Cameroonian nationality law is regulated by the Constitution of Cameroon, as amended; the Nationality Code of Cameroon (), and its revisions; and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Cameroon. The legal means to acquire nationality, formal legal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship. Cameroonian nationality is typically obtained under the principle of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth in Cameroon or abroad to parents with Cameroonian nationality. It can 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 naturalization.
Acquisition of nationality Nationality can be acquired in Cameroon at birth or later in life through naturalization.
By birth
Persons born legitimately anywhere to at least one parent who is Cameroonian; Persons born illegitimately to two Cameroonian parents, to one Cameroonian parent if that parent was the first parent to establish a filiation, or to a stateless person who first established filiation and whose spouse is Cameroonian; or Foundlings or orphans born in the territory of unknown parentage; or Persons born in Cameroon who are stateless.
By naturalization Naturalization can be granted to persons of the age of majority and legal capacity who have resided in the territory for a sufficient period of time to confirm they understand the customs and traditions of the society. General provisions are that applicants be of good character, have no criminal history, and are in good physical and mental health. Nationality may also be granted for service to the nation or under exceptional circumstances. The general residency requirement is five years, but there is no residency period required for individuals who have performed exemplary services to the nation. Besides foreigners meeting the criteria, other persons who may be naturalized include:
Persons born in Cameroon who have resided in Cameroon for at least five years prior to a date within six months of reaching the age of majority; Adoptees who are residing in Cameroon at the time of adoption and upon declaration of nationality six months prior to reaching majority; Minor children who are married or of legal age may declare the right to Cameroonian nationality, if their Cameroonian parent reclaimed nationality; The wife of a Cameroonian husband may acquire his nationality by declaration upon legal marriage; The husband of a Cameroonian wife may naturalize without a residency period; or Persons who were previously nationals of Cameroon and wish to regain nationality, upon approval of a presidential decree.
Loss of nationality Nationality may be renounced in Cameroon by following the proper registration procedures. Persons can be denaturalized for committing fraud in a naturalization petition, committing a crime or disloyal act against the state, serving another state without authorization, or the voluntary acquisition of dual nationality.
Dual nationality Cameroon does not presently allow dual nationality.
History African empires (609BC-1884) The territory between the Mandara Mountains, which today form the northern Cameroon–Nigeria border, and Lake Chad was populated by diverse people who had different cultural and political structures. From 609 BC migrants from the Near East settled in the region and established large and powerful empires. One of these states was the Kanem–Bornu Empire, with the former lasting to the end of the fourteenth century, and being supplanted when the capital was moved to Birni N'gazargamu in Bornu. Political centralization was characteristic to the empire and a means to dominate trade throughout the region. The Kanem empire attempted to enforce vassalage on the smaller communities which pre-existed in the area and interacted with other later significant states, such as the Wandala Kingdom, also known as Mandara Kingdom and the Sokoto Caliphate. Each of these states were expansionist and militaristic.
The Wandala Kingdom was founded between 1440 and 1450 in the northern part of the territory. From the beginning of the eighteenth century, some of the vassal states of Bornu began to press for autonomy because stress for sharing resources created conflict. People from the Sultanate of Baghirmi and nomadic Tuareg groups raided Bornu territories and by 1759, the empire had lost control of the salt mines at Bilma and trade routes through the Sahara. Though there is evidence that the Kanuri-Bornu Empire attempted to involve itself in the political succession of Wandala, it was a fairly minor state until 1780. That year, Wandala defeated an attack by the Bornu Empire, precipitating the decline of Bornu, leading to the sacking of Birni N'gazargamu in 1808, during the Fulani War. That year, the Sokoto Caliphate was founded, replacing previous states in Hausaland. New polities emerged from the former Hausa states, which now were aligned with the Sokoto Caliphate, and included the Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Muri and Nufe Emirates.
