Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honor usually is symbolic and does not confer any change tocitizenship or nationality.
Honorary Canadian citizenship requires unanimous approval in both houses ofParliament. Since 1985, it has been awarded to only seven individuals, with one revocation.
In Germany, Section 14 of theNationality Act allows theFederal Minister of the Interior to naturalise any foreigner without any requirements, regardless of whether they live in Germany or not, if there are "ties to Germany that justify naturalisation".
Within the Federal States, honorary citizenship (Ehrenbürgerschaft) is the highest distinction that can be awarded to an individual by amunicipality.[1] It is awarded by cities, towns, and sometimes federal states. The honorary citizenship is perpetual and persists after the death of the honoree, but can be revoked in exceptional cases 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 12 October 1946.[citation needed]
In Greece, provisions are in place for the naturalization of foreigners residing in the country who have Greek national origin (expatriates/co-ethnics). Primarily, this applies to expatriates from Albania and those from the countries of the former USSR, under Articles 23 of Law 3838/2010 and 39 of Law 4606/2018, respectively. The Greek Nationality Code (Article 10) also allows for the naturalization of expatriates living abroad. Furthermore, the Code offers honorary naturalization (Article 13) for foreign nationals who have rendered special services to Greece or whose naturalization may serve the country's best interest. Such individuals can be granted Greek citizenship through a Presidential Decree, upon a justified proposal by the Minister of Interior.[2]
On March 29, 1861, theCaptains Regent of themicrostate ofSan Marino sent an offer of honorary citizenship to the sitting US presidentAbraham Lincoln. On May 7, 1861, Lincoln replied "I thank the Council of San Marino for the honor of citizenship they have conferred upon me. Although your dominion is small, your State is nevertheless one of the most honored, in all history." This was the beginning ofUS-San Marino diplomatic relations.[6]
Members of theRighteous Among the Nations may be conferred honorary Israeli citizenship byYad 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.
In 2010, legislation was passed by theKnesset to confer honorary Israeli citizenship to all members of the Israeli defense forces and paramilitary organizations that operated inMandate Palestine who died between 29 November 1947 and 31 December 1948.[7]
Sandra Samuel, an Indian woman who protected an Israeli child from terrorists in the26/11 attacks, was granted permanent residency and honorary citizenship by Israel in 2010.[8] Receiving full Israeli citizenship would have deprived her of her Indian citizenship sinceIndia does not allow dual citizenship.
The Philippine legislature conferred an honorary citizenship for American priest and emigrantJames Reuter in 1996 and 2006 for his missionary and activism.[12][13]
In 2002South Korea awarded honorary citizenship to Dutch football (soccer) coachGuus Hiddink who successfully and unexpectedly took the national team to the semi-finals of the2002 FIFA World Cup. Honorary citizenship was also awarded by theSeoul Metropolitan Government toHines Ward, anAmerican football player of Korean and African-American descent, in 2006 for his efforts to minimize discrimination in Korea against half-Koreans.[14]
To mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest theNepalese government conferred honorary citizenship uponEdmund Hillary at a specialGolden Jubilee celebration inKathmandu,Nepal. He was the first foreign national to receive that honour.[15]
At the end of their studies, all the students of theCollege of Europe are invited to the city hall by the mayor ofBruges to become honorary citizens of the city of Bruges.[16]
"Гражданство почетное" .Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). 1906.
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