine told me that I now need to go to home affairs and declare that I'm holding dual citizenship or I lose my SA citizenship. What I've been reading online is that this only applies to those who obtained citizenship in another country after the age of 18 years.

So do I have to declare only now even though I've been holding rwo passports for years?

edit: Mods please fix spelling error in title.
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Good q - sounds like you have a legit reason to be in the right - it won't hurt to ask!

That rule wouldn't have been in effect when you were 18 afaik.
 
ChocolateBadger said:
I've got an questions that I can't seem to find a solid answer to without having to mission to home affairs and do the rounds there.

I've been a dual citizen since the age of 10 holding a SA and UK passport. My UK passport recently came up for renewal so I sent it on and everything. Now a friend of mine told me that I now need to go to home affairs and declare that I'm holding dual citizenship or I lose my SA citizenship. What I've been reading online is that this only applies to those who obtained citizenship in another country after the age of 18 years.

So do I have to declare only now even though I've been holding two passports for years?

edit: Mods please fix spelling error in title.
Click to expand...

No you do not have to notify home affairs. You only need to get permission if you actively seek new citizenship.

Even if you were applying for your British passport for the first time, you still wouldn't need to apply for permission by virtue of the fact that you obtained your citizenship automatically via descent and not via your own actions.

The only time people get caught out is when they go to the UK (via ancestry or some other visa), get ILR, and then apply for citizenship without applying for permission first.

As a side note, even if you were to lose your SA citizenship, you will still have permanent residence, but will not be able to vote in elections.
 
JayM said:
No you do not have to notify home affairs. You only need to get permission if you actively seek new citizenship.

Even if you were applying for your British passport for the first time, you still wouldn't need to apply for permission by virtue of the fact that you obtained your citizenship automatically via descent and not via your own actions.

The only time people get caught out is when they go to the UK (via ancestry or some other visa), get ILR, and then apply for citizenship without applying for permission first.

As a side note, even if you were to lose your SA citizenship, you will still have permanent residence, but will not be able to vote in elections.
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Thank you for the thorougher answer. I'm planning on going on holiday later this year and my friend was telling me I won't be let back in.
 
Kids and wife had EU passports and German citizenship for 30 years.

Don't get involved with HA, someone will just annoy you.
 
ChocolateBadger said:
Thank you for the thorougher answer. I'm planning on going on holiday later this year and my friend was telling me I won't be let back in.
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You must have a valid SA passport when you return or they will hassle you. Do not attempt to use your British passport inside SA except when booking your flight and they will also ask for it when you board.
 
JayM said:
You must have a valid SA passport when you return or they will hassle you. Do not attempt to use your British passport inside SA except when booking your flight and they will also ask for it when you board.
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Yes I heard the best way is to leave on SA, enter on UK, Leave on UK, return back on SA.
 
I was born in the UK, but have lived in SA since 1966, and hold a UK and RSA passport (I only became a RSA citizen so I could vote in the 1994 elections)
I keep both passports valid.
Before I retired and sold my business I traveled world-wide extensively, and frequently (Europe, UK, Ireland, Far East, North & South Americas), and the UK passport made entry into most overseas countries easier, as a Visa was seldom needed as long as I used the UK passport. I always had to leave, and re-enter RSA on my RSA passport.
 
Most white folk up in Namibia have dual citizenship with SA, although they will not admit it...
Most white German folk up in Namibia have dual citizenship with Germany, EU although they will not admit it....
 
JayM said:
Even if you were applying for your British passport for the first time, you still wouldn't need to apply for permission by virtue of the fact that you obtained your citizenship automatically via descent and not via your own actions.
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Not so, you automatically lose SA citizenship if you apply for UK citizenship without first applying or retention.

UK citizenship is not automatic for those eligible by descent - hence the need for an application.

Applying to retain SA citizenship is painless and took a week or so in my case but can take up to 3 or more. You have to apply for retention before you are granted foreign citizenship status. You get a certificate from the SA government stating your eligibility to have dual citizenship status.
To OP - get it regardless, it's painless.
 
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ChocolateBadger said:
Yes I heard the best way is to leave on SA, enter on UK, Leave on UK, return back on SA.
Click to expand...

It's the only way. If you have SA passport you have to leave SA on that and re-enter on it; it's a legal requirement for all SA citizens. The airline will capture UK passport on their manifest though.

If you're a UK citizen without dual citizenship then you will have a permanent resident endorsement in your UK passport and can use that.
 
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BlindMelonChitlin said:
Not so, you automatically lose SA citizenship if you apply for UK citizenship without first applying or retention.

UK citizenship is not automatic for those eligible by descent - hence the need for an application.
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Applying for citizenship <> applying for passport. You seem confused.
 
BlindMelonChitlin said:
Youl have to elaborate. Applying for passport implies applying for citizenship if it's by descent.
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No, it does not. Not sure where you got that information. In my case, my father was born in Scotland - under British nationality law, this automatically makes me a British citizen at birth. The fact that I applied for my first passport nearly 2 decades later does not mean anything.

Further to that, the OP got his first passport before the age of 18, so even if he only obtained his citizenship at the same time (which is unlikely - pretty sure from the information provided he has a British born parent), he would have been exempt from losing his SA citizenship in any case.
 
Daughter has both. She leaves and returns to SA using her S A passport and the UK one for travelling everywhere else. You save a lot not having to get visas for many countries (USA, Schengen, India, Japan, etc) using a UK passport
 
JayM said:
No, it does not. Not sure where you got that information. In my case, my father was born in Scotland - under British nationality law, this automatically makes me a British citizen at birth. The fact that I applied for my first passport nearly 2 decades later does not mean anything.

Further to that, the OP got his first passport before the age of 18, so even if he only obtained his citizenship at the same time (which is unlikely - pretty sure from the information provided he has a British born parent), he would have been exempt from losing his SA citizenship in any case.
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I see what you're saying but for the purposes of application for dual citizenship, you need to apply before applying for your first UK passport afaik. Prior to that, SA government doesn't care that you're a UK citizen by descent.
 
BlindMelonChitlin said:
I see what you're saying but for the purposes of application for dual citizenship, you need to apply before applying for your first UK passport afaik. Prior to that, SA government doesn't care that you're a UK citizen by descent.
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No, this is not correct. You can apply directly for your first passport - my sister and I both did this as we were considered British at birth due to having a parent born in the UK, and I know numerous other people who have done so on this basis as well.
 
JayM said:
No, this is not correct. You can apply directly for your first passport - my sister and I both did this as we were considered British at birth due to having a parent born in the UK, and I know numerous other people who have done so on this basis as well.
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As have I and was recommended by home affairs to apply for retention of SA citizenship if I didn't want to automatically lose it.
 
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