40-plus bids for citizenship endorsed

MORE than 40 applications for Papua New Guinean citizenship were endorsed last month, according to Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso.
Rosso, also the minister for immigration and border security, said 11 applications were deliberated on by the Citizenship Advisory Committee (CAC) in December last year, and 44 in February, totalling 55 applications from the National Capital District.
“I remind the successful applicants that citizenship is a privilege,” he said in a statement.
“It provides them with rights, and comes with responsibilities, and anyone fortunate to be granted Papua New Guinea citizenship from the various pathways available.
“(They) should respect the laws of PNG and continue to contribute meaningfully to the country.
“The CAC members made their independent deliberations and recommendations to me as minister, and I have granted 48 out of the 55 applications recommended to me.
“Out of the 48 applications with positive outcome, 44 of them were granted dual citizenship while the remaining four were approved for PNG citizenship through naturalisation.”
Rosso said CAC also held a citizenship hearing in Lae, Morobe, last month for a face-to-face interview with 21 applicants there, and the recommendations from the committee would be provided to him soon.
CAC is a constitutional entity established by Section 75 of the Constitution.
It deliberates on citizenship matters or applications lodged through the Immigration and Citizenship Service Authority (ISCA).
CAC provides advice and recommendations to the minister responsible for citizenship matters.
The committee comprises four permanent members and one ad hoc member for each province in the country and quorum for a CAC hearing is three permanent committee members.
“During a CAC hearing, the committee deliberates on citizenship matters, mainly in the form of citizenship applications, by interviewing the applicants,” Rosso said.
“The committee also considers the file compilation and assessment findings conducted by ICSA and external agencies on the applicants, and the ad-hoc member interview findings from the province concerned.”
Rosso added that CAC plans to deliberate on applications from the New Guinea Islands in the next hearing.
He commended CAC for starting work immediately after the appointment of the new chairman and deputy chairman late last year, to attend to the citizenship applications.
Rosso said he had directed ICSA to consider possible legislative amendments to streamline and make more relevant qualification criteria for citizenship under select pathways, while at the same time instituting more stringent and robust integrity checks on others.