Or have trouble being let back into South Africa? I know, it sounds like nonsense, but I've heard these rumours and have to make sure.
2006-12-23 17:46:43 · 7 answers · asked by Vango 5 in Travel ➔ Africa & Middle East ➔ South Africa
That would be very strange. As far as I know, you're a citizen for life unless you renounce your citizenship - you could even be a citizen of South Africa by descent, having never set foot in the country.
Check out the link below for more details - it's to the South African department of home affairs, and they explain citizenship rules.
2006-12-23 17:50:33 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
you dont loose citizenship. as long as you have a valid South African passport youll have no trouble getting into South Africa again. if you need more answers contact the South African embassy in the country where you are living now. They are very helpful.
2006-12-25 04:21:49 · answer #2 · answered by Jonathan M 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have a valid South African passport, makes no difference how long you've been away there is no reason for you to have a problem getting back into SA. Even if your passport has expired, SA immigration will allow you to enter if you show up on their doorstep.The rumours you're referring may be about the arrests of SA citizens trying to enter SA with a foreign passport.
Under SA regulations, you need to inform and ask permission of the SA authorities to be able to hold 2 passports - so you have to do this before you apply for the foreign one. If you hold 2, it is then illegal for you to try and enter the country under the foreign one and you can be arrested if you try.
If you only hold one and haven't requested permission to hold your SA one as well, then that is as good as having renounced your citizenship and you should be able to enter on the foreign one as you no longer hold a SA passport. Explaining this may be a bit tricky if it comes up - but you can just deny having any citizenship other than that of the country whose passport you hold.
Originally they tried to engineer a situation where you could lose your SA citizenship, but the consitutional courts ruled this illegal. So even if you lose it by holding a foreign passport without permission from SA, you can always reapply for it and get another passport. (Don't know the mechanics of this, but the principle holds.)
To sum up, the length of time you've been away from SA has no bearing on losing citizenship. You could be a SA citizen with permanent residency in Canada and visit SA as a citizen after 20 years. But, if you hold a SA passport, you must use it to enter the country to avoid any trouble.
2006-12-24 07:32:18 · answer #3 · answered by carokokos 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋
I would find it very strange. If your born there it doesn't matter how long you went away. You passport says your a South African than you are still a South African, no matter how many years you went away.
2006-12-25 13:32:59 · answer #4 · answered by pffffffff 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know what you can do to re-instate your citizenship.....but I salute you for being conscientious enough to care!
We need more immigrants like you that actually give a damn enough to do the right thing!
2006-12-24 01:50:16 · answer #5 · answered by Danny 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if you have the citizenship you Can never loose it
2006-12-24 12:19:51 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dont think so, sa needs yr tx rand
2006-12-25 15:01:03 · answer #7 · answered by lovely lips 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