Important news for all our clients from South Africa

South Africans are one of our most dedicated clients for Bulgarian citizenship by investment. However, a ruling by Judge Jody Kollapen will give them a new headache from now on.

The South African Citizenship Act

South African citizen shall cease to be a South African citizen if (a) he or she, whilst not being a minor, by some voluntary and formal act other than marriage, acquires the citizenship or nationality of a country other than the Republic;…

The SA Citizenship Act, 1995

Earlier this year, the legal text was challenged as presumably unconstitutional. Last month however, Judge Jody Kollapen ruled in Court that the act was not depriving South Africans of their citizenship. The Judge said that the act provides the option to apply for retention (of the SA citizenship) before applying for another passport. So the appeal was dismissed this week.

South Africans applying for Bulgarian citizenship should be proactive

We are now contacting all our SA clients and are informing them about the ruling of the SA court. Basically, what they have to do is to apply for retention. This is of course if they want to keep their SA citizenship.

As there is no formal sharing of citizenship information between Bulgaria and South Africa, it is yet unclear how will the SA court ruling be effected. Legal compliance is our paramount however, so we urge all our SA clients to be proactive and comply with the SA Citizenship Act.

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