Which countries do not allow dual citizenship?

What is dual citizenship and how do I get it? 

Becoming a citizen of another country outside of where you were born is a long process, but for some people, it can feel like coming home. Holding both your birth nationality and that of another country is called dual citizenship. It is the last hurdle for foreign nationals who move abroad and want to fully ingratiate themselves in that country and show their commitment to its culture and traditions.

Each country has different immigration laws and processes. However, using the UK as an example, you must have been granted indefinite leave to remain or settled status for at least 12 months, and been living in the UK for at least five years to apply for British citizenship via naturalisation. There are other pathways to register as a British citizen, such as by birth, marriage or descent. Depending on where you live, for example in a Commonwealth country such as South Africa, you could be entitled to apply depending on your personal circumstances.

You must meet many eligibility requirements such as:

• Be of “good character” – includes having no severe or recent criminal convictions or broken any immigration rules
• Pass a Life in the UK test – a multiple-choice question timed exam
• Pass an English language test to at least B1 level
• Have absences totalling no longer than 450 outside of the UK in your residency period

As you can see, the UK Home Office takes British citizenship applications very seriously – and applicants will pay £1,709 for the privilege of proving their commitment to being a full resident of the country.

So for the UK, making an application to be a citizen and retaining your citizenship of another country is allowed, despite the difficult and in-depth application process. However, there are other countries that do not allow dual citizenship, or have tight restrictions on it.

Page Contents

• Which countries have restrictions on dual citizenship?
• Which countries do not allow dual citizenship?
• The IAS can help you apply for dual citizenship in the UK

Which countries have restrictions on dual citizenship?

Usually, countries restrict access to dual citizenship to only their own citizens, meaning foreign nationals who move there and become naturalised cannot be dual citizens. In these instances they must renounce their birth nationality. Or, in some cases, there is a total no-tolerance policy on dual citizenship within a country. This is becoming rarer in our globalised world, but these policies do still exist.

Firstly, let’s take a look at an example of a country that “allows” dual citizenship but under tough restrictions.

Japan

The Japanese Nationality Act is complicated, like much of the immigration law enacted around the world! In theory, Japan gives those with dual citizenship by birth until the age of 22 to decide which nationality to keep and which to give up, as long as they have acquired dual citizenship legally. If they do not, the law states that the Minister of Justice can “warn” the person to make a choice within one month, or lose Japanese citizenship.

However, the complexity and opaqueness of the law means that many people in Japan don’t necessarily obey the rules. An article from the Japanese Times stated that of a survey of 1449 people with dual nationalities, 76.8% retained their dual citizenship, while only 23.2% decided to forfeit one. Ministry officials also stated they do not track dual nationalities and have not exercised the rights to warn people to forfeit their other citizenship as it would be much too labour intensive.

Whatever the reality on the ground with laws about retaining dual citizenship, this is only for those with dual citizenship by birth. Foreign nationals cannot apply to hold dual Japanese citizenship under any circumstances.

Which countries do not allow dual citizenship?

• Nepal
• Myanmar
• China
• Malawi
• Kuwait
• Laos

Nepal

Nepal has no exceptions to dual citizenship. You can only become a citizen of Nepal by birth, marriage, descent or naturalisation.

If you do become a naturalised citizen of Nepal, you must renounce any other citizenships. You must be able to read and write in Nepalese and have resided there for 15 years or more.

Myanmar

Asia is one of the toughest areas of the world for dual citizenship policies – only 65% of countries permit it, compared with 91% of the Americas, according to the Maastricht Centre for Citizenship, Migration, and Development. Myanmar again does not recognise dual citizenship under any circumstances and is very restrictive even in grants of citizenship to people born within its own borders. Generally, people can become citizens in one of two ways in Myanmar:

• Full citizens – only those who can trace their lineage back to one of the 135 official “national races” are entitled to full citizenship
• Associate citizens – foreigners who came to Mayanmar and applied to be citizens under the 1948 Citizenship Act if they spoke an indigenous language and had lived in Burma for at least five years
• Naturalisation is also possible but limited – people who marry Myanmar citizens cannot become full citizens but can acquire a permit to live in the country

Other countries which do not allow dual citizenship

China

China does not recognise dual citizenship at all – if you are taking up Chinese nationality, you must renounce other citizenships. Furthermore, if you are a Chinese citizen and you apply for citizenship elsewhere, you automatically renounce your Chinese citizenship.

Malawi

People born in Malawi cannot hold dual citizenship after the age of 21. The person’s citizenship of Malawi will cease on their 22nd birthday if they still hold two nationalities.

Naturalised citizens cannot hold dual citizenship, but are allowed if they:

• Have been resident in Malawi for 7 years
• Are financially solvent
• Have good character
• Good knowledge of English and any of the languages of Malawi

Kuwait

Again, Kuwait are against dual nationality with absolutely no exceptions, and their laws around naturalisation are equally strict. On very rare occasions, a person can be granted citizenship through an act of the government. Otherwise, citizenship can only be given via birth, descent and marriage. However, women can only access citizenship by marriage after 15 years in the country, and men can never apply to be full citizens at all!

Laos

Laos does not allow dual citizenship. Any foreign nationals hoping to acquire citizenship there must renounce their birth nationality. You must have stayed there for 10 years to be able to qualify to apply for citizenship. However, a law passed in 2017 allows for “highly-qualified and educated” foreigners to be eligible to apply in just five years.