Saturday 20 / April / 2024
There are several criteria according to which a person can get Omani citizenship as per the country’s law. However, it also describes the ways in which a person can lose his/her Omani citizenship if he/she fails to meet the conditions as enshrined in the law.
The first article of the Omani Nationality Law for granting of citizenship says:
1 Whoever is born in or outside Oman to an Omani father.
2 Whoever is born in or outside Oman to an Omani mother, and the father is unknown or if he doesn’t not prove that he is a legitimate father of his son, or if the father is an Omani and has lost his nationality.
3 Whoever is born to unknown parents in Oman.
4 Whoever is born in Oman and has made the country his normal residence, and his father has been born there, provided that the father at the time of the son’s birth lost the nationality and continued so.
A foreigner may apply for naturalisation with Omani nationality if he fulfils the conditions according to the article two as following:
1 He must be an adult, and should know reading and writing of Arabic language.
2 That his request to reside in the Sultanate precedes his legal continuous residence for a period of not less than 20 Gregorian years or 10 Gregorian years if he is married to an Omani woman and does not preclude his being considered as continuous his absence from the country for temporary periods of his private business, provided that the period of his absence during the year does not exceed two months.
3 That he displays good conduct, is of sound structure, free of impairments, and he has not been previously convicted of a crime of breach of honour or trust, unless he has been rehabilitated.
4 That he has a legitimate means of livelihood that brings him enough to meet his needs and the needs of his dependents.
5 He submits the citizenship application on the form prepared for this at the Ministry of Interior in which he acknowledges his desire to renounce his original nationality and that the law of his country allows him to do so.
In the event that the applicant for citizenship is accepted, he must take the oath in front of the judiciary in the wilayat or governorate in which he resides, as follows: “I swear by God Almighty to be loyal to the Sultanate of Oman, to respect its laws, customs and traditions, and to be a good citizen, and God is as I say a martyr.”
Article 3 An exception may be made, by virtue of a special Royal Decree, to grant Omani nationality to a foreigner without being bound by the conditions for naturalisation referred to in Article Two of this law.
Article 4 It is permissible for a foreign woman, the wife of a foreigner who has acquired Omani nationality and whose marriage to him and whose residency has passed on with him for five years at least, to apply for Omani nationality.
Minor children acquire Omani nationality according to their father, provided that they are permitted within the year following their reaching the age of adulthood has asked to be abandoned. As for adult children, they may request Omani citizenship according to the aforementioned naturalisation conditions in Article two of this Law.
Article 5 It is permissible for a foreign woman who marries an Omani and provided that her marriage to him and her residency with him in Oman for at least five years expires, to request the acquisition of Omani nationality.
Article 6 A Royal Decree shall be issued to grant citizenship in all the foregoing cases in an individual form. The application for naturalisation may be rejected even in cases excepted from the conditions of Article Two of this law without giving reasons.
Article 7 The foreigner who acquires Omani nationality in accordance with the previous provisions shall be entitled to exercise civil rights in accordance with the Sultanate’s laws from the date of publication of the Royal Decree granting him citizenship in the Official Gazette, unless the aforementioned decree stipulates otherwise.
Article 8 It is prohibited to combine Omani nationality with any other nationality except by virtue of a Royal Decree permitting that, and it is also prohibited for an Omani to waive his Omani nationality to acquire a foreign nationality unless he is authorised to do so by virtue of a Royal Decree and after ensuring that he has fulfilled all his duties and obligations towards the Sultanate.
Article 9 An Omani loses his nationality by virtue of the law if he acquires a foreign nationality in contradiction to the provisions of this law, and his minor children lose it according to him, and they acquire the nationality of their father if the law of that nationality gives them it.
However, his aforementioned children may request the restoration of Omani nationality during the year following their attainment of adulthood if their normal residence is in Oman or they have returned to it and have declared in writing their desire to settle in it and have met the conditions of the third and fourth paragraphs of Article Two of this law.
Article 10 Without prejudice to the provisions of the two previous articles, the Disputes Committee referred to in Article 51 of this law may submit to His Majesty the Sultan its recommendations in cases in which it is permissible to combine Omani nationality with another nationality, and these recommendations shall come into effect upon approval by the signature of His Majesty the Sultan.
Article 11 An Omani woman who marries a foreigner maintains her Omani nationality unless she submits a request to the Minister of Interior to relinquish her to acquire the nationality of her husband and her husband’s law allows her to be granted his nationality, and that she is permitted to do so in accordance with the provisions of Article 8 of this law. It is allowed to her in case of termination of marriage for any reason, to the request to return her Omani nationality if she submits a request to the Minister of Interior that her normal residence was in Oman or she has returned to Oman and acknowledges her desire to stay.
Article 12 The restitution of Omani nationality shall be issued to applicants in the cases referred to in Articles 9 and 11, a Royal Decree.
Article 13 Omani nationality shall be stripped by a Royal Decree for the following:
1 Anyone who is proven to have acquired Omani nationality on the basis of a false statement or by means of fraud and forgery, as well as stripping everyone who acquired it according to him.
2 Anyone who is proven to adhere to nonreligious principles or beliefs or to belong to a group, party or organisation that espouses those principles or beliefs.
3 Anyone who is proven to work for a foreign country in any capacity, whether his work was inside or outside Oman and did not fulfil the Omani government’s request to leave this job within the specified time.
4 Anyone who is proven to be working in the interest of an enemy state or against the interest of Oman.
5 Anyone who obtains Omani nationality by naturalisation and is sentenced for a crime against the security of the Sultanate, or if it is proven that he belongs to a group, party or organisation that has conspired or assaulted the security of the Sultanate.
Article 14 Based on the recommendation of the Minister of Interior, it is permissible to return the Omani nationality to those who have been stripped of it if the reasons for stripping no longer exist, and a Royal Decree is issued to return.
