Bahamian nationality law is regulated by the 1973 Constitution of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, as amended; The Bahamas Nationality Act; The Bahamas Immigration Act; and various British Nationality laws. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of The Bahamas. Bahamian nationality is typically obtained either on the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in The Bahamas; or under the rules of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth abroad to a father with Bahamian nationality. It can also be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalisation. There is currently no program in The Bahamas for citizenship by investment. Nationality establishes one's international identity as a member of a sovereign nation. Though it is not synonymous with citizenship, rights granted under domestic law for domestic purposes, the United Kingdom, and thus the commonwealth, has traditionally used the words interchangeably.
Acquiring Bahamian nationality
Bahamians may acquire nationality through adoption, birth, naturalisation, or registration.
Adoption
Upon the issuance of an adoption order, a minor child derives nationality from the adoptive parent. If the proceeding is a joint adoption, the child can only derive nationality from the father.
By birth
Birthright nationality applies to:
Persons born within the territory to at least one Bahamian parent, which is interpreted to include a mother only, in the case of illegitimacy; Persons legitimately born abroad to a father who was born in The Bahamas; or if illegitimate to a Bahamian-born mother; or Persons born upon an aircraft or ship which is registered in The Bahamas or an unregistered aircraft or ship belonging to the government.
By registration
Nationality by registration includes those who have familial or historic relationship affiliations with The Bahamas. Persons who acquire nationality by registration include:
Persons who were defined as possessing "Bahamian status" under the terms of the Immigration Act of 1967, and on 9 July 1973 were considered a resident of The Bahamas; Persons who are nationals of other Commonwealth countries and who have lived in The Bahamas for at least six years; Persons born in The Bahamas after 9 July 1973 to non-national parents who upon reaching the age of majority have no other national affiliation or renounce other nationality and take an Oath of Allegiance within one year of attaining age 18; Persons born abroad to a Bahamian mother, after July 9th 1973, who at the time of birth was married to a non-national, if the registration occurs after attaining age 18 and before attaining age 21 and renunciation of other nationality and an Oath of Allegiance is administered; Women who were married to a national who acquired nationality at the time of independence, or but for death would have acquired nationality, upon taking an Oath of Allegiance; Post-independence, the wife of a national who acquired nationality after independence, provided she takes an Oath of Allegiance; or Minor children of any national, at the discretion of the Minister for Nationality and Citizenship.
By naturalisation
Ordinary naturalisation in The Bahamas can be obtained by adult persons of legal capacity, who in the 12 months prior to submitting an application resided in the territory, are of good character, and intend to be a resident of the territory. Residency of a minimum of six years is required, but may include periods of service to the government. Applicants petition the Minister for Nationality and Citizenship, who evaluates whether the general criteria are met, whether the applicant poses a threat to national security or public policy, and whether there is a proficiency in English and adequate knowledge of the responsibilities of Bahamian citizenship. Upon approval, applicants must take an Oath of Allegiance.
Loss of nationality
The Bahamas allows its nationals to voluntarily renounce their nationality if they are possessed of 21 years of age and legal capacity. They must verify that they have other nationality, which is not derived from a country in a state of war with The Bahamas. Nationals may be deprived of their status through acts of treason or disloyalty, criminal offences, fraud in a naturalisation application, taking nationality or exercising citizenship rights in another country, or performing services for a foreign military or government.
Dual nationality
Dual nationality is not permitted in The Bahamas after age 21. Nationals who have dual status as a minor, must choose a single nationality upon reaching majority.
Commonwealth citizenship
Bahamians are also Commonwealth citizens by default.
