Revocation of naturalisation – risk of administrative arbitrariness due to loopholes in the law
The Bulgarian Citizenship Law contains provisions that specify the circumstances under which naturalisation may be revoked. This automatically results in the loss of Bulgarian citizenship. Unfortunately, the Bulgarian Citizenship Law contains provisions that we consider contradictory and that could lead to the incorrect application of the law. It is precisely these provisions that we will focus on in this article.
You can read an in-depth analysis of all the circumstances that lead to the loss of Bulgarian citizenship in the article Loss of Bulgarian Citizenship.
When can naturalisation be revoked?
The circumstances under which naturalisation may be revoked are set forth in Article 22 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law, namely:
Naturalisation on the basis of which Bulgarian citizenship has been obtained may be revoked if the person:
Article 22, par. 1 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law
- has made use of data or facts which have become the basis for acquiring Bulgarian citizenship and which have been established in a court of law to be false, and/or
- (Amendment – State Gazette, Issue 16 of 2013) has concealed data or facts which, if they had been known, would have been grounds for refusal to acquire Bulgarian citizenship, and/or;
- (New – State Gazette, Issue 21 of 2021, Amendment – State Gazette, Issue 26 of 2022) has failed to notify a change under Article 32a.
What is naturalisation?
Naturalisation is an administrative and legal procedure through which the state grants Bulgarian citizenship to a person who does not hold it by birth. Naturalisation is possible provided that the conditions set forth in the law are met and after the relevant verification has been carried out by the competent authorities.
The pitfalls of a patchwork law
What is the problem with Article 22(1) of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law cited above? The problem is that in the original 1998 version of the law, as we can see from paragraph 1, the legislature established three cumulative conditions under which naturaliсation may be revoked. These three conditions are as follows:
- The applicant must have provided false information or facts;
- These facts or information must have served as the basis for the acquisition of Bulgarian citizenship;
- Any inaccurate information or facts referred to in paragraph 1 must be proven in a court of law.
In other words, under Article 22, par. 1, p. 1 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law, the false information must have served as the basis for the acquisition of citizenship. Furthermore, this false information must also be proven in a court of law.
Unfortunately, however, the Bulgarian legislature subsequently introduced the highly controversial provisions in points 2 and 3 of Article 22, par. 1 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law. We will analyse these provisions below, after explaining what we believe to be the correctly worded point 1.
Art. 22, par. 1, p. 1 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law
(the conditions for revoking naturalisation prior to the legislative “patches” introduced later)
Examples under Article 22, par. 1, p. 1 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law
We will look at two examples in which the naturalised person acted in bad faith, but this cannot lead to the revocation of naturalisation under Article 22, par. 1, p. 1 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law.
Example 1
The first example is a scenario in which a foreign national applying for Bulgarian citizenship submits a resume as part of the application process. Such a resume is required under Article 4, par. 1, p. 14 of Regulation No. 1 of February 19, 1999, on the implementation of Chapter Five of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law. In this resume, the foreign national falsely claims to have graduated from university and obtained a university degree.
Subsequently, the foreign national is granted Bulgarian citizenship.
A year later, the Bulgarian authorities realized that the individual did not have university education. Furthermore, the information regarding his education provided in his resume has been found to be false.
Does the provision of false information regarding a foreign national’s education constitute grounds for revoking naturalisation under Article 22, par. 1, p.1 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law?
Absolutely NOT. Naturalisation cannot be revoked because holding a university degree is not a condition for obtaining Bulgarian citizenship. It is true that the foreign national provided false information, but that information was not relevant to whether he met the conditions for acquiring Bulgarian citizenship. Therefore, naturalisation will not be revoked under Article 22, par. 1, p.1 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law.
Example 2
As a second example, we will look at a situation in which, following the successful completion of naturalisation by origin, the Bulgarian authorities receive information that the foreign national’s birth certificate has been forged. After an investigation by the National Institute of Criminalistics, it was determined that the birth certificate was fake.
Does a false birth certificate constitute grounds for revoking naturalisation?
The forged birth certificate was used as evidence that the individual is of Bulgarian origin. It was precisely this fact that served as the basis for obtaining Bulgarian citizenship. However, in order for naturalisation to be revoked under Article 22, par. 1, p. 1 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law, this fact must also be proven in court. The opinion of the Institute of Criminalistics or the suspicions of the authorities that the certificate is false are NOT grounds for revoking naturalisation. Revocation under Article 22, par. 1, p. 1 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law would only be possible if the forgery of the birth certificate is proven in court.
Art. 22, par. 1, p. 2 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law
(Conditions for revoking naturalisation – the “first patch”)
Point 2 of Article 22, par. 1 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law provides for the revocation of naturalisation if the applicant has concealed information or facts which, had they been known, would have constituted grounds for refusing to grant Bulgarian citizenship. So far, so good. However, this provision lacks the “old-fashioned” requirement in p. 1, which protects the legal rights of the naturalised person. Namely that the concealment of information or facts must be proven in court.
The absence of such a requirement paves the way for administrative abuse, an example of which we will illustrate below.
Example under Article 22, par. 1, p. 2 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law
Bulgarian authorities received information that a naturalised person had identified himself as a person of non-Bulgarian origin one year prior to naturalisation. During the interview for Bulgarian citizenship, the person failed to disclose this fact, leading the Consultative Council to conclude that the person identified himself as a person of Bulgarian origin. On this, as well as other grounds, the Consultative Council issued a positive opinion pursuant to Article 29, par. 6 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law, and the applicant was granted Bulgarian citizenship.
Does the assertion by the Bulgarian authorities that the individual once identified as being of non-Bulgarian origin constitute grounds for revoking naturalisation under Article 22, par. 1, p. 2 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law?
Unfortunately, YES. In fact, naturalisation can be revoked solely on the basis of the authorities’ claim that a certain fact or circumstance was concealed. Of course, this concealed fact or circumstance must have been a basis for obtaining citizenship. The problem, however, is that the authorities’ claim does not need to be proven in court. And this creates the conditions for complete administrative arbitrariness and the possibility of revoking the naturalisation of practically anyone who obtained Bulgarian citizenship NOT by birth.
Art. 22, par. 2, т. 3 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law
(the conditions for revoking naturalisation – the “second patch”)
The latest “patch” to the Bulgarian Citizenship Law, namely Article 22, par. 1, p. 3, has reached new heights. To revoke naturalisation, it is now sufficient for the person to have failed to notify the authorities of any change in facts or circumstances “related” to the acquisition of Bulgarian citizenship. Moreover, not only is a court decision no longer required to revoke naturalisation, but it is not even necessary for the facts or circumstances that the person failed to report to the authorities to have served as the basis for obtaining Bulgarian citizenship.
There is no need to provide specific examples regarding this point. It is clear that, pursuant to Article 22, par. 1, p. 3 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law, the authorities could revoke virtually any naturalisation. This can be done without court proceedings (and thus without any real right of defence for the naturalised person), and without requiring that the reason for the revocation have had any bearing on the granting of citizenship. And all of this is already quite troubling…
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.