Scottish Government publishes proposals for citizenship in independent Scotland

Article summary

The Scottish Government has announced how citizenship could work in an independent Scotland, in a research paper titled ‘Citizenship in an independent Scotland’, published on 27 July 2023. The Scottish Government has said that there would be four ways to obtain citizenship in the event of Scottish independence—automatic entitlement on the day of independence, by birth after independence, by registering as a Scottish citizen, or by applying to become a Scottish citizen. In its paper, the Scottish Government has also said that Scotland would remain a part of the common travel area alongside the rest of the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. First Minster, Humza Yousaf, has also said that Scottish citizens would benefit from the rights of EU citizenship as the Scottish Government remains committed to rejoining the EU as an independent Scotland.