Dual Citizenship South Africa UK: What the 2025 ConCourt Ruling Means for Ancestry Visa Holders

For decades, South Africans who obtained British citizenship faced an uncomfortable choice: keep the new nationality or keep the South African one. The country's Citizenship Act made dual nationality legally precarious — and the practical consequences of getting it wrong were severe. A South African who naturalised as a British citizen without the correct prior approval could find themselves quietly stripped of their SA passport rights, often without knowing it.

That changed in May 2025.

What the Law Said Before May 2025

Section 6(1)(a) of the South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995 stated that an adult South African citizen who voluntarily acquired the citizenship of another country automatically lost their South African citizenship on that date. There was one way to avoid this: obtaining a "Retention of Citizenship" letter from the Department of Home Affairs before acquiring the second nationality.

The retention process was neither fast nor straightforward. Applicants had to submit Form BI-1664, pay a fee, and wait for DHA approval before naturalising abroad. South Africans who went through the UK Ancestry visa pathway — arriving on an Ancestry visa, working for five years, applying for ILR, and then naturalising as British citizens — were required to submit the retention application to DHA during that period, typically before the naturalisation ceremony.

Those who forgot, were not aware of the requirement, or were given incorrect advice lost their South African citizenship automatically upon becoming British. In some cases, they only discovered this years later when trying to use a South African passport or when their children's citizenship rights were queried.

The May 2025 Constitutional Court Ruling

On 6 May 2025, the South African Constitutional Court declared Section 6(1)(a) of the Citizenship Act unconstitutional. The ruling confirmed that automatic citizenship loss caused by voluntary acquisition of another nationality violated the constitutional right to citizenship and was therefore invalid.

Critically, the judgment is retrospective to 6 October 1995 — the date the post-apartheid Constitution came into force. This means South Africans who lost their citizenship under this provision at any point from 1995 onward are legally deemed to have never lost it.

What This Means in Practice

The ruling has two groups of people to address:

Group 1: South Africans who plan to naturalise as British citizens in the future. For these individuals — including UK Ancestry visa holders working through their five-year pathway toward ILR and then naturalisation — the obligation to obtain a prior retention letter no longer exists. South African citizenship will not be automatically forfeited when they take up British nationality.

Group 2: South Africans who already lost their citizenship under the old rule. For these individuals, the judgment says the loss never legally occurred. Their citizenship should be considered continuous since birth. However, the administrative records at DHA may not yet reflect this, which is where the Citizenship Reinstatement Portal comes in.

The DHA Citizenship Reinstatement Portal

Following the Constitutional Court ruling, the Department of Home Affairs launched an online portal at myhomeaffairsonline.dha.gov.za to allow affected individuals to have their records corrected. The portal allows South Africans who lost citizenship under Section 6(1)(a) to verify their status and trigger an automatic update to the National Population Register.

The portal does not require extensive documentation for straightforward cases. The DHA matches the individual's identity number against records of naturalisation in other countries. If a match is found and the only reason for citizenship loss was Section 6(1)(a), the record is updated to reflect continuous citizenship.

Some immigration experts advise using the portal proactively even if you are uncertain whether your records were affected — particularly if you naturalised in another country before 2025 and never applied for a formal retention letter. The process is low-cost and provides a paper trail confirming your SA citizenship status.

Does the Old Retention Letter Application Still Matter?

Given the ruling's retrospective effect, the retention letter has no legal necessity for future naturalisations. However, several immigration practitioners advise South Africans to still engage with the DHA — either through the reinstatement portal or by obtaining a formal acknowledgment of their citizenship status — before naturalising as British citizens.

The reason is practical rather than legal: DHA's administrative systems are still being updated to reflect the ruling, and border control officers or consular officials checking a South African passport's validity against the population register may encounter outdated records. A formal confirmation from DHA that citizenship is active provides a document to resolve any such discrepancy.

The UK Ancestry Visa Pathway in Light of This Change

For UK Ancestry visa holders working through the settlement pathway, the 2025 ruling removes one of the most anxiety-inducing administrative risks of the entire process. The traditional fear — that naturalising as British would permanently sever ties with South Africa — is no longer legally valid.

The practical sequence for an Ancestry visa holder remains: arrive on the five-year Ancestry visa, maintain continuous residence with no more than 180 days absent in any 12-month period, apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after five years, then apply for British naturalisation 12 months after ILR. At the point of naturalisation, South African citizenship is now protected under the Constitutional Court ruling.

Holders who want additional certainty can use the DHA reinstatement portal before naturalising, or apply for a formal DHA confirmation of citizenship status. Holders who already naturalised as British before May 2025 without obtaining a retention letter should check their status via the portal.

UK's Position on Dual Nationality

The UK itself has no restriction on its citizens holding other nationalities. British citizenship by naturalisation is fully compatible with holding South African citizenship simultaneously. There is no requirement to renounce South African nationality when becoming a British citizen.

This means that a South African who completes the UK Ancestry visa pathway to ILR and then naturalises as British will, after the 2025 ruling, legally hold both passports simultaneously — travel document flexibility that was out of reach for the previous generation who went through the same process.

For the complete UK Ancestry visa pathway from South Africa — including the five-year settlement roadmap, ILR requirements, and Life in the UK test — see the South Africa to UK Ancestry Visa Guide.

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