" A persons born outside The Bahamas after 9th July 1973 shall become a citizen of The Bahamas at the date of his birth if at that date his father is a citizen of The Bahamas otherwise than by virtue of this Article or Article 3(2) of this Constitution."

This is taken out of our constitution. I read somewhere and have heard that Bahamian women who marry foreignors or whose has a child with a man who is not bahamian are not bahamian. Is this true? Another question I want to know is what was the purpose of this law if it is true and why hasn't it been changed?...another question can a person apply for dual citizenship in the bahamas?

from what i understand on bahamian citizen and immigration laws:

a child born unto a bahamian woman, regardless of where they were born. is considered bahamian upon birth

a child born unto a non bahamian woman, fathered by a bahamian man if the couple was not married before the childs birth then the child will take the mother citizenry and the child can apply for bahamian citizenship at 18.

on the dual citizen issue. it depends on what ur situation is. in any regards if a person can meet one of the requirements to qualify for bahamian citizenship and can provide suffecient proof:

1- born in the bahamas (regardless of both parents citizenry)

2- fathered by a bahamian man

3- mother is bahamian (regardless of where you were born)

etc. you will get your citizenship. regardless of what your previous one is.

from what i understand on bahamian citizen and immigration laws:

a child born unto a bahamian woman, regardless of where they were born. is considered bahamian upon birth

a child born unto a non bahamian woman, fathered by a bahamian man if the couple was not married before the childs birth then the child will take the mother citizenry and the child can apply for bahamian citizenship at 18.

on the dual citizen issue. it depends on what ur situation is. in any regards if a person can meet one of the requirements to qualify for bahamian citizenship and can provide suffecient proof:

1- born in the bahamas (regardless of both parents citizenry)

2- fathered by a bahamian man

3- mother is bahamian (regardless of where you were born)

etc. you will get your citizenship. regardless of what your previous one is.

you go boi, man you can be an immigration lawyer!

i actually thought about it, that or family law. in the end I only made it as far as pre law. to me law is too fustrating, and i learned quickly that i would have seen and probably had to do alot of things i wouldnt be cool with.

I Have Just Learned Something Here.

As an american male, married to a bahamian, I have been instructed as such by the Immigration Dept.

A year before my 5 yr anniversary of marriage, apply to immigration for citizenship of the Bahamas if I wish. My spousal permit runs out on the 5th anniversary and is not renewable.

So, I either apply for citizenship, or apply for residency and pay for a work permit yearly.

As for dual citizenship, I have been told that upon receiving Bahamian citizenship, and a Bahamian passport, the govt. of the Bahamas may or may not ask for my USA pasport. THats not a problem, as with a birth certificate and social cesurity number I cna fly to the states and apply for a new passport, if I so desire.

I will not have to give up my social security benefits, if they still exist in 10 years when I am 62.

As an american male, married to a bahamian, I have been instructed as such by the Immigration Dept.

A year before my 5 yr anniversary of marriage, apply to immigration for citizenship of the Bahamas if I wish. My spousal permit runs out on the 5th anniversary and is not renewable.

So, I either apply for citizenship, or apply for residency and pay for a work permit yearly.

As for dual citizenship, I have been told that upon receiving Bahamian citizenship, and a Bahamian passport, the govt. of the Bahamas may or may not ask for my USA pasport. THats not a problem, as with a birth certificate and social cesurity number I cna fly to the states and apply for a new passport, if I so desire.

I will not have to give up my social security benefits, if they still exist in 10 years when I am 62.


so yall live in the bahamas. well i learned something new, the spousal permit of which you speak, the bahamas really gives a long time on them. in the usa you have to apply to adjust ur status to permant resident after the marrage. u dont have to but the alien spouse cant work etc with out doing so.

the down side about dual residence as a usa citizen is they still require you to pay your taxes

now i have a question. this isnt nessarily about usa laws but lets the bahamas was a country that required you to formly renounce your citizenship to gain theirs. can that person never regain citizenship in their home country

Bahmaboy, I don't know about the USA but with Britain, if you have to renounce your citizenship after marriage so that you can become a citizen of your spouses country, you can get it back again at a later date. According to the British High Commissioner about 5 years ago, you can actually do so 3 times in your life.

Mind you, when I became a Bahamian citizen after my marriage, I was able to have dual nationality.


Also, I have to correct you on your response to the original post, if a Bahamian woman has a child outside of the Bahamas for a non Bahamian man the child is not a Bahamian but takes the citizenship of the father, that is what the referendum in 2002 was designed to address.

Also, a child born in the Bahamas to a Bahamian man and non-Bahamian mother (parents unmarried) can have Bahamian citizenship from birth, depending on the country of citizenship of the mother.

Bahmaboy, I don't know about the USA but with Britain, if you have to renounce your citizenship after marriage so that you can become a citizen of your spouses country, you can get it back again at a later date. According to the British High Commissioner about 5 years ago, you can actually do so 3 times in your life.

Mind you, when I became a Bahamian citizen after my marriage, I was able to have dual nationality.


Also, I have to correct you on your response to the original post, if a Bahamian woman has a child outside of the Bahamas for a non Bahamian man the child is not a Bahamian but takes the citizenship of the father, that is what the referendum in 2002 was designed to address.

