Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a country on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction.
In Germany honorary citizenship is awarded by cities, towns and sometimes federal states. The honorary citizenship ends with the death of the honoured, or, in exceptional cases, when it is taken away by the council or parliament of the city, town, or state. In the case of war criminals, all such honours were taken away by "Article VIII, section II, letter i of the directive 38 of the Allied Control Council for Germany" on October 12, 1946. In Ireland, honorary citizenship bestowed on a foreigner is full legal citizenship including the right to reside and vote.
is a Saint Lucian all-rounder cricketer who played international cricket for the West Indies. He is a two time T20 World Cup winning captain. The all-rounder will be given honorary Pakistani citizenship on 23rd March 2020 in response to a special request by Peshawar Zalmi ownership in recognition of the role played by the star in promoting the positive image of the country, which was accepted by President of Pakistan.
Israel
Members of the Righteous Among the Nations may be conferred honorary Israeli citizenship by Yad Vashem, or commemorative citizenship if deceased. Those who choose to live in Israel are entitled to a pension, free health care, and assistance with housing and nursing care.
Che Guevara was made an honorary citizen of Cuba by Fidel Castro for his part in the Cuban Revolution. Embarking on fomenting revolutions in other countries, Che Guevara, in his farewell letter to Fidel, gave up all his official ties to Cuba, including citizenship.
In 2002 South Korea awarded honorary citizenship to Dutch football coach Guus Hiddink who successfully and unexpectedly took the national team to the semi-finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Honorary citizenship was also awarded to Hines Ward, a black Korean American football player, in 2006 for his efforts to minimize discrimination in Korea against half-Koreans.
To mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest the Nepalese government conferred honorary citizenship upon Hillary at a special Golden Jubilee celebration in Kathmandu, Nepal. He was the first foreign national to receive that honour.
At the end of their studies, all the students of the College of Europe are invited to the city hall by the mayor of Bruges to become honorary citizens of the city of Bruges.
In 2005, actress Angelina Jolie received an honorary Cambodian citizenship in 2005 for her humanitarian efforts
On 12 April 2017, Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan was awarded honorary Canadian citizenship by PM Justin Trudeau for her work on providing education to girls in her hometown Swat during Taliban occupation.
On 7 October 2019, Afghanistan granted honorary Afghan citizenship to Japanese physician Tetsu Nakamura for his long-standing humanitarian work in the country.
