Naturalized

Naturalization is a legal process where a non-citizen in a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done by a statute, without any effort on the part of the individual, or it may involve an application or a motion and approval by legal authorities. The rules of naturalization vary from country to country but typically include a promise to obey and uphold that country's laws, taking and passing a test demonstrating reasonable knowledge of that country's history, principles, and form of government, residence in that country for a specified period of time, and ability to communicate in the national language(s).

Process

The process of naturalization can be performed by a statute without any effort on the part of the individual, or it may involve an application and approval by legal authorities. Some countries also require that a person renounce any other citizenship that they currently hold, forbidding dual citizenship, but whether this renunciation actually causes loss of the person's original citizenship, as seen by the host country and by the original country, will depend on the laws of the countries involved.

Requirements

The speed of naturalization can be influenced by many factors, including but not limited to, family status (being married to a citizen), military service, and investment in the country. Citizenship is not guaranteed even if all the requirements are met; authorities have discretion to deny citizenship. Besides the main requirements listed below, most countries requires the person to apply for citizenship to take a citizenship test, to check their knowledge about the country's history, principles, and form of government.

Dual citizenship

Dual citizenship is a status in which a person is a citizen of more than one country. The concept of dual nationality means that a person is a citizen of two countries at the same time. Each country has its own citizenship laws based on its own policy. Persons may have dual nationality by automatic operation of different laws rather than by choice.

See also

• Citizenship
• Immigration
• Permanent residency
• Statelessness

References

Naturalized Resources
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