[en] The position of States on dual nationality has gradually developed from hostility to tolerance, and is now possibly moving towards an embrace for one particular group of nationals, namely emigrants.
This dissertation describes how States have given shape to their nationality policies in order to remain connected with their diaspora, a phenomenon referred to as ‘emigrant nationality’. It presents an analysis of emigrant nationality policies of 196 States in order to determine to what extent States allow emigrants and their descendants to retain their original nationality, next to another nationality. In order to complement this broad analysis with an in-depth analysis, two country studies were conducted on emigrant nationality policies in Sri Lanka and Spain. The first country study describes how Sri Lanka grants dual citizenship certificates to a privileged segment of its emigrants in order to enable them to hold more than one nationality. The second country study shows how the Law of Historical Memory and the introduction of special nationality provisions for the Sephardim enabled Spain to reconnect with its diaspora even after a long period of time.
The study shows that a large majority of States has come to accept dual nationality for emigrant populations, yet that its scope varies greatly. This means that even though the acceptance of nationality for emigrant populations is widespread, this acceptance has often remained partial and conditional.
Research Center/Unit :
Droit International Privé
Disciplines :
Metalaw, Roman law, history of law & comparative law
