
Stricter rules for the acquisition of South African citizenship have been proposed in a draft revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection.
The draft was published on Friday in the Government Gazette by home affairs minister Leon Schreiber for public comment. It revises the White Paper, which was approved in April 2024.
A new merit-based approach to the granting of citizenship is proposed as opposed to basing qualification solely on the number of years a foreigner has lived in South Africa. A points-based system will be applied for economic pathways to citizenship.
“This new system will operate in parallel to the existing principle that a child with at least…
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