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The Azerbaijani nationality law is a nationality law which determines who is a citizen of Azerbaijan.
Contents
Current law
The current citizenship law is guided by the 1995 Constitution of Azerbaijan and, more importantly, the Law of Azerbaijan on Citizenship of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which was adopted on September 30, 1998. It is based primarily on the principle of jus sanguinis. It includes the right of citizenship for Azerbaijani refugees from Armenia and for ethnic Azerbaijanis from the rest of the world. Dual citizenship is not recognized by the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Nationality by birth
Azerbaijan is a jus sanguinis state as opposed to jus soli state, meaning that it attributes citizenship by blood but not by location of birth. However, Azerbaijani nationality is also defined by citizenship and not only by descent. The birth of a foreign and stateless person within the territory of Azerbaijan does not automatically confer Azerbaijani citizenship on him or her.
The Azerbaijani nationality law provides provisions in which a person can automatically become an Azerbaijani citizen at birth:
Dual nationality
Azerbaijan does not allow dual citizenship, and anyone who voluntarily applies and obtains foreign citizenship automatically loses Azerbaijani citizenship. However Azerbaijani immigrants wishing to renounce their citizenship in order to acquire citizenship in another country (such as Germany, which requires denunciation of previous citizenships, or Japan) must apply for denunciation. That process can last up to a year.
The only exception is that the President of Azerbaijan may grant dual citizenship to persons of special importance, and that person will not lose Azerbaijani citizenship by retaining the foreign citizenship obtained by him or her, or lose his or her original foreign citizenship while being granted Azerbaijani citizenship.
Loss of citizenship
Voluntary renunciation of Azerbaijani citizenship is permitted by law. Likewise the recovery of Azerbaijani citizenship is also permitted by law, if the person renounces his or her foreign citizenship.
Visa requirements
In 2015, Azerbaijani citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 58 countries and territories, ranking the Azerbaijani passport 78th in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index.