If you acquired another country's citizenship on or after 6 October 1995 and were told you had lost your South African citizenship, the current legal position is that you never lost it. The Constitutional Court decided that on 6 May 2025. Most of what else circulates about "the new citizenship rules" is policy, and policy does not change the law until Parliament passes it. What follows is what the Citizenship Act 88 of 1995 and its regulations require today.
Where the law is, and where the policy is
The operative law is the Citizenship Act 88 of 1995, as amended by the South African Citizenship Amendment Act 17 of 2010 (in force 1 January 2013), read with the Regulations in Government Notice R1122, Government Gazette 36054 of 28 December 2012, as amended by Government Notice R3658 of 7 July 2023.
The Draft Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection was published for comment on 12 December 2025, comment closed on 31 January 2026, and Cabinet approved the revised version in April 2026. Merit-based naturalisation criteria and an annual expression of interest are among its proposals. On 14 August 2026 the Minister of Home Affairs told the National Council of Provinces that the department hopes to table a bill by March 2027. None has been tabled, and until one is commenced it does not govern your application.
Citizenship by birth: section 2
Section 2 holds three routes, and people routinely use the wrong one:
- Section 2(1)(b): a person born in or outside the Republic, one of whose parents was a South African citizen at the time of the birth, is a citizen by birth. Chisuse and Others v Director-General, Department of Home Affairs [2020] ZACC 20 (22 July 2020) confirms this covers people born abroad to a South African parent both before and after the 2010 amendment commenced on 1 January 2013.
- Section 2(2): a person born in the Republic who is not a citizen under subsection (1) is a citizen by birth if they have no other citizenship or nationality and no right to one, and the birth is registered under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 51 of 1992.
- Section 2(3): a person born in the Republic to parents admitted for permanent residence, and not already a citizen, qualifies to be a citizen by birth if they lived here from birth to becoming a major (18) and the birth is registered under that Act.
Section 2(3) creates a qualification, not an automatic status, and the regulations prescribe no dedicated form for it: the only citizenship certificates they provide for are those under sections 15 and 16, both on Form DHA-66E. For a child born abroad to a South African citizen, regulation 2(1) requires the birth registration to be lodged at a South African mission, or any office of the Department, within 30 days of the birth.
Citizenship by descent, section 3, is now narrow: a person adopted under the Children's Act 38 of 2005 by a South African citizen, whose birth is registered. Children born abroad to a South African parent are citizens by birth under section 2(1)(b), not by descent.
Naturalisation: sections 4 and 5
The general adult route, section 5(1). The applicant must not be a minor, must have been admitted for permanent residence, must be ordinarily resident for a continuous period of not less than five years immediately preceding the application, and must satisfy the Minister on good character, intention to remain, language ability and knowledge of the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship. Section 5(1)(h) adds that the applicant must be a citizen of a country allowing dual citizenship, failing which renounce it and furnish the prescribed proof.
Permanent residence and the five years are separate requirements. Regulation 3(2) puts numbers on the residence test: the five years run immediately before the date of application, and an applicant absent for more than 90 days in any year of that period does not qualify.
The application is made on Form DHA-63. Regulation 3(1) requires the permanent residence permit, a police report not older than six months, the foreign passport, the original identity document, proof of language ability, and proof of employment. Where renunciation applies, regulation 4 requires an official letter from that country confirming it, submitted within six months of the letter of conditional approval. Before the certificate issues, an applicant over 18 signs the Schedule 1 declaration of allegiance on Form DHA-75, and the certificate itself is Form DHA-64E. Regulation 3B allows a hearing, at which the applicant expressly has no right to legal representation.
Minors, section 5(4). The minor must be permanently and lawfully resident here, and the responsible parent or legal guardian applies on Part E of Form DHA-63, as part of a family application in which every member must qualify.
Spouses, section 5(5). The Act requires permanent residence, ordinary residence for a prescribed period, and marriage to the citizen during that period. The prescribed period needs care: regulation 5(1) as gazetted states 10 years immediately preceding the application, while regulations 5(2) and 5(3) both speak of a five-year period and the 90-day absence rule. That inconsistency has not been resolved, so confirm which period the office applies.
Section 4(3), children born here to parents who are neither citizens nor permanent residents. Such a person qualifies to apply on becoming a major if they lived here from birth to majority and the birth was registered. In Minister of Home Affairs and Another v Ali and Others (1289/17) [2018] ZASCA 169 (30 November 2018) the Supreme Court of Appeal held that section 4(3) applies whether the person was born before or after 1 January 2013. Regulation 3A, inserted on 7 July 2023, prescribes Form DHA-63A with the original DHA-19 from birth registration, proof of birth, the parents' asylum, refugee or visa documents, proof of residence from birth to application, and biometrics. Note that the regulation limits applicants to people born in the Republic from 6 October 1995 onwards, which sits uneasily with Ali.
