VisaSolomon Islands committee examines proposed citizenship revocation powers
Parliament’s inquiry concerns additional powers over citizenship acquired by application. The published committee papers identify safeguards and a 13 November reporting target, rather than an operative new rule.
Official source date: 2026-10-26
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Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Citizens should distinguish the inquiry from a revocation notice
People who acquired Solomon Islands citizenship by application should distinguish the parliamentary inquiry into proposed revocation powers from an individual decision affecting their status. Parliament’s public notice dated 26 October said hearings on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2026 would start on 28 October at the National Parliament Building in Honiara. It followed a postponement of the previously advertised October hearing dates. These notices document parliamentary scrutiny, rather than the commencement of a new citizenship rule.
This follow-up is useful for citizens and families trying to understand which documents matter now. The public material examined establishes the committee inquiry and its proposed reporting timetable. It does not establish that the amendment has been enacted or commenced. A person should not treat publicity about a bill as a notice that their citizenship has been revoked, or assume that Parliament’s inquiry will decide an individual family’s case.
The proposed ground concerns citizenship acquired by application
The committee’s Issues Paper describes an additional ground concerning conduct seriously prejudicial to national stability, security, defence, public safety or public order. It describes the Commission reaching satisfaction on reasonable grounds. That is a proposed addition requiring scrutiny, not an assertion here that the conduct of any particular citizen meets the test.
The paper says the new ground would not apply to citizens by birth or people who resumed birth citizenship under section 14(4). It also describes protection against revocation solely for lawful political opinions, government criticism, parliamentary participation or lawful democratic activity. Those distinctions make the basis on which citizenship was obtained relevant. Keep the certificate and acquisition records available when checking which category a proposal addresses; a person’s overseas birthplace alone does not establish their citizenship route.
Existing legislation already sets grounds and a response process
The Attorney General’s published Citizenship Act reprint, stated as in force on 5 February 2024, already contains revocation provisions. Section 25 covers a relevant false-information conviction connected with acquisition by application, as well as specified military-service and criminal grounds. Some existing grounds apply to all citizens, including citizens by birth. The bill therefore concerns an additional power rather than the first possibility of revocation.
Under the reprint’s section 26, a proposed revocation notice must identify the ground and supporting circumstances and invite written representations within a period of at least seven and no more than 28 days. The Commission must consider representations, and revocation requires adulthood and protection against statelessness. Section 28 provides a review application within 30 days of receiving the decision notice. A person receiving an actual notice should address its stated deadline directly; the committee’s reporting date is not a substitute response deadline.
The committee is testing safeguards rather than individual cases
The Terms of Reference require examination of the need for the bill, its clarity and effectiveness, fairness of the process, review and remedies, Commission independence and protection against statelessness. They also ask whether targeting citizens by application is justified. These are defined questions for legislative assessment, not findings that existing safeguards are sufficient or inadequate.
The terms expressly exclude findings about an identifiable individual’s citizenship status or conduct and matters before a court. They require a report to Parliament by Friday 13 November 2026, while allowing the committee to seek an extension. That target concerns findings and recommendations, including possible amendments. It does not establish a date when new powers automatically begin or when citizenship applications will be decided.
Use the correct contact and distinguish the closed submission window
The committee’s Call for Submissions gave a closing time of 4.30pm on Monday 19 October 2026. That advertised window has passed. The call identifies [email protected] and telephone 24164 or 28520 for inquiry information or help making a submission. Anyone still wishing to provide evidence should first ask whether further material can be accepted; the later hearing notice does not itself establish a reopened submission deadline.
The call says the bill can be requested from the committee Secretariat and links Parliament’s bills page. Use the direct Issues Paper and Terms of Reference below to understand the inquiry, and obtain the bill itself before commenting on its exact drafting. No participation charge was established in the examined call. Existing citizenship application fees concern a separate service. No direct clarification was obtained about late submissions, the bill’s subsequent progress or an individual case.