English and Dutch traders and missionaries began establishing themselves in the region from 1844. In 1868, . a merchant from Hamburg established a trading house on the Kamerun River, now known as the Wouri River. In 1874, Woermann's son, Adolph, joined the business and began implementing plans to expand their enterprise by eliminating his competitors, the native people. His agent, Johannes Thormählen, first requested that a German consul be sent to the region that year. Chancellor of Germany, Otto von Bismarck was reluctant to grant the request, believing that business enterprises should finance colonization efforts rather than the state. Thormählen then formed with Wilhelm Jantzen, Woermann's agent in Liberia, their own trading company operating between Hamburg and West Africa. The network of Adolph Woermann and Jantzen & Thormählen controlled half of the trade coming out of West Africa through their network of trading posts and shipping services by 1882. In 1883, Woermann used his influence to persuade the Hamburg Board of Trade to allow him to send warships to protect German merchants and together with Jantzen & Thormählen secured agreements with the chiefs along the Cameroonian coast to cede their sovereign rights to Germany. In 1884, having been elected to the Reichstag, Woermann was able to convince Bismark to establish colonies in Africa as protection for German commercial interests.
German protectorate (1884–1919) In July 1884, Bismark appointed Gustav Nachtigal as Consul-General of the Colony of Kamerun. He continued the practice of obtaining treaties with chiefs in the colony, but at the end of that year, resistance to German occupation resulted in attempts by natives to disrupt trade. Two German corvettes were sent to quell the uprising and secure German authority in the colony. Under the terms of the German Colonial Act of 1888, German colonies were not part of the federal union, but they were also not considered foreign. Thus, laws that were extended to the colonies sometimes treated residents as nationals and other times as foreigners. German law applied to those subjects who had been born in Germany. Native subjects in the colonies were not considered to be German, but were allowed to naturalize. Naturalization required ten years residence in the territory and proof of self-employment. It was automatically bestowed upon all members of a family, meaning children and wives derived the nationality of the husband.
In 1911, disputes between German and French authorities, resulted in France ceding a large portion of their territory in French Congo to the Germans in exchange for German recognition of French authority in the Moroccan Protectorate. The area granted under the Treaty of Fez was known as Neukamerun. The Nationality Law of 1913 changed the basis for acquiring German nationality from domicile to patrilineality, but did not alter derivative nationality. In 1914, during World War I, Belgian, British, and French colonial troops, made up of mostly Africans launched the two-year Kamerun campaign. Securing the territory in 1916, Neukamerun was returned to France. The remainder of the territory was assigned at the end of the war in 1919 as a protected territory of both France and Britain.
British-French mandate/trust territory (1922–1960) In 1922, the Cameroons, known as British Cameroon and French Cameroun, became League of Nations mandated territories, under the shared authority of the two countries. The British section was located in the western 1/5th of the country and administrated through the British Colony of Nigeria. France administered the remaining 4/5ths of the territory. At the end of World War II, the League of Nations was transformed into the United Nations and the mandated territories were known as Trust Territories. The goal of the trusteeship system was to shepherd the protectorates toward self-governance and eventual independence.
Nationality in British Cameroon Under British law, mandated territories were outside the Crown's dominions, meaning British nationality laws did not apply to natives, but only to British subjects born to British fathers who may have been domiciled in a mandated place. As a protected territory, Britain took responsibility for both internal and external administration, including defense and foreign relations. Indigenous persons who were born in a mandate were treated as British Protected Persons (BPP) and were not entitled to be British nationals. BPPs had no right of return to the United Kingdom and were unable to exercise rights of citizenship; however, they could be issued a passport and could access diplomatic services when traveling abroad.
Under the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914, which established an imperial nationality scheme for use throughout the British Empire, common law provisions were reiterated 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, meaning an illegitimate child could derive nationality from its mother. 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 naturalized. It also provided that a married woman derived 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. It allowed 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 naturalization without meeting a residency requirement. The statute reiterated Naturalization required five years residence or service to the crown.