ICCS Convention No.8

Convention (No.8) on the exchange of information relating to acquisition of nationality

signed at Paris on 10 September 1964

The Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Austria, the Kingdom of Belgium, the French Republic, the Kingdom of Greece, the Italian Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Swiss Confederation and the Turkish Republic, members of the International Commission on Civil Status, being desirous of co-operating with one another by an exchange of information concerning acquisitions of nationality by their nationals, have agreed as follows:

Article 1

Each Contracting State undertakes to inform any other Contracting State of acquisitions of nationality resulting from naturalisation, option or reintegration that concern nationals of the latter State.

Article 2

This information shall be given by means of a form, a model whereof is appended to this Convention, which shall state:
1. the surname and forenames of the person concerned;
2. his or her place and date of birth;
3. his or her present residence and last known residence in the State of which he or she had the nationality;
4. the method of acquisition of nationality and the date on which it takes effect;
5. where appropriate, the type, number and date of the document proving the previous nationality.

Article 3

Where the acquisition of nationality extends ipso iure to the spouse or minor children, the form mentioned in the preceding Article shall also indicate the surnames, forenames and dates and places of birth of the spouse and children concerned.

Article 4

The form shall be sent directly within three months from the date on which the acquisition of nationality takes effect.

Each Contracting State shall, at the time of signature, notification or accession, indicate the central authority empowered by it to receive such forms.

Article 5

This Convention shall affect neither the provisions of the domestic law of each Contracting State relating to nationality nor conventions providing for an exchange of more comprehensive information in matters of acquisition of nationality.

Article 6

The Contracting States shall notify the Swiss Federal Council of the completion of the procedures required by their Constitutions to render this Convention applicable in their territory.

The Swiss Federal Council shall inform the Contracting States and the Secretary General of the International Commission on Civil Status of any notification made pursuant to the preceding paragraph.

Article 7

This Convention shall enter into force from the thirtieth day following the date of deposit of the second notification and shall take effect from that day between the two States which have completed that formality.

For each signatory State which completes the formality mentioned in the preceding Article at a later date, this Convention shall take effect from the thirtieth day following the date of deposit of its notification.

Article 8

Each Contracting State may, at the time of signature, of the notification mentioned in Article 6 or of accession, declare that it is excluding acquisitions of nationality resulting from option or reintegration from the information to be given under Article 1.

Any Contracting State may withdraw in whole or in part a reservation formulated by it pursuant to the preceding paragraph, by notification to the Swiss Federal Council which shall take effect on the thirtieth day following the date on which it is received.

The Swiss Federal Council shall inform each of the Contracting States and the Secretary General of the International Commission on Civil Status of such notification.

Article 9

This Convention shall apply ipso iure throughout the metropolitan territory of each Contracting State.

Any Contracting State may, at the time of signature, of the notification mentioned in Article 6 or of accession or subsequently, declare by notification to the Swiss Federal Council that the provisions of this Convention shall apply to one or more of its extra-metropolitan territories or the States or territories for whose international relations it is responsible. The Swiss Federal Council shall inform each of the Contracting States and the Secretary General of the International Commission on Civil Status of such notification. The provisions of this Convention shall become applicable in the territory or territories designated in the notification on the thirtieth day following the date on which the Swiss Federal Council receives the notification.

Any State which has made a declaration pursuant to the provisions of the second paragraph of this Article may subsequently declare at any time by notification to the Swiss Federal Council that this Convention shall cease to apply to one or more of the States or territories designated in the declaration.

The Swiss Federal Council shall inform each of the Contracting States and the Secretary General of the International Commission on Civil Status of the further notification.

The Convention shall cease to apply to the territory concerned on the thirtieth day following the date on which the Swiss Federal Council receives that notification.

Article 10

Any member State of the International Commission on Civil Status or the Council of Europe may accede to this Convention.

A State wishing to accede shall give notice of its intention by an instrument deposited with the Swiss Federal Council. The latter shall inform each of the Contracting States and the Secretary General of the International Commission on Civil Status of every deposit of an instrument of accession. The Convention shall enter into force, for the acceding State, on the thirtieth day following the date of deposit of the instrument of accession.

Deposit of an instrument of accession may take place only after the entry into force of this Convention.

Article 11

This Convention may be revised.

Any proposal for a revision shall be lodged with the Swiss Federal Council, which shall give notice thereof to the other Contracting States and the Secretary General of the International Commission on Civil Status.

Article 12

This Convention shall remain in force for a term of five years from the date indicated in the first paragraph of Article 7.

The Convention shall be tacitly renewed every five years, unless it is denounced.

The Swiss Federal Council must be notified of any denunciation at least six months before the expiry of a term; the Council shall inform all the other Contracting States and the Secretary General of the International Commission on Civil Status of such denunciation.

Denunciation shall have effect only in relation to the State which has given the notification. The Convention shall remain in force for the other Contracting States.

In witness whereof the undersigned representatives, duly authorised to this end, have signed this Convention.

Done at Paris, on 10 September 1964, in a single copy which shall be deposited in the archives of the Swiss Federal Council and a certified copy of which shall be transmitted through diplomatic channels to each of the Contracting States and to the Secretary General of the International Commission on Civil Status.

Declaration of reservation

The Italian Government, under the terms of Article 8, declares that it is excluding acquisitions of nationality resulting from option or reintegration from the information to be given under Article 1.

Denonciation

On 9 January 2008 The Embassy of the Republic of Turkey notified the Swiss depositary of the denunciation by the Republic of Turkey of the Convention. In application of Article 12, the denunciation shall come into effect on 30 September 2010.

Territorial scope of the Convention

At the time of notification of ratification of the Convention, the Royal Embassy of the Netherlands in Bern stated that the procedures required under the Constitution of the Netherlands to render the said Convention applicable in the European territory of the Kingdom and in Surinam had been completed.

(Editorial note: Since 25 November 1975, the date of the independence of Surinam, the Convention no longer applies in that country.)

By note dated 17 June 1986, received on 19 June 1986, the Embassy of the Netherlands in Bern informed the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, for the attention of the Governments of the member States of the International Commission on Civil Status, that as from 1 January 1986 the Convention is also applicable, as regards the Kingdom of the Netherlands, to Aruba, whereas until then it had been applicable only to the Kingdom in Europe.

Designation of the central authority referred to in Article 4

The central authority referred to in Article 4 of this Convention is:
- For the Federal Republic of Germany:
- For the Republic of Austria: Ministry of the Interior
- For the Kingdom of Belgium: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- For the French Republic:
- For the Kingdom of Greece: Citizenship and Naturalisation Directorate at the Ministry of Home Affairs
- For the Italian Republic: Ministry of the Interior
- For the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: Ministry of Justice
- For the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Ministry of Justice
- For the Swiss Confederation:
- For the Turkish Republic: Ministry of the Interior - For the Portuguese Republic (at the time of its accession to the Convention): Conservatoria dos Registos Centrais - Ministerio da Justiça

Only the French original is authentic.