23 Feb 2025

Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Maj. Gen. Pius Mokgware has told Parliament that government was committed to adopting and enforcing pro-family policies and legislation for the well-being of migrant workers.

Consequently, he said, spouses of citizens were usually issued with residence permits valid for up to 10 years unlike other categories of migrants who were issued residence permits valid for only five years.

In that regard, he said ministry was progressing the development of the National Migration Policy.

Maj. Gen. Mokgware said in accordance with the Citizenship Act, any person who was a citizen of Botswana and also a citizen of another country shall no longer be required to renounce the other citizenship immediately before the attainment of the age 21 years as previously required by Section 12 (1) of the Citizenship Act.

He said the decision also meant that a citizen of Botswana married to a citizen of another country and having acquired the citizenship of the other country by a voluntary and formal act would not lose the citizenship of Botswana as previously was required by Section 19 (4) of the Citizenship Act.

He said the amendment of the Citizenship Act and consequential effect on the other laws as mentioned was done to comply with High Court’s decision,

“The ministry has addressed legislative and administrative processes to facilitate the implementation of the Citizenship Act to also provide for dual citizenship in respect of persons who have attained age of majority,” he said.

Maj. Gen. Mokgware said the spouses of beneficiaries of the dual citizenship law had the right to work and reside in Botswana, as regulated and governed by the Immigration Act, 2010 No. 3 of 2011.

He said the issuance of work and/or residence permits to spouses of the beneficiaries of the dual citizenship law was subject to them meeting the set criteria, which included among others security clearance and market demands hence they were issues permits if they satisfied the necessary requirements.

In that regard, he said the spouses of citizens were therefore expected to apply for permits and their applications approved if the skill they possessed was not locally available.

Major Gen. Mokgware said this was a practice across the globe as every country gave priority to citizens to secure employment before consideration could be  made for non-citizens.

He informed MPs that the ministry was pursuing pro-family policies under the Labour Migration Context as a commitment to principle of protecting the right of vulnerable migrants. 

To that end, he said, the ministry in collaboration with International Organisation for Migration had undertaken an assessment of the country’s Migration Profile and the National Migration Indicators.

He said these documents were frameworks that protected the rights of migrant workers to include the right to access work and stay in Botswana even for spouses of citizens.

MP for Kgatleng West, Dr Unity Dow had asked if the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs if the dual citizenship court win will be a real win to those affected and more particularly whether, in the spirit of being pro-family, spouses of beneficiaries of the dual citizenship law have a right to reside and work in Botswana. ENDS