By EUDO CITIZENSHIP expert Gëzim Krasniqi
Five years after the declaration of independence and establishment of a separate citizenship regime, the Kosovo Assembly adopted a new law on citizenship. The law is part of a set of new and amended laws that Kosovo institutions have adopted in order to comply with the European Union (EU) legislation on citizenship, asylum, refugees and data security and protection. The new law on citizenship, which was followed by the adoption of relevant administrative instructions on acquisition and loss of citizenship, as well as on the establishment and defining of working rules of the Citizenship Appeals Commission, incorporates previous amendments of the laws affecting citizenship and at the same time introduces new provisions that reduce/eliminate statelessness (especially among children) and provide facilitated naturalisation for stateless people and refugees.
Article 2 adds the terms “member of Diaspora”, “a person with a refugee status” and “family member” to the list of terms defined in the law. Several paragraphs were added regarding acquisition of citizenship by stateless people and facilitated acquisition for refugees, thus widening the scope of the law in the context of reduction of cases of stateless persons. For instance, in the case of a child born outside Kosovo to at least one parent who is a citizen, if the child would otherwise be stateless, he/she would gain citizenship even without parents’ consent (par 2.3, art 6). Similarly, consent of foreign parents of a child born in Kosovo is not necessary for the child to acquire Kosovan citizenship in cases when the child would otherwise be stateless (par 4, art 7). Article 8 of the new law stipulates that in the case of adopted child, the child would be entitled to the rights of a natural child provided that at least one of his parents is a citizen.
The 2011 amendments introduced new provisions on naturalisation of stateless people and their family members, and the new law makes these provisions applicable to refugees as well. According to paragraph 1 of article 15 of the new law, a stateless person or a refugee may acquire Kosovan citizenship if he/she resides in the country for five years from the day of recognition of refugee or stateless person status. This means that a stateless person or refugee needs a total of five (as opposed to eight or ten required for foreign citizens) years of residence in order to be eligible for naturalisation. The right to naturalisation is also given to children of a stateless person or refugee who fulfils the criteria for naturalisation. In cases when the child is between fourteen and eighteen years of age, his/her consent is needed. Another new provision concerns facilitated naturalisation of refugees and stateless people. Article 14 states that competent authorities should facilitate as far as possible the naturalisation of these two categories of people, both in terms of expediting procedures and reducing costs.
The law also introduces a new article (12) on naturalisation of the spouse of the naturalised person. The spouse of a naturalised person must have been be married for at least three years following naturalisation and have resided (i.e. hold temporary residence status) in Kosovo for at least two years. New provisions have been added which prevent spouses from acquiring citizenship in cases when marriage has been established against the Law on Family. While this provision prohibits polygamy, it also discriminates against gay people for the Law on Family defines marriage as ‘a legally registered community of two persons of different sexes’.
The new law also amends the provision on revocation of the decision on naturalisation. Par 2, art 18 prohibits the revocation of a child’s citizenship following his/her parent’s citizenship revocation in cases when the child would remain stateless. Articles 21 and 22 of the new law reinforce provisions that prevent statelessness of children and adults. In the former case, a child under 14 will lose his/her citizenship upon the request from the parents only if he/she holds another citizenship or guarantees of getting a new one. In the latter case, the authorities can revoke the decision on release from citizenship of people who were released on the bases of guarantees of getting a new citizenship when the guarantees had not been materialised within a year. The law also introduced a provision according to which citizens who were deprived of citizenship can initiate an administrative procedure before the competent court.
Last but not least, the new law adds a section on deadlines for reviewing applications and appeals (art 25). The period for reviewing of applications for acquisition and reacquisition of citizenship has been extended from 90 to 180 days.