Renunciation of Maltese Citizenship

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December 03 08:48 2015 by The Editor Print This Article

The Maltese Citizenship Act provides two exhaustive modes of loss of citizenship, namely, Renunciation of Maltese Citizenship and deprivation by registration or naturalisation.

A person who is a citizen of Malta has the right to renounce his or her Maltese citizenship. This provided that such person is of full age and capacity. The procedure shall take place by making a declaration to this effect. The only qualification that shall be met by the Maltese citizen is that he or she shall necessarily be a national of another country. This condition is intended to prevent a situation where a person becomes stateless. Upon registration of the application for renunciation the person ceases to be a Maltese citizen.

As a general rule, the Minister responsible has the discretionary power to refuse to register any application for the renunciation of Maltese citizenship in two situations. The first scenario is when the Maltese citizen makes an application to this effect during any war in which Malta is engaged, whereas the second scenario is when, in the opinion of the Minister, renunciation is contrary to public policy.

Since the acquisition of a citizenship of an EU Member State entitles every individual to acquire European citizenship, then the renunciation of Maltese citizenship may mean renunciation of European citizenship if the other nationality is that of a third state.

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