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In Benin, the legal and political relationship between a natural person and the state, known as nationality, is governed by a revised law recently promulgated by President Patrice Talon. Law No. 2022-32 of December 20, 2022 sets out the conditions for the attribution, acquisition, declaration, loss, forfeiture, and reinstatement of nationality in Benin.
According to the law, a person is considered Beninese if they are born to a father or mother who is a Beninese national. Additionally, any child born in Benin or whose birth certificate was issued in the country is also considered Beninese, as is an abandoned child found on Beninese territory.
Nationality can also be obtained through descent, adoption, declaration, naturalization, or marriage to a Beninese national. Foreign spouses, for example, can acquire Beninese nationality after a probationary period of five years from the date of marriage. If the marriage is celebrated abroad, the probationary period begins on the transcription of the marriage certificate in the civil status registers of Beninese diplomatic or consular agents.
