94 foreigners get Rwandan citizenship

Information from the Directorate of Immigration and Emigration indicates that 94 foreigners have so far acquired Rwandan nationality since 2009.Statistics at Immigration show those who acquired citizenship are categorised in four; nationality by marriage, nationality by birth, nationality by naturalisation and nationality by being of Rwandan origin.In an interview with The SundayTimes, on Friday, Ange Sebutege, a Communication and Customer Care Officer at the Immigration, confirmed the development.“We receive several applications and we guide them how to go about it. After applying successfully, we invite them for exams,” revealed Sebutege. “30 more people have also applied and they have fulfilled the requirements. They will soon sit for the exam.We give nationality by marriage after verifying that the partners have not had any kind of conflict in the past three years, and by naturalization, it’s for foreigners whose sustainable activities have helped in transforming this country,” he disclosed.Most of those who acquired citizenship come from Africa. Burundi tops the list with 21. Others come from Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo, American and European countries.The country’s prevailing peace and zero tolerance to corruption are cited as the major driving force for foreigners to want to become Rwandan citizens.The process includes reception of application files, interviews, cabinet approval and taking an oath for successful applicants.A person is deprived of Rwandan citizenship if the nationality was illegally acquired or if one acquired it with the intention of betraying the country. A foreigner born in Rwanda of foreigners residing in Rwanda, as well as one married to a Rwandan, pay Rwf 20,000, while a naturalised foreigner pays Rwf 100,000. After exams for citizenship, the results are forwarded to cabinet for consideration. After which their names are published in the Official Gazette.Those who qualify are required to swear allegiance to the Republic of Rwanda before a local authority and granted a national ID.A presidential order of May, 2009 gave the responsibility of approving foreigners interested in acquiring Rwandan citizenship to the department of Immigration and Emigration.Amendments were also made on the nationality. Unlike in the previous law where only a child born to a Rwandan father was eligible, the revised law, stipulates that children born to either a Rwandan father or mother qualify.Under the new law, “majority age” or the authorised age for anyone applying for nationality is at least 18 years and, any foreigner born on Rwandan territory to alien parents may acquire nationality upon application.A Rwandan or a descendant, who was deprived of their nationality between November 1959 and December 1994, shall upon return to Rwanda re-acquire their nationality of origin “without applying.”