Historic Citizenship Reform Approved for Second and Third Generation Kittitians and Nevisians
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, September 14, 2026 (SKNIS) — The Cabinet has approved the tabling in the National Assembly of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2026. The Bill will allow adults born abroad on or after 19th September 1983, whose parent or grandparent became a citizen of Saint Christopher and Nevis at Independence, to apply to be registered as citizens.
The reform addresses a gap in the law that has stood for 43 years. Under the Constitution, citizenship passes to a child born abroad where a parent was born in Saint Kitts and Nevis. Adults born abroad in the generations that followed have had no route to citizenship based on their descent. Persons born before Independence stand in a different position, and are generally already citizens under the Constitution.
Members of the diaspora have raised this issue for decades, in correspondence, through the Federation’s overseas missions, through diaspora and family associations, and most recently in a petition presented to the National Assembly in 2025. The call has been made to successive administrations.
“This Bill corrects a gap that has existed since 1983 and our diaspora have asked for this for a long time, and this Administration has listened,” said Acting Prime Minister, the Honourable Dr Geoffrey Hanley. “The pathway is a defined one. An adult born after Independence whose parent or grandparent became a citizen at Independence may apply, subject to proof and security screening. It is not a general claim based on ancestry.”
Previously, a 23-year-old born in Hamilton, Bermuda, who has a grandfather born in Dieppe Bay did not inherit that citizenship, because the Constitution confers citizenship on a child born abroad only where the parent was born in the Federation, and her mother was also born in Hamilton. Under the proposed new grandparent pathway within the Bill, she may apply on the strength of her grandfather’s birth certificate.
The amendment would also apply to a 30-year-old born in New York in 1996 whose father was born in Brooklyn in 1965 and who became a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis at Independence, because his own grandmother had been born in Gingerland. While he was a minor his father could have applied to register him as the child of a citizen, but never did, and that entitlement lapsed on his eighteenth birthday. Under the Bill he may now apply in his own right through the parent pathway, on the strength of his father’s records.
The Bill now proceeds to the National Assembly for first reading on 18th September 2026. If passed, Regulations prescribing the application form, the required documents and the fee will be made, and the Act will come into force on a day appointed by the Minister. Details of how to apply will be published before the process opens.
Members of the diaspora are advised to begin gathering and certifying their family records. Applications should not be submitted until the Government announces that the process is open.
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