Loss of citizenship, and what the Constitutional Court decided
Section 6(1)(a) provided that a citizen who, whilst not being a minor, acquired another citizenship by a voluntary and formal act other than marriage ceased to be a South African citizen, unless the Minister had ordered retention in advance under section 6(2), on Form DHA-1664.
In Democratic Alliance v Minister of Home Affairs and Another (CCT 184/23) [2025] ZACC 8 (6 May 2025) the Constitutional Court confirmed the Supreme Court of Appeal's order. Section 6(1)(a) was declared inconsistent with the Constitution and invalid from its promulgation on 6 October 1995, and those who lost citizenship by its operation are deemed not to have lost it. What follows:
- No advance retention order is needed before naturalising elsewhere. Section 6(2) was not struck down, but the trigger most people used it for is gone.
- On the wording of the section itself, minors were never caught by it: it applied only to a person "whilst not being a minor".
- The declaration runs from 6 October 1995. Losses before that date, under section 15(1)(a) of the South African Citizenship Act 44 of 1949, are not covered. The route there is a discretionary ministerial exemption under section 26(4), on Form DHA-1666, which if granted deems them to have remained a citizen.
- Other loss provisions survive: sections 6(1)(b) and 6(3), renunciation under section 7 on Form DHA-246, and deprivation under section 8. Under section 7(3), a renouncing parent's minor children also cease to be citizens unless the other parent is and remains one.
Correcting the population register
Home Affairs launched a Citizenship Reinstatement Portal at myhomeaffairsonline.dha.gov.za on 24 November 2025. On 10 February 2026 it announced the final phase, with automated processing, saying this cut turnaround from six to eight weeks to as little as one hour for qualifying applicants. In the 11 weeks of phase one, 12 008 people checked their status and 1 088 were reinstated.
The sequence: create a profile, confirm your email, check your status by identity number, complete biometric verification, and lodge a reinstatement application if the record still reflects loss. Neither statement mentions a fee, so treat cost as unconfirmed. The paper alternative is a written confirmation of status under section 16, on Form DHA-66E.
Resumption: section 13
Resumption is often confused with reinstatement. Section 13(2) is narrow: someone who ceased to be a citizen as a minor under section 10 or a Schedule 2 prior law, and who is resident here or has returned for permanent residence, may after turning 18 declare a wish to resume. Section 13(3) covers people who lost citizenship under a prior law or under sections 6, 7, 8 or 10, and who reside here permanently or hold permanent residence under section 25 of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002.
Regulation 8 prescribes Form DHA-175 for a section 13(2) application, with proof of permanent residence for not less than one year, and a resumption certificate on Form DHA-237. Because resumption requires presence in or return to South Africa, it is generally not the route for someone abroad affected by section 6(1)(a), who relies on the deeming order and reinstatement instead.
Dual citizenship: the obligation that did not disappear
Section 26B still applies. A major citizen who enters or departs the Republic on another country's passport, or who while here uses foreign citizenship to gain an advantage or avoid a duty, is guilty of an offence, liable on conviction to a fine or imprisonment for up to 12 months. Holding two passports is lawful; travelling through South African ports of entry on the wrong one is not, so keep a valid South African passport current.
What to do next
- Build the chronology: dates and places of birth, each parent's citizenship and status at your birth, permanent residence dates, any foreign naturalisation date, and marriages.
- If foreign naturalisation happened on or after 6 October 1995, check the reinstatement portal before assuming anything.
- Identify the instrument that fits: a section 16 confirmation, a section 4(3) or section 5 naturalisation, a section 13 resumption, or a section 26(4) exemption for a pre-1995 loss.
- Collect primary records rather than summaries, and send interpretation questions, or any decision you want reviewed, to an admitted practitioner.
Legalyze provides administrative support rather than legal representation. Our Citizenship & Status Support service builds the chronology, screens the routes, assembles the records checklist and prepares the correspondence pack. Preparation is offered as a DIY Application Kit from R1,500, a Guided Application from R5,500, or Full-Service Coordination from R8,500. Home Affairs charges its own prescribed fees under regulation 11, separate from ours.
This is general information about the law as it stands, not advice on any individual's circumstances.