Probably better off to go for Benin’s Afro-Descendent program. It’s not a diplomatic passport but you’re only out $100, the cost of a DNA test and documents, and a flight to Cotonou in exchange for an ECOWAS passport. I’m still not sure it’s worth the cost, but the program seems about as legitimate as an African program can get.
Benin citizenship
- Thread starter Paratore
- Start date
NGL, but besides the citizens of the African continent I meet when I go to Yiwu, I have zero knowledge of Africa. I do some business with some people on the African continent, but they are white people, Dutch and English in Zuid Afrika (South Africa) and Germans in Namibia and we speak either English or Afrikaans (kind of like Dutch, so we can understand each other) or German with those living in Namibia.
I wished I could be of further help. This is so