Citizenship Rules: How Long, How Hard, And How Fair Are the Processes?
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Citizenship is more than just a legal status; it is a gateway to political participation, social inclusion, and long-term security. However, globally, states regulate access to citizenship through rules that determine how long applicants must reside, how challenging the process is, and how decisions are made to conform with standards. Therefore, this review paper examines citizenship acquisition rules while also comparing liberal (free) democracies, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and selected European Union states. Most importantly, it asks three major questions: how long does citizenship take, how hard is it to obtain, and how fair are the processes in practice? Hence, drawing on legal theory, policy reports, and justice, the paper argues that while states have legal rights in regulating membership, prolong, complex, or unnecessary processes risk undermine fairness, equality, and the rule of law.
Downloads
References
Bauböck, R. (2010). Studying citizenship constellations. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 36(5), 847–859.
Bauböck, R. (2015). Morphing the demos into the right shape: Normative principles for enfranchising resident migrants. European Journal of Political Theory, 14(1), 48–69.
Baker v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [1999] 2 SCR 817.
Bjorkquist v Canada (Attorney General), 2023 ONSC 7152.
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982.
Citizenship Act, RSC 1985, c C-29.
Dauvergne, C. (2008). Making people illegal: What globalization means for migration and law. Cambridge University Press.
Howard, M. M. (2009). The politics of citizenship in Europe. Cambridge University Press.
Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 USC § 316.
Joppke, C. (2007). Transformation of citizenship: Status, rights, identity. Citizenship Studies, 11(1), 37–48.
Kelsen, H. (1945). General theory of law and state. Harvard University Press.
OECD. (2011). Naturalisation: A passport for the better integration of immigrants? OECD Publishing.
Pepa v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2025 SCC 21.
Shachar, A. (2009). The birthright lottery: Citizenship and global inequality. Harvard University Press.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All articles published in our journal are licensed under CC-BY 4.0, which permits authors to retain copyright of their work. This license allows for unrestricted use, sharing, and reproduction of the articles, provided that proper credit is given to the original authors and the source.