Clarification on changes to Citizenship Laws

During the Press Conference given by the Hon.Tonio Borg, Minister for Home Affairs, on Friday 13^th August 1999 when an explanation was given of the contents of two Bills, that were being published on that day in the Government Gazette, proposing changes to the citizenship laws, mention was made in particular of the date 15 August 1999 appearing in the proposed Article 27(2) of the said Bill.

Although the Minister had clarified the significance of this date during the said Press Conference, it would appear that this was not clearly understood and perhaps a wrong interpretation is being given to this provision.

The proposed section 27(2) states that "This Act shall not apply with regard to any application for registration as a citizen of Malta filed before the 15^th day of August, 1999".

This simply means that applications for registration as citizens of Malta made BEFORE the 15^thAugust 1999 will be processed under the conditions obtaining today, that is, even though the persons concerned would not have been married for five years as is now being proposed in the provisions of the Bill under reference.

In the case of applications made AFTER the 15^th August 1999, such applications will also be considered under the conditions obtaining at present, as long as the proposed Bill would not have been enacted.

If, however, the Bill would have become law, then those cases filed after the 15^th August 1999 which would still be pending at that time, would only be considered favourably (provided that would be the case) if the spouses would have been married for at least five years.

It is important to highlight in this respect that in the Quality Service Charter of the Department for Citizenship & Expatriate Affairs, which was launched on the 5^th August 1999, it has been clearly spelt out that in the case of registration of persons as citizens of Malta only a minimum period could be established for a reply - 4 months. The Charter explains further that a minimumperiod is being indicated as it is not possible to assess how long investigations may take in such cases