His Most Excellent Majesty, King Dwain I, requests and requires that the following legislation come into force on 2nd May 2020
THE IMMIGRATION ACT 2020
His Most Excellent Majesty, King Dwain I, hereby Decrees the following:
- From the commencement of this act only persons who qualify (qualifying persons) with the provisions that follow will be entitled to gain entrance into and/or continue to reside within the kingdom of Bir Tawil.
- Qualifying persons for the purpose of gaining entry into the Kingdom for the purpose of residing within the Kingdom must be the following:
a) A person who had originally resided within Yemen or Sudan but had been or is likely to be displaced through violence or the threat of violence; or
b) Any person already living or working within Bir Tawil or Hala’ib at the time when this act came into force.
c) Any other such person who, in the opinion of immigration officials who have been appointed by the state, possess particular education, skills or resources that would be deemed to be beneficial to the Kingdom of Bir Tawil.
- A person who qualifies under (1) and (2) above must, in order to qualify for entrance for the purpose of residence, also meet the following criteria;
3.1. Swear an oath of allegiance to the Monarch and the state of Bir Tawil, the oath being in the prescribed form issued by the state from time to time.
3.2. Present a criminal Records Bureau check issued from their country of most recent residence, in which they must have resided for at least 5 years, in relation to their criminal history and such documentation must not reveal anything considered by the Home Office of Bir Tawil to be above minor criminal offences. If such an applicant possesses anything above minor criminal offences then such an individual must apply for special dispensation to allow his application to succeed despite the presence of such criminal convictions. Applications to allow immigration despite criminal convictions that are more than merely trivial are to be assessed using the policy of the Home Office of Bir Tawil that is in place at the time of the immigration application. - Any person wishing to visit the state of Bir Tawil may do so if he possesses a valid passport which has in it at least 6 months before the date of its expiry at the time of travel. Such persons are eligible to receive a 6 months visitors visa upon completing the prescribed application and paying the prescribed fee; to be determined by the Home Office of Bir Tawil.
- Any person born in the state of Bir Tawil shall automatically have citizenship if one of the person’s parents were lawfully settled in Bir Tawil time of their birth.
- Anybody present in Bir Tawil not in accordance with the above is liable to be detained and removed from the borders of Bir Tawil.
- Immigration Officers appointed by the state are authorised to use reasonable force to enforce the provisions of this act.
- Being present in Bir Tawil in breach of this legislation is a criminal offence punishable by not more than 10 years imprisonment.
Date of most recent amendment: 18th June 2020
See the Social Assistance Fund for certain applicants