Andorra Tightens Marriage-Based Citizenship Rules, Eyes Plenary Vote
Key changes raise residency requirement to five years before or after wedding, reject applications if marriage dissolves pre-resolution, and impose 20-year wait for nationality transmission post-breakup. Bill maintains 20-year standard naturalisation with flexibilities for non-continuous residence.
Key Points
- Andorra raises marriage-based citizenship residency to 5 years before or after wedding.
- Rejects applications if marriage dissolves before resolution; 20-year wait for nationality transmission post-breakup.
- Maintains 20-year standard naturalisation with non-continuous residence flexibility.
- Bill with 60 amendments awaits plenary vote after unanimous committee approval.
The Andorran General Council is preparing to vote on a bill amending the nationality law, incorporating amendments that tighten residency requirements for citizenship through marriage while introducing targeted flexibilities elsewhere.
A key change, proposed via an amendment from Ciutadans Compromesos (CC) during committee review, raises the residency threshold for marriage-based naturalisation to five years in the Principat—either before or after the wedding—compared to the current three years. The proposal also stipulates that if the marriage dissolves before the application is resolved, the process will be rejected. Further, if the marital bond breaks after citizenship is granted, the new citizen cannot transmit nationality through their own marriage until completing 20 years of residence.
These measures build on the original government draft, which already included the rejection clause for pre-resolution breakups. The bill maintains the 20-year residency requirement for standard naturalisation, despite amendments from Partit Socialista (PS) and Concòrdia seeking reductions to 15 and 10 years, respectively; sources indicate these proposals are unlikely to advance. A concession allows the 20 years to be non-continuous, with temporary absences no longer resetting the period.
Additional updates address nationality transmission and loss. Citizenship can now be granted to children without requiring parents to have been born in Andorra, provided minors of foreign origin complete 10 school years. Automatic naturalisation remains for foreign magistrates serving in the Principat. The reform upholds existing rules on nationality loss, including for active use of another passport—such as for voting, running for office, or work and study abroad—or political participation in another country.
Nearly two decades after the last major revisions, the roughly 60 approved amendments—passed unanimously in committee—focus on technical refinements. One from Concòrdia, supported by all groups, permits withholding personal data from the Official Bulletin of the Principality of Andorra (BOPA) in justified cases, such as security concerns.
The bill, which avoids deep structural overhauls, now awaits a plenary vote.
Original Sources
This article was aggregated from the following Catalan-language sources: