Thursday, March 28, 2024

Zambian Embassy in the US starts processing applications for Dual Citizenship

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Zambia’s Ambassador to the U.S Dr. Ngosa Simbyakula
Zambia’s Ambassador to the U.S Dr. Ngosa Simbyakula

The Zambian Embassy in Washington D.C has started processing applications for Dual Citizenship for Zambians living in the United States of America. Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Ngosa Simbyakula S.C., made the announcement at the launch of the Association of Zambians in Dallas and Fort-Worth Texas. Dr. Simbyakula said the Embassy has received Bestowal of Citizenship application forms (Form VII) from Lusaka to facilitate restoration of Citizenship for citizens who lost their Zambian citizenship upon acquisition of citizenship of another country.

Dr. Simbyakula explained that the essence of Article 39(I) of the Constitution was that a citizen shall not lose citizenship by acquiring citizenship of another country.

“I am happy to announce that the application process is now in place and applicants can present themselves for a Consular interview at the Embassy, complete the forms and pay a processing fee of US$30.00. The Mission will then forward the completed form to the Passport Office in Lusaka together with the applicant’s previous Passports and National Registration Cards,” said Dr. Simbyakula.

The Ambassador said that after the Citizenship Board approves the application, a letter will be sent back to the Embassy, where applicants will be required to complete an Oath of Allegiance and pay five thousand Kwacha (K5, 000) or Dollar equivalent for the Certificate of Bestowal. Dr. Simbyakula further said the Oath of Allegiance and receipt for payment shall be forwarded to the Passport Office for issuance of Certificate of Bestowal. The Certificate of Bestowal will then be forwarded to the Mission for onward transmission to the applicants.

However, Dr. Simbyakula pointed out that Zambian missions have no mandate to issue or replace National Registration Cards (NRCs) as these are only issued in Zambia. “An applicant must travel to Zambia with relevant information to show that one is Zambian,” he said.

Dr. Simbyakula commended the Executive Committee of the Association for bringing together the Zambian family in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“We are proud of the way you are supporting each other and building the image of our country Zambia. You are our first-line ambassador and in whatever you do, you represent Zambia. Be it in your work, in your studies, in your interactions with others, whatever you do has a reflection on Zambia. Continue to abide by the laws, rules and regulations of the host country. Above all, teach our children well. Let them no go astray,” he said.

The Ambassador also encouraged Zambians in the U.S. to register with the Embassy so that in case of anything, the Mission would be able to account for each and every Zambian.

Meanwhile, President of the Association of Zambians in Dallas and Fort Worth, Joyce Chibwe thanked Dr. Simbyakula for officially launching the Association. Ms. Chibwe said the Association has been registered in accordance with the Texas civil statues as a nonprofit organization.

This is the first among the Associations of Zambians in the U.S. that Dr. Simbyakula has interacted with, since he assumed office in November 2017. The meeting was also attended by Zambia’s former Ambassador to the U.S. Dr. Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika who is in the U.S. on a private visit.

28 COMMENTS

  1. Can some one please clarify if the succsseful applicants will be liable to Tax obligations in Zambia as well because at present they pay tax in their respective countries

    • Questions:
      Can this be a phone interview?
      Is the $30 fee cash or by credit card as well?
      Can the process be done at passport offices in Zambia?
      How long will the process take to complete?
      Can I just use an old passport I have?
      Can we have a consular officer visit different cities to conduct mass interviews instead of people traveling to DC . How can we set up appointments for interviews?

    • Palya ponse?
      I still don’t get it, what makes a difference? I go to Zambia speaking Bemba with immigrations officers, holding a strange passport. Pay $30.
      I go to my Stabic Bank account showing my NRC with my CHIEF & VILLAGE on it. Get kwachas off I hit Tuta road to Luapula.
      What’s dual citizenship for, it’s not a dual passport for Godsake.

    • Taxation will depend on what type of income you are taxing. Generally speaking, income derived from within Zambia should be taxable in Zambia regardless of what your nationality is e.g employment income from a job in Zambia is subject to Zambian PAYE.

      Section 14 (1) of the Income Tax Act in Part III states that tax shall be charged on income received in that
      charge year
      (a) by every person from a source within or deemed to be within the Republic;
      (b) and by every person ordinarily resident within the Republic by way of interest and dividends from a source outside the Republic

      So if you are NOT ordinarily resident in Zambia (note that this will have a legal meaning. In the UK this is generally taken to mean someone who spends at least 183 days of a tax year in the…

  2. …complete the forms and pay a processing fee of US$30.00. The Mission will then forward the completed form to the Passport Office in Lusaka together with the applicant’s previous Passports and National Registration Cards,” said Dr. Simbyakula.

    They forward original forms/cards via Zampost that takes 4 weeks just to move from KKIA to Passport Office then if they even manage to get there its another 3 months before someone looks at them ….

  3. When is this Dr. Simbyakula going to pay back the monies for illegally staying on as Minister…this is the selfsame man who was advising Lazy Lungu. Why does PF use the Foreign Dept as a ground for dumping rejects and non-performers….I mean this Dr. Simbyakula couldn’t even manage to hand his nomination papers on time because he was too drunk too drunk and he rewarded with this job…there are people in the civil service who would do a better job.

  4. How can governmnet charge a meager US$30 TO BESTOW CITIZENSHIP to zambian refugees who clean WHITE PEOPLES MBUYO NGATI ANYA? HOW CAN A BLACKMAN FROM ZAMBIA WHICH AMERICANS EVEN NEVER GOT SLAVES FROM BECAUSE OF THEIR STUNTED GROWTH EVERYTHING SHORT HAVE A DECENT JOB IN US? I ONLY KNOW 5 ZAMBIANS THAT ARE OFFICE ORDERLIES STATUS THE REST NIBA GWILA MATUVI, PLEASE CHARGE THEM US$3000

  5. Yet another scheme to cash in by these toothless bunch of crooks. Its all about money and how they will try and suck it from us. K5000 equate to $500..Lol, I have no issues paying any fees or anything to good cause, but the thuggery in the PF government just make me roll my eyes when I see these schemes to swindle us any money comes up. So good luck to all those that will fall for this nonsense.

  6. I won’t fall for this nonsense, I still have my valid Zambian passport which is enough and I can renew it whenever I want. You can’t tell these people you have dual citizenship looking at the rate they are deporting people for no apparent reason or dual process. They will use this as an excuse to deport you from your own country despite being born there with family members there.

    • Lungu better be careful with what he is brewing, he is pissing off a lot of people. If these people continue to push us to the corner, we will have no choice but to fight back and it will be a bloodbasth. I am not scare of them anymore, enough is enough.

  7. Very silly and pathetic. If you do not have NRC, you have to travel to zambia and prove that you are a Zambian. Get your NRC which is free and proof of being Zambian, then you start applying for dual citizenship. What nonsense, you are a Zambian with your NRC, why pay all those nonsense fees. Ba koswe!

    • Best way round this is travel to Zambia or do it when you visit as I would never trust these lazy bones with such original documents especially when you are paying $30 meaning ZAMPOST will handle postage …I mean what do they do at their Embassy from 9 – 5….these NRC documents at the Ministry should be have been scanned and uploaded on a secure database by now.

  8. nrc lol, I don’t even recall what’s on it. I remember it’s some shade of green in color
    i’ll weigh my pros and cons and see if it’s worth the hustle. I do whatever I need to do back home anyways. I’ve two valid passports… so I am good.
    there’s no time line for the whole process and like jay jay rightly pointed out, in Zambia everything is extremely slow

    • This could have been done right there at the Embassy within 5 days if they had a secure database if your paperwork is okay…they send 42 million on 42 Scania trucks yet you can get a top ICT specialist firm from India to develop a secure govt database for half price of that Scania Fire Truck….this is clearly a govt that lacks priorities.

  9. This back and forth sending of documents will not work. It took 2 years to renew a passport in 2010 because the passports were issued in Lusaka. Becoming a dual citizen will probably take 4 years. Watch this space.

  10. Clever exit strategy for the PF family! After looting, they will fly away. No quarrels with a dual as long as we are able to have all wrong doors extradited to account for their wrongs!

  11. Why apply for dual citzenship, does not make sense. Filling in forms for what. Nonsense at all. Zambians living in the diaspora holding Zambian passports will have no need of filling in application forms Why? Because they already have a Zambian passport. Dual citzenship simply means having 2 passports of 2 countries i.e. the Zambian one plus that of the country one lives in

    The Government should only pass the law, which has been done. Next step is for Zambians living in the diaspora to decide as to whether one wishes to have dual citzenship then if so start the process of applying for passports from the countries that one resides in

    This is how I understand things

  12. @Blackman Chifita
    Liability to income tax is determined by residence of an individual. An individual is resident in the UK if he is present for 182 days ,that is six months. But an individual is ordinary resident in the UK if he is in the UK for a complete tax year or he habitually lives in the UK.

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