Information regarding Djiboutian citizenship laws and in particular the possibility for someone born in Djibouti of non-Djiboutian parents to acquire Djiboutian citizenship. [DJI6029]

According to External Affairs, a non-Djiboutian marrying a citizen of Djibouti may apply to the Djibouti Ministry of the Interior for citizenship. Children born in Djibouti of a Djiboutian mother and a non-Djiboutian father may also apply to the Djibouti Ministry of the Interior for citizenship. If they are born outside of Djibouti, they are not eligible for Djiboutian citizenship. However, children of a Djiboutian father and a foreign mother may acquire Djiboutian citizenship regardless of where they are born. Application for citizenship may not necessarily result in the acquisition of citizenship, nor does the Djiboutian government allow for dual citizenship.

However, a text of regulations regarding the acquisition of Djiboutian citizenship by someone born in Djibouti of foreign parents is currently unavailable to the IRBDC. According to an official of the Djiboutian Embassy in Washington DC, it is a very long and complicated process for a foreigner to acquire Djiboutian citizenship. He stated that Somali nationals are not given special treatment. The attached articles on the situation of the numerous Somali refugees in Djibouti may be helpful.
Canada's periodical on refugees, Refuge, vol.6, No.4. Downsview: York University Refugee Documentation Project, May 1987.
Roger P. Winter, "Down and Out in Djibouti", The Washington Post, Washington: 29 August 1989.