South African citizens who wish to acquire the citizenship of another country and retain their South African citizenship
The South African Citizenship Act specifically makes provision for an applicant to be able to retain his South African citizenship before acquiring the citizenship of another country. This retention application is made available in order to prevent automatic loss of South African citizenship. Most unfortunately, not many South Africans are aware of this application or the need to complete such application before acquiring a foreign citizenship in order to ensure that no loss of South African citizenship takes place as a result.
The first step in the process here would always be a determination of status which is a process that allows the Department of Home Affairs to conduct an investigation into your citizenship status and confirm that you are indeed still a South African citizen. Once this fact has been confirmed, only then is it possible to apply for a retention of your South African citizenship status. Once the retention is finalised, a letter confirming retention of South African citizenship is issued by the Department of Home Affairs office or Consular Mission in respect of a successful application.
Thereafter, you would be entitled to apply for the relevant foreign citizenship without losing your South African citizenship as a result.
It is important to take note that the same process is required to be followed in respect of each and every foreign citizenship acquired.