The law granted citizenship only to Muslims, requiring that only those individuals whose father and paternal grandfather had Muslim personal status could become citizens of the new state. Before independence, Muslims had been considered indigenous under a special set of laws known as Code de l'indigénat and were not eligible to French citizenship and in practice had an inferior legal status, but Christian and Jewish inhabitants of Algeria during the French colonial period could acquire French citizenship. A nationality law of 1970 removed references to religious status, but granted citizenship to children based on the existing nationality of the parents, resulting in the Muslim status of the parents under the 1963 nationality law being carried to their offspring under the 1970 law.
Additional subjective information
However, the new law granted citizenship to children based on the existing nationality of the parents, resulting in the previous Muslim status of the parents being applicable to their offspring. The 1970 Nationality Code did not permit women to pass nationality to their children unless the father was unknown or stateless. Only men had right to confer nationality to foreign spouses. Algeria became a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 1996, subject to a reservation to CEDAW Article 9. Following advocacy by women's rights organizations demanding equal nationality rights for women, a new Nationality Code was enacted on 27 February 2005. Nationality by descent is now granted to a child whose father or mother is an Algerian national. The 2005 reforms grant women and men equal rights to pass nationality to their children and spouses. The revised Code is retroactive. As a result, individuals born to Algerian mothers and foreign fathers before the reform are also considered nationals. Algeria subsequently lifted its reservation to CEDAW Article 9 in 2009.
Acquisition of citizenship
Birth
Algerian nationality law is based on the principle of descent and has a limited jus soli rule which confers nationality upon children whose parents are unknown born within their country.
Naturalisation
Nationality by naturalisation is possible but the criteria are very vague and subject to ministerial discretion.
Marriage
The right to citizenship through marriage is on the basis of a 2-year residency period and the marriage subsisting for at least three years.
