Zimbabwean nationality law

Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act
National Assembly of Zimbabwe
Enacted byGovernment of Zimbabwe
Status: Current legislation

Zimbabwean nationality law is regulated by the Constitution of Zimbabwe, as amended; the Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act, and its revisions; and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory.[1][2] These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a Zimbabwean national.[3][4] The legal means to acquire nationality, formal legal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship. Nationality describes the relationship of an individual to the state under international law, whereas citizenship is the domestic relationship of an individual within the nation.[5][6] Commonwealth countries often use the terms nationality and citizenship as synonyms, despite their legal distinction and the fact that they are regulated by different governmental administrative bodies.[5] Zimbabwean nationality is typically obtained under the principal of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth to parents with Zimbabwean nationality.[7][2] It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through registration, a process known elsewhere as naturalisation.[8][9]

  1. ^ Manby 2016, pp. 32–34, 37, 136.
  2. ^ a b Manby 2019, p. 8.
  3. ^ Manby 2016, pp. 6–7.
  4. ^ Manby 2019, p. 7.
  5. ^ a b Fransman 2011, p. 4.
  6. ^ Rosas 1994, p. 34.
  7. ^ Manby 2016, pp. 51, 55.
  8. ^ Manby 2016, p. 96.
  9. ^ Manby 2019, pp. 7, 9.