# Ordinary adult citizenship applications The Attorney-General's current Citizenship Act reprint requires ten years of qualifying ordinary residence for the general adult route, not the older five-year summary. Language, character, continuing ties and a discretionary decision remain material. Scope: General adult section 14(2) application under the Citizenship Act 2018 as amended; ancestry, birth, marriage and resumption branches remain separate. Jurisdiction: Solomon Islands. Sources reviewed 2026-09-22; review due 2026-12-21. General information, not legal advice or a finding of eligibility. Requirements depend on the route, applicant and filing date. Verify the official instructions before applying. ## Adult and lawful ordinary residence The general applicant must be at least eighteen, hold a valid passport and be ordinarily resident in Solomon Islands when applying. Section 16 requires ordinary residence for a total ten-year period immediately before application, with no presence as an unlawful non-citizen at any time during that period. It does not call the period ten years of permanent-resident status. Evidence: conditional. [Solomon Islands Attorney-General's Chambers: Citizenship Act 2018, current at 5 February 2024](https://attorneygenerals.gov.sb/Download/citizenship-act-2018v3_as-at-050224/). Source location: Citizenship Act sections 14(2)(a)–(c), 16(1), PDF pages 7 and 11. ## Ordinary residence is not a day-count shorthand For section 16, ordinary residence means making Solomon Islands one's home, even if also living elsewhere, with continuity except for temporary absences. The section expressly does not apply to someone born in Solomon Islands or a child of a birth-citizen parent. Those exceptions are not a general reduction for other applicants. Evidence: conditional. [Solomon Islands Attorney-General's Chambers: Citizenship Act 2018, current at 5 February 2024](https://attorneygenerals.gov.sb/Download/citizenship-act-2018v3_as-at-050224/). Source location: Citizenship Act section 16(2)–(3), PDF page 11. ## Conversation, character and civic understanding The ordinary applicant must understand the application, be of good character, speak English, Pidgin or a Solomon Islands vernacular sufficiently for normal conversation, respect local culture and understand citizenship's rights and duties. Section 14(3) provides a separate permanent or enduring incapacity branch, preserving its age, residence, continuing-ties and good-character conditions. No CEFR level is specified. Evidence: conditional. [Solomon Islands Attorney-General's Chambers: Citizenship Act 2018, current at 5 February 2024](https://attorneygenerals.gov.sb/Download/citizenship-act-2018v3_as-at-050224/). Source location: Citizenship Act section 14(2)(e)–(i), 14(3), PDF page 9. ## Evidence of continued residence or ties The Commission must be satisfied that the general applicant is likely to keep residing in Solomon Islands or maintain a close, continuing relationship. Section 14(2)(d) specifies evidence relating to economic sustainability, capital property or financial contribution, with authentic information and original or certified documents; residence duration alone is insufficient. Evidence: conditional. [Solomon Islands Attorney-General's Chambers: Citizenship Act 2018, current at 5 February 2024](https://attorneygenerals.gov.sb/Download/citizenship-act-2018v3_as-at-050224/). Source location: Citizenship Act section 14(2)(d)(i)–(iv), PDF pages 7–9. ## Eligibility, decision and oath The Commission may refuse even an eligible applicant on public-policy or national-interest grounds. An approved applicant normally becomes a citizen on taking the required oath or affirmation and citizenship pledge; the Act provides incapacity and included-child exceptions. Meeting the residence period is neither automatic citizenship nor a processing-time estimate. Evidence: conditional. [Solomon Islands Attorney-General's Chambers: Citizenship Act 2018, current at 5 February 2024](https://attorneygenerals.gov.sb/Download/citizenship-act-2018v3_as-at-050224/). Source location: Citizenship Act sections 17(2)–(3), 19–20, PDF pages 11–13. ## Dual citizenship and voluntary renunciation The government confirms operation of dual citizenship, and the posted Act's ordinary eligibility list does not require renunciation of another nationality. Voluntarily renouncing Solomon Islands citizenship instead requires Commission approval, adulthood and another nationality or its immediate acquisition; wartime renunciation also needs ministerial consent. Foreign military service and other statutory revocation grounds are separate. Bill 3/2026 proposes additional revocation grounds for application-based citizenship; this review does not establish that proposal as operative law. Evidence: conditional. [Solomon Islands Attorney-General's Chambers: Citizenship Act 2018, current at 5 February 2024](https://attorneygenerals.gov.sb/Download/citizenship-act-2018v3_as-at-050224/); [Solomon Islands Government, Government Communication Unit: Historic fifty-six approved for dual citizenship](https://solomons.gov.sb/historic-fifty-six-approved-for-dual-citizenship/); [National Parliament of Solomon Islands: Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 3 of 2026](https://parliament.gov.sb/business/bills/files/2026/Citizenship_Amendment_Bill_2026.pdf). Source location: Government notice of 22 February 2021; Citizenship Act sections 14, 21–26, PDF pages 7–16; Bill 3/2026 clauses 2 and 4, PDF pages 5–6. ## Scope and limitations - The Attorney-General's in-force registry supplies the reprint current at 5 February 2024, incorporating the 2023 amendments. Older five-year service guidance is not used for the present general route. - Enactment and commencement of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 3/2026 were not established. Its proposed section 25 revocation changes and requirement for ministerial Gazette commencement must not be presented as operative; current retention rules require rechecking. - No fixed maximum number of absence days or equivalent permanent-resident period is invented from the ordinary-residence definition. - Other nationality laws, special branches, document assessment, fees and processing duration require individual confirmation; approval is not guaranteed. ## Explore this passport - [Passport rank and travel access](https://multipassrank.com/passport/solomon-islands) - [Tax residence & income](https://multipassrank.com/passport/solomon-islands/taxes) - [Country-profile JSON, including sources and scoped requirements](https://multipassrank.com/api/v1/country-profiles/SB) - [Multiple-citizenship policy guide](https://multipassrank.com/dual-citizenship-countries) [Canonical page](https://multipassrank.com/passport/solomon-islands/citizenship)