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Citizenship of Fiji (Revised Budget Amendment) Act 2022

REPUBLIC OF FIJI

CITIZENSHIP OF FIJI (REVISED BUDGET AMENDMENT) ACT 2022

ACT NO. 15 OF 2022

I assent.

W. KATONIVERE
President

[25 March 2022]

AN ACT

TO AMEND THE CITIZENSHIP OF FIJI ACT 2009

ENACTED by the Parliament of the Republic of Fiji—

Short title and commencement

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Citizenship of Fiji (Revised Budget Amendment) Act 2022.

(2) This Act comes into force on a date or dates appointed by the Minister by notice in the Gazette.

(3) In this Act, the Citizenship of Fiji Act 2009 is referred to as the "Principal Act".

Section 11 amended

2. Section 11 of the Principal Act is amended by deleting subsection (2) and inserting the following new subsections—

"(2) In order to qualify for the grant of a certificate of naturalisation under section 13, a person must—

• (a) be the holder of a valid permanent residence permit;
• (b) have been lawfully present in Fiji for an aggregate period of 15 years in the 20 consecutive years immediately before the application for naturalisation;
• (c) be of good character;
• (d) intend to continue to reside in Fiji; and
• (e) have adequate knowledge of the English language and of the responsibilities and privileges of Fijian citizenship in accordance with guidelines which may be prescribed by regulations.

(3) For the avoidance of doubt, in calculating the aggregate period in subsection (2)(b) the Minister must—

• (a) not take into account any period in which the applicant was not a holder of a valid permanent residence permit; and
• (b) where the applicant has held more than one permanent residence permit, only take into account consecutive periods in which the applicant has held a permanent residence permit.".

Section 22A inserted

3. The Principal Act is amended after section 22 by inserting the following new section—

"Transitional - Citizenship of Fiji (Amendment) Act 2020 and Citizenship of Fiji (Revised Budget Amendment) Act 2022
22A.—(1) An application for citizenship lodged with the Fijian Immigration Department on or prior to 31 August 2020 must be assessed under the criteria applicable on that date.
(2) An application for citizenship lodged with the Fijian Immigration Department on or after 1 September 2020 must be assessed under the criteria provided for by virtue of the Citizenship of Fiji (Amendment) Act 2020 and the Citizenship of Fiji (Revised Budget Amendment) Act 2022.".

Consequential amendment

4. Sections 5 and 9 of the Citizenship of Fiji (Amendment) Act 2020 are deleted.

Passed by the Parliament of the Republic of Fiji this 25th day of March 2022.