The Federal Cabinet has approved the tabling in the National Assembly of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2026. The Bill will allow adults born abroad on or after 19th September 1983, whose parent or grandparent became a citizen of Saint Christopher and Nevis at Independence, to apply to be registered as citizens.

Citizenship passes to a child born abroad where a parent was born in Saint Kitts and Nevis, under the Constitution. Adults born abroad in the generations that followed have had no route to citizenship based on their descent. Persons born before Independence stand in a different position and are generally already citizens under the Constitution.

Members of the diaspora have raised this issue for decades, in correspondence, through the Federation’s overseas missions, through diaspora and family associations, and most recently in a petition presented to the National Assembly in 2025. The call has been made to successive administrations.

Acting Prime Minister, the Hon. Dr Geoffrey Hanley, said of the Bill, “this Bill corrects a gap that has existed since 1983 and our diaspora have asked for this for a long time, and this Administration has listened”.

Meantime, a Sitting of the National Assembly will be held on Friday Sep. 18^th at the Assembly’s Chambers, in Basseterre, St. Kitts, at 10am, where the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2026 will receive its first reading.