Liberia has allowed twin citizenship, reversing an established ban considered through a few as hypocritical as many elites secretly held US citizenship.
The invoice, signed into regulation through President George Weah Friday and showed Sunday through AFP, had surpassed each the House of Representatives and the Senate Tuesday.
It amends the West African state's nationality regulation, permitting Liberians to stay residents after obtaining a 2d nationality.
Liberia -- a rustic based through Americans -- has a vast diaspora dwelling withinside the United States. An expected 100,000 human beings born in Liberia lived in America among 2008 and 2012, in step with US census data.
Dual residents will, however, be barred from serving as Liberian president, finance minister or significant financial institution governor and from conserving high-degree positions in country wide protection or regulation enforcement.
"If such someone wants to contest (elections), the character should resign the citizenship of the alternative u . s . a . at the least 365 days earlier than making use of to the National Elections Commission," the invoice reads.
Last year, a Supreme Court choice comfortable the u . s . a .'s difficult ban on twin citizenship, which dated lower back to 1973. The ban had previousy routinely stripped citizenship from holders of different passports.
The courtroom docket choice did now no longer overturn the twin citizenship ban however alternatively intended that a courtroom docket should determine whether or not or now no longer a person may be stripped of Liberian nationality.
The ban -- which blocked Liberians who had naturalised withinside the US or Europe from conserving a Liberian passport -- had lengthy been considered as hypocritical in a few quarters, as elite Liberians secretly held American citizenship, and were accused of shifting cash abroad.
Hundreds of heaps of different Liberians also are notion to live overseas, having fled conflict and poverty.
Weah formerly requested Liberians to raise the ban in a referendum in December 2020, arguing that nationality restrictions -- which encompass a ban on overseas assets ownership -- had been unfair.
Some was hoping the pass could propel investments withinside the bad kingdom of 4.eight million human beings.
Yet the proposed alternate failed. A majority of 51.five percentage of electorate had been in favour of lifting the ban, however a two-thirds majority changed into required.
Liberia changed into based through ex-slaves from americaA. It declared independence in 1847, which americaA officially regarded in 1862.
According to naturalisation regulation, simplest Black human beings may be Liberian residents.
Under the brand new legislation, any Black character can now gather Liberian citizenship thru marriage, adoption or in the event that they had been born withinside the u . s . a . or to Liberian parents.