Eswatini nationality law is regulated by the Constitution of Eswatini, as amended; the Swaziland Citizenship Act, and its revisions; and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Eswatini. 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. Eswatini nationality is typically obtained under the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in Eswatini, or jus sanguinis, born to parents with Eswatini nationality. 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 naturalisation or the traditional khonta system.
Acquisition of nationality
Nationality can be acquired in Eswatini at birth or later in life through naturalisation or tradition.
By birth
Those who acquire nationality at birth include:
Children born in Eswatini, or aboard an aircraft or ship registered in or belonging to the Government of Eswatini, whose father is a Liswati, or would have been except for his death; or Illegitimate children born anywhere prior to 2005 whose mother is a Liswati can automatically derive nationality maternally, if the father is unknown, refuses to claim or adopt the child, or is stateless. Children born abroad can derive nationality from a father who is a native Liswati, but subsequent generations cannot derive Eswatini nationality; or Abandoned children or orphans up to the age of seven discovered in the territory whose parents are unknown.
By naturalisation
Naturalisation can be granted to persons who have resided in the territory for a sufficient period of time to confirm they understand either English or siSwati, as well as are accepted as a Liswati by the customs and traditions of the society. General provisions are that applicants have good character; can economically be self-sufficient; and can contribute to development of the nation. Support by a chief, who has consulted with the chief's council, or three reputable citizens are required for an applicant to be approved for registration. Naturalised persons are required to swear an oath of allegiance before receiving their certification. Minor children are not able to be included in a naturalisation petition. Typically a residency period of five years is required. Persons who are not ethnically considered to be Emaswati, have difficulty in obtaining nationality. Other persons who may be naturalised include:
Illegitimate children born prior to 2005 of a native Emaswati mother and a known father, whose birth is registered; Children born abroad to an Emaswati father who was also born abroad can apply for registration within one year of attaining majority; Adoptees whose parents are Emaswati automatically acquire nationality at completion of a legal adoption; or The wife of an Emaswati national may acquire nationality by declaration upon marriage.
By khonta
Persons who have the support of the chiefs' council may acquire nationality under special provisions. Under traditional law and customary practice in Eswatini, foreigners and their wives who are accepted into a chiefdom are granted a piece of land on which they can build and farm. Unmarried women who have a male child can also be granted land title. This system, known as khonta allows the person to receive a certificate of acceptance by a specific chief to his territory as authorized by the King. Since passage of the 1992 Citizenship Act, attaining a certificate of khonta automatically grants nationality without the requirement for registration or formal naturalisation.
Loss of nationality
Emaswati nationals can renounce their nationality pending approval by the state to confirm the person will not become stateless. Naturalised persons may be denaturalised in Eswatini for fraud, misrepresentation, or concealment in a naturalisation petition; for acquiring dual nationality; or for residing outside of the country for an extended period of time exceeding seven years. There are no provisions for reacquisition of lost nationality in the statutes of Eswatini.
Dual nationality
Since 1967, dual nationality, with government authorization, is typically allowed in Eswatini for nationals by birth, but not naturalised persons.
History
Swazi Nation (1750–1906)
Clan groups which had independently migrated for three centuries into the area between the Lebombo Mountains and Pongola River came to accept the rule of the House of Dlamini in the mid-eighteenth century. Under the leadership of Ngwane III, inhabitants of the region were conquered or assimilated and the Swazi Nation was founded around 1770. During the Mfecane era, conflict with the Zulu Kingdom pushed Ngwane's subjects northward to the Mdzimba Mountains in the center of what would become Swaziland. In the tradition of royal divinity, the Swazi King was an agent of the gods and possessed divine powers which allowed him to rule as an absolute monarch. In exchange for his protection and maintenance of law and order, his subjects owed him unquestioned loyalty and obedience. The King used military conscription and favoritism to expand his power. By bestowing the authority to practice rituals on some chiefs and withholding it from others or bringing conscripts to the capital and allowing them to share in the bounty from raids and tribute payments, the king shifted loyalty from local chieftains to his central authority. To further centralise control, royal wives and princes were sent to govern in the provinces and were served by royally-appointed administrators, replacing the traditional chiefs.
By 1860, the Swazi Nation had grown and the Kingdom came into contact and conflict with the Boer Republic of Transvaal. A disputed succession after the death of Mswati II in 1865, led to an internal struggle and a scramble from external powers to gain influence in the nation. The 1867 discovery of diamonds in the Transvaal, followed by the 1871 discovery of gold, led to an influx of Europeans, anxious to secure prospecting concessions in the region. In the 1870s, conflict with the Zulu reemerged, as did hostilities with the Pedi people, and another succession crisis in 1874 with the suspicious death of King Ludvonga. These factors, combined with the destabilising invasion of miners, led the British to annex the Transvaal, which included the Swazi territory, in 1877. Resentful of the annexation, conflict between the Boers and British escalated into the First Boer War in 1880. At the conclusion of conflict, the Pretoria Convention of 1881, recognised the independence of the Transvaal and the British formally established a protectorate over Swaziland.
British protectorate (1881–1968)
When British protectorates were established in 1815, there was little difference between the rights of British subjects and protected persons. By 1914, British protectorates were considered to be foreign territories lacking an internal government. When Britain extended this status over a territory, it took responsibility for both internal and external administration, including defense and foreign relations. Indigenous persons who were born in a protectorate were known as British Protected Persons (BPP) and were not entitled to be British nationals. BPPs had no right of return to the United Kingdom and were unable to exercise rights of citizenship; however, they could be issued a passport and could access diplomatic services when traveling abroad. Persons born in a British protectorate to a father who was a British national derived their nationality from their parent. Following the second British annexation of the Transvaal and Second Boer War, in 1903, an Order in Council was passed by the British Parliament to allow the protectorate to be administered by the governor of Transvaal. Administration passed to the high commissioner for Basutoland, Bechuanaland, and Swaziland in 1906. In 1967, Swaziland's status was changed from a protectorate to a protected state, granting Swazis internal self-government under a constitution.
British subjects living in the Swaziland Protectorate (1881–1968)
In 1911, at the Imperial Conference a decision was made to draft a common nationality code for use across the British Empire. The British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914 allowed local jurisdictions in the self-governing Dominions to continue regulating nationality in their territories, but also established an imperial nationality scheme for use throughout the realm. The uniform law, which went into effect on 1 January 1915, required a married woman to derive her nationality from her spouse, meaning if he was British, she was also, and if he was foreign, so was she. It stipulated that upon loss of nationality of a husband, a wife could declare that she wished to remain British. It also provided that if a marriage had terminated, through death or divorce, a British-born national who had lost her status through marriage could reacquire British nationality through naturalisation without meeting a residency requirement. The statute reiterated common law provisions for natural-born persons born within the realm on or after the effective date. By using the word person, the statute nullified legitimacy requirements for jus soli nationals, meaning an illegitimate child could derive nationality from its mother. For those born abroad on or after the effective date, legitimacy was still required, and could only be derived by a child from a British father (one generation), who was natural-born or naturalised. Naturalisations required five years residence or service to the Crown.
Amendments to the British Nationality Act were enacted in 1918, 1922, 1933 and 1943 changing derivative nationality by descent and modifying slightly provisions for women to lose their nationality upon marriage. Because of a rise in statelessness, a woman who did not automatically acquire her husband's nationality upon marriage or upon his naturalisation in another country, did not lose their British status after 1933. The 1943 revision allowed a child born abroad at any time to be a British national by descent if the Secretary of State agreed to register the birth. Under the terms of the British Nationality Act 1948, British nationals in Swaziland were reclassified at that time as "Citizens of the UK and Colonies" (CUKC). The basic British nationality scheme did not change overmuch, and typically those who were previously defined as British remained the same. Changes included that wives and children no longer automatically acquired the status of the husband or father, children who acquired nationality by descent no longer were required to make a retention declaration, and registrations for children born abroad were extended.
British protected persons living in the Swaziland Protectorate (1881–1968)