Pakistan: Status of a child in Pakistan if the child is born in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of Pakistani parents during a "muttah" marriage

According to a United Kingdom (UK) Home Office document addressing Pakistani citizenship law,

4.1 A person born outside of Pakistan before 18 April 2000 can normally only be a citizen of Pakistan by descent if the father was a citizen of Pakistan otherwise than by descent.

4.2 However, a person born outside of Pakistan to a father who, at the time of the birth, was a citizen of Pakistan by descent is also a citizen of Pakistan by descent if:

• the birth is registered at a Pakistani Consulate or High Commission abroad; or
• the father was in Pakistan Government service at the time of the birth.

4.3 A person born outside of Pakistan on or after 18 April 2000 is a citizen of Pakistan by descent as per 4.1 or 4.2 above if either parent is a citizen of Pakistan. (16 May 2006, emphasis in original)

An official from the High Commission of Pakistan in Ottawa provided the following information during a telephone interview on 16 October 2007 with the Research Directorate. A child born outside of Pakistan of parents with Pakistani citizenship can obtain Pakistani citizenship in the following way: the parents must take the locally obtained birth certificate of their child to the embassy and register the child within one year of the birth of the child in order to obtain a birth registration certificate, which proves that the child is born of Pakistani parents and, as such, has Pakistani citizenship. The birth registration certificate can also be used to obtain other Pakistani identity documents for the child. The Official added that whether or not the child was born of a muttah marriage (temporary Islamic marriage) did not change the status of the child; every child born outside of Pakistan to Pakistani parents has to go through the same process to have his or her citizenship recognized.

The website of the Diplomatic Mission of Pakistan in Canada indicates which documents must submitted to obtain the birth registration certificate of a child, including: the completed application form, one recent passport-size photograph of the child, the original birth certificate of the child along with one photocopy, photocopies of the first four pages of the mother's and father's Pakistani passports, photocopies of the mother's and father's Pakistani National Identity Cards and the registration fee of twenty Canadian dollars (Pakistan n.d.a). The application form, which can be found on the website of the Diplomatic Mission of Pakistan in Canada, indicates that two recent passport-size photographs of the child with the photographer's stamp on the back must be submitted and that a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the father must also be submitted (Pakistan n.d.b.). An official from the High Commission of Pakistan in Ottawa indicated in a subsequent telephone interview with the Research Directorate that a NOC is a letter from the father indicating that he has no objection to the procedure (Pakistan 17 Oct 2007). The Official also stated that there is no specific form to complete a NOC, it is simply a letter written by the father to show his consent (ibid. 17 Oct. 2007).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Pakistan. 17 October 2007. High Commission of Pakistan, Ottawa. Telephone interview with an official.
_____. 16 October 2007. High Commission of Pakistan, Ottawa. Telephone interview with an official.
_____. N.d.a. Diplomatic Mission of Pakistan in Canada. "Birth Registration of Child/Children Born in Canada." [Accessed 17 Oct. 2007]
_____. N.d.b. Diplomatic Mission of Pakistan in Canada. "Application for Registration of Birth of a Child of a Citizen of Pakistan Born in a Country Outside Pakistan." [Accessed 17 Oct. 2007]

United Kingdom (UK). 16 May 2006. Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND). "Pakistani Citizenship Law." Chapter 14: Registration and Naturalisation under Legislation other than the British Nationality Act 1981. [Accessed 16 Oct. 2007]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral Source: a professor at the International Islamic University did not have information on the subject.

Internet sites, including: Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Interior.