Also, a child born in the Bahamas to a Bahamian man and non-Bahamian mother (parents unmarried) can have Bahamian citizenship from birth, depending on the country of citizenship of the mother.

Stop it! You go Ann....the Bahamian women did not want the same rights as the Bahamian man, so they voted NO on the referandum...sad...now we have to spend all that money again to have the same thing come through...

Bahmaboy, I don't know about the USA but with Britain, if you have to renounce your citizenship after marriage so that you can become a citizen of your spouses country, you can get it back again at a later date. According to the British High Commissioner about 5 years ago, you can actually do so 3 times in your life.

Mind you, when I became a Bahamian citizen after my marriage, I was able to have dual nationality.


Also, I have to correct you on your response to the original post, if a Bahamian woman has a child outside of the Bahamas for a non Bahamian man the child is not a Bahamian but takes the citizenship of the father, that is what the referendum in 2002 was designed to address.

Also, a child born in the Bahamas to a Bahamian man and non-Bahamian mother (parents unmarried) can have Bahamian citizenship from birth, depending on the country of citizenship of the mother.


hmmm. the whole concept of renouncing citizships always escaped me to me it makes no sense to have someone renounce their birth right just becuase they take up residency somewhere else

so this referedum will make it that the child will get bahamian citizenship from its mother? n e way under any circumstance if one of your parents are bahamian and you can prove it you can apply for citizenship

on the last point I wonder which countries they are. to me that seems discriminatory. i do know for a fact a jamaican woman or a haitian woman in this citiution child has to carry travel docs until 18 and then go through all kinds of crap to apply for citizenchip

n e way thanks for posting

hmmm. the whole concept of renouncing citizships always escaped me to me it makes no sense to have someone renounce their birth right just becuase they take up residency somewhere else

so this referedum will make it that the child will get bahamian citizenship from its mother? n e way under any circumstance if one of your parents are bahamian and you can prove it you can apply for citizenship

on the last point I wonder which countries they are. to me that seems discriminatory. i do know for a fact a jamaican woman or a haitian woman in this citiution child has to carry travel docs until 18 and then go through all kinds of crap to apply for citizenchip

n e way thanks for posting


You are right with the last part of your post, it is discriminatory, my girlfriend and I both had children within the same year, (both expat women, I was British, she Jamaican, both unmarried to the Bahamian fathers of our babies) My daughter was able to get Bahamian citizenship automatically without having to apply for it, her daughter had to get a Jamaican passport and will have to apply for citizenship within one year of turning 18.

The referendum would have given children born to Bahamian women and foreign fathers automatic citizenship without all of the hassle and aggravation and cost of having to apply for it, but it was defeated, as was the part that gave foreign husbands of Bahamian women the right to automatic citizenship as presently enjoyed by foreign-born wives of Bahamian men.

You are right with the last part of your post, it is discriminatory, my girlfriend and I both had children within the same year, (both expat women, I was British, she Jamaican, both unmarried to the Bahamian fathers of our babies) My daughter was able to get Bahamian citizenship automatically without having to apply for it, her daughter had to get a Jamaican passport and will have to apply for citizenship within one year of turning 18.

The referendum would have given children born to Bahamian women and foreign fathers automatic citizenship without all of the hassle and aggravation and cost of having to apply for it, but it was defeated, as was the part that gave foreign husbands of Bahamian women the right to automatic citizenship as presently enjoyed by foreign-born wives of Bahamian men.


well i can understand this law for british women bucause of our former ties with the country, but that still doesnt make it ok. oh so the child has to apply with in one year of turning 18, i thought it was anytime after 18.

i think once the woman can prove she is in the country legally and that the father of the child is bahamian the child should get citizenship automaticly. how unfair.

one things for sure the bahamas has tough immigration laws

The constitution of the Bahamas states that a child born IN THE BAHAMAS after July 10, 1973 is a BAHAMIAN citizen if EITHER parent is a Bahamian citizen.

The constitution of the Bahamas states that a child born IN THE BAHAMAS after July 10, 1973 is a BAHAMIAN citizen if EITHER parent is a Bahamian citizen.



that law is only straight forward if both parents are bahamian or one is bahamian and they are married. if a person is not in one of these 2 situations, the water gets merky

:jawdroop: I am stunned at what people have written here

" A persons born outside The Bahamas after 9th July 1973 shall become a citizen of The Bahamas at the date of his birth if at that date his father is a citizen of The Bahamas otherwise than by virtue of this Article or Article 3(2) of this Constitution."

can everyone take the time to actually read what this says and go back in the record books to February 27th 2002 when they held a referendum to change this law (which people voted against) which plainly stated that if a child that is born outside of the Bahamas is only considered a Bahamian if its father hold Bahamian citizenship not the Childs parents not the Childs mother or father only the father. for those of us who don’t understand that means that if you are a Bahamian woman and marry a foreign man then have a child in that foreign country then your baby is not Bahamian

Break it down
As the law stands right now:

Bahamian father married to Bahamian wife with a child born outside the Bahamas the child is?
BAHAMIAN

Bahamian father married to a non-Bahamian wife with a child born outside of the Bahamas the child is?
BAHAMIAN

Bahamian mother married to a non Bahamian husband with a child born outside the Bahamas the child is?
NOT BAHAMIAN

Bahamian mother not married with a child born outside of the Bahamas the child is?
BAHAMIAN