History
Colonial period
After landing on San Salvador Island in 1492, Spain made no attempt to settle the Bahamian islands, though an early French colonisation may have been attempted in 1649. The first successful European settlement in the islands was made by English colonists from Bermuda, who settled on Eleuthera. Gradually settlement spread to other islands. In Britain, allegiance, in which subjects pledged to support a monarch, was the precursor to the modern concept of nationality. The crown recognised from 1350 that all persons born within the territories of the British Empire were subjects. Those born outside the realm – except children of those serving in an official post abroad, children of the monarch, and children born on a British sailing vessel – were considered by common law to be foreigners. Marriage did not affect the status of a subject of the realm. In 1670, Charles II of England granted the islands to the Lords Proprietors of Carolina. In 1717, the crown terminated the arrangement and the islands became part of the lands of the British Empire. In 1776, the islands were captured during the American Revolutionary War and taken by the Spanish in 1782, but were returned to Britain by 1783. Unlike other colonial powers with slave societies in the Caribbean, the British did not have a single slave code. Each British colony was allowed to establish its own rules about the slave trade, and a code was established for the Carolinas in 1690. Bahamian society was divided into a rigid and stratified system based upon color and class, with white Europeans at the top, and downward to brown Europeans and Asians, mixed-race persons, black creoles (native black people) and Africans. Married women were subjugated to the authority of their husbands under coverture, and the law was structured to maintain social hierarchies by regulating familial matters like, who could marry, legitimacy, and inheritance. Children in slave societies followed the status of the mother, thus if she was free her children would be free or if she was in bondage, her children would also be bound.
Other than common law, there was no standard statutory law which applied for subjects throughout the realm, meaning different jurisdictions created their own legislation for local conditions, which often conflicted with the laws in other jurisdictions in the empire. Nationality laws passed by the British Parliament were extended only to the Kingdom of Great Britain, and later the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1807, the British Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act, barring the Atlantic slave trade in the empire. The Act did not abolish slavery, which did not end until the 1833 Emancipation Act went into effect in 1834. Under its terms, slaves were converted into apprentices and remained bound to their former owners for four years if they had worked in the home and for six years if they had been field labourers. The local ordinance in the Bahamas called for a four-year apprenticeship, which ended in 1838. Though free, there was never a British plan to give former slaves a voice in Parliament, leaving them as British subjects in a highly stratified system of rights. Denied political and economic rights, former slaves were not entitled to formal recognition as nationals by other nations.
In 1911, at the Imperial Conference a decision was made to draft a common nationality code for use across the empire. The British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914 allowed local jurisdictions in the self-governing Dominions to continue regulating nationality in their territories, but also established an imperial nationality scheme throughout the realm. The uniform law, which went into effect on 1 January 1915, required a married woman to derive her nationality from her spouse, meaning if he was British, she was also, and if he was foreign, so was she. It stipulated that upon loss of nationality of a husband, a wife could declare that she wished to remain British and provided that if a marriage had terminated, through death or divorce, a British-born national who had lost her status through marriage could reacquire British nationality through naturalisation without meeting a residency requirement. The statute reiterated common law provisions for natural-born persons born within the realm on or after the effective date. By using the word person, the statute nullified legitimacy requirements for jus soli nationals. For those born abroad on or after the effective date, legitimacy was still required, and could only be derived by a child from a British father (one generation), who was natural-born or naturalised. Naturalisations required five years residence or service to the crown.
Amendments to the British statute were enacted in 1918, 1922, 1933 and 1943 changing derivative nationality by descent and modifying slightly provisions for women to lose their nationality upon marriage. Because of a rise in statelessness, a woman who did not automatically acquire her husband's nationality upon marriage or upon his naturalisation in another country, did not lose their British status after 1933. The 1943 revision allowed a child born abroad at any time to be a British national by descent if the Secretary of State agreed to register the birth. In the Bahamas, the government had also passed migration legislation, as early as 1920, but even in the 1928 Immigration Act, there was no definition of Bahamian nationality. Under the terms of the British Nationality Act 1948 British nationals in the Bahamas were reclassified at that time as "Citizens of the UK and Colonies" (CUKC). The basic British nationality scheme did not change overmuch, and typically those who were previously defined as British remained the same. Changes included that wives and children no longer automatically acquired the status of the husband or father, children who acquired nationality by descent no longer were required to make a retention declaration, and registrations for children born abroad were extended.