Like all countries, Mongolia has specialized laws regarding immigration and nationality. The Mongolian Constitution indicates that the grounds and procedure for determining Mongolian nationality, or for acquisition or loss of citizenship shall be defined by the law.
The Current Law of Mongolia on Citizenship was enacted in 1995 and it has been updated four times since then. According to the law, Mongolian citizens shall not be allowed to hold citizenship of a foreign nation and maintain their Mongolian nationality. Further, if a foreigner wishes to acquire Mongolian citizenship, he or she is required to give up any prior citizenship.
Under Mongolian Law, there are four ways an individual may become a Mongolian Citizen:
- If both of the parents of a child are Mongolian then the child is automatically Mongolian. It doesn’t matter where the child is born. (In some circumstances it is possible for Mongolian parents living abroad to request the child become a citizen of a foreign country.)
- A child born to one Mongolian parent within the territory of Mongolia is also automatically Mongolian.
- A child who is within the territory of Mongolia whose parents are not identified is designated a Mongolian citizen.
- Individuals of foreign nationalities may apply for citizenship via the President’s office, or through a Mongolian embassy.
- Mongolians who are adopted by foreigners maintain “the right to choose his/her own nationality” according to the Family law of Mongolia.
Interestingly, approximately 16 thousand Mongolian citizens report having a dual citizenship, with most of them are women and children. Over the last 20 years an estimated 59,000 citizens withdrew their Mongolian citizenship while citizenship was awarded to only 221 individuals (not including new births within Mongolia).
A total of 250 Mongolian children have been adopted by foreign citizens, including family members. There are concerns that the Law should be amended to allow an adopted child to maintain his/her native citizenship until turning 18 years old. Until this change is made, Mongolian law will not be aligned with international convention regarding rights of children.
For this reason, the President, Ts.Elbegdorj has proposed amendment of Law of Mongolia on Citizenship, and has submitted relevant drafts legislation to the Parliament for consideration. It is expected that this change will be officially passed later this year.
Thanks for your posting. You mentioned, that the Mongolian president Ts. Elbegdorj has proposed an amendment of the citizenship law.
Does the proposed amendment include the possibility to get dual citizenship for foreign born children, where both parents are of Mongolian ethnicity?
It’s really bad, that foreign born ethnic Mongols can’t go back to their ancestral home and contribute to economic growth. Mongolia needs university educated, skilled workers.
According current legislation, dual citizenship is not recognized by in Mongolia. The amendment proposed by the President maintains this principle. There are 4,880 children born abroad by Mongolian parents. Under current rules these Children may obtain Mongolian citizenship upon request from their parent. While the parliament has not considered the proposed amendment to the law at this time, several members of parliament have voiced opinions that dual citizenship should be allowed. We will keep reporting on this issue here.
Crazy to think that only 10 people have been naturalized per year. Is that true?
Mongolia should allow naturalization as well for foreigners who want to becomes citizens of Mongolia. that would help Mongolia’s economy and culture. thanks
Mongolia should naturalize many a people to acheive best men power for their economy
thanks in advance. i have a question. i have been living and working in Mongolia for six years. Now i have a baby but, because of the political problems, my country’s embassy didn’t give us citizenship and passport even if they knew that they were committing a crime by not giving the documents that are legal claim.
all in all, is it possible for my kid to become Mongolian citizen?