Ni-Vanuatu nationality law
Ni-Vanuatu nationality law is regulated by the 1980 Constitution of Vanuatu, as amended; the 1980 Citizenship Act, and its revisions; and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory.[1][2][3] These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Vanuatu. Ni-Vanuatu nationality is typically obtained under the principle of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth in Vanuatu or abroad to parents with ni-Vanuatu nationality.[4] It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalisation.[5] Vanuatu has had several programs that grant honorary citizenship by investment.[6] Nationality establishes one's international legal identity as a member of a sovereign nation.[7] Though it is not synonymous with citizenship, for rights granted under domestic law for domestic purposes, the United Kingdom, and thus the commonwealth, have traditionally used the words interchangeably.[8][9]
Loss of nationality[edit]
Ni-Vanuatu nationals may renounce their nationality provided they have legal majority and capacity and have obtained other nationality, though in times of war, the renunciation may not be allowed.[19] Denaturalisation may occur if a person obtained nationality through fraud, false representation, or concealment; served in a foreign military or government; committed crimes for which the sentence is five or more years; or obtained dual nationality without registering the status.[20]
Dual nationality[edit]
Since 2013, dual nationality has been allowed in Vanuatu, but only to those who register their status with the Citizenship Commission.[21]
History[edit]
Spanish period (1606–1887)[edit]
In 1606, Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós sighted some of the islands in an archipelago he named La Austrialia del Espiritu Santo after Austria and in honor of the Hapsburg monarch, including Espiritu Santo, Gaua, Maewo, Merelava, Merig, Ureparapara, Vanua Lava.[22][23] He claimed the land for Spain and established a colony on Espiritu Santo on the bay he named Bahía de San Felipe y Santiago, but abandoned the settlement after one month.[23] Europeans did not encounter the islands again until the late eighteenth century.[24] In 1768, French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville sighted Aoba, Espiritu Santo, Maewo, Malakula, and Pentecost Island, among other islands in the group, which he called the Great Cyclades.[22][25] In 1774, the British navigator and explorer, James Cook made extensive investigations of the area, identifying islands in the north, south, and center of the chain he named New Hebrides.[26][27] Vasily Golovnin, a Russian admiral also explored the area in 1809.[28]
From 1828, after the discovery of sandalwood on Erromango at Dillon's Bay, European contact became more frequent.[29] Missionaries began establishing churches from 1839, in the hopes of tempering the unscrupulous behavior of traders and blackbirders.[30] In 1845, French missionaries established missions in nearby New Caledonia leading to colonisation there in 1853.[31] Alarmed by the growing French presence, Australia began pressuring Britain to extend sovereignty to the New Hebrides, but Britain was reluctant.[32] Discovery of gold in the region and a cotton boom, fueled settlement by British and French subjects, who made private arrangements with the traditional communities to settle in the 1860s.[31] In 1878, Britain and France agreed that the Hebrides should remain neutral territory and independent.[33][34] With a drop in cotton prices in the 1880s, many settlers began selling their properties to the Compagnie Caledonienne des Nouvelles Hebrides (Caledonian Company of the New Hebrides), founded by John Higginson in 1882.[35] Higginson was an Anglo-Irishman who had been granted French nationality for establishing nickel mining in New Caledonia and was interested in forcing the French to annex the area to increase trade.[35][36] His vigorous efforts to colonise, as well as German expansionism in the Pacific Islands, led to British intervention to halt French annexation in 1882 and 1884, before finally reaching an Anglo-French agreement in 1887 for establishing a joint naval commission to administrate affairs in the Hebrides.[30][35]
Anglo-French period (1887–1980)[edit]
The 1887 agreement was designed to protect British and French subjects and their property and did not give authority for intervention in affairs of the indigenous people.[33] It became evident that without a legal foundation for administrative and judicial functionaries to operate within, disputes could not be settled and tensions would continue.[33] In 1904 the system failed completely and a commission was established to develop a system of co-sovereignty over the islands.[34] By this time, Higginson owned one-third of the land in the New Hebrides and there were twice as many French settlers in the territory as British settlers.[37] The Anglo-French Condominium was established by the Anglo-French Convention of 1906 which created a tripartite system in which public services and security were to be managed jointly and each power retained authority over its own subjects.[33][38] For nationality, that meant that British subjects were bound by British nationality law, French subjects were bound by French nationality law, and the native inhabitants were to follow customary rules as enforced by their chiefs. Protected status was not to be issued by either Britain or France over the native population.[39] For legal matters, native persons were to choose within six months of the execution of the Convention whether they chose to follow the British or the French legal system.[34] Women and children fell under the authority of their spouse, or in the case of an unmarried indigenous woman, under the authority of her tribal chief.[40] High commissioners were allowed to make laws to ensure that law and order prevailed, but had no authority to codify customary law.[40] The 1906 Convention was replaced in 1914 retaining the same nationality scheme.[41][42]
From the 1960s, many former colonies began pressing for independence. Britain favored decolonisation if that was the desire of the local inhabitants. The French favored maintaining colonial authority until possessions were able to self-manage.[43] The French authorities finally agreed to independence and in 1977, a conference was held in Paris to delineate the system to be used for acquiring independence.[44][45] At the meeting, it was agreed that internal self-government for the New Hebrides would begin on 16 August 1978 and a referendum on independence would be scheduled.[46] In September 1979 a draft constitution was approved by the political leadership of the country represented by an all-party committee.[47] Parliamentary elections followed in November of that year, and despite political unrest, independence went forward on 30 July 1980, changing the name of the New Hebrides to Vanuatu.[48][49][50]