Ghanaian nationality law

Ghanaian Citizenship Act
Parliament of Ghana
  • An Act to provide for acquisition and determination of Ghanaian nationality and citizenship.
CitationAND REGULATIONS/ACT 591.pdf Act No. 591 of 2000
Enacted byGovernment of Ghana
Assented to30 December 2000
Amended by
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1971, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1972, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1978, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1979, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2000, and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2002
Summary
Along with the Constitution of Ghana, the Citizenship Act, 2000 is the exhaustive law relating to citizenship in Ghana.
Status: Current legislation

Ghanaian nationality law is regulated by the Constitution of Ghana, as amended; the Ghana Citizenship Act, and its revisions; and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory.[1] These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Ghana.[2] 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.[3][4] Ghanaian nationality is typically obtained under the principle of jus sanguinis, born to parents with Ghanaian nationality.[5] 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 naturalization.[6]

  1. ^ Manby 2016, pp. 36, 134.
  2. ^ Manby 2016, pp. 4–6.
  3. ^ Fransman 2011, p. 4.
  4. ^ Rosas 1994, p. 34.
  5. ^ Manby 2016, p. 48.
  6. ^ Manby 2016, p. 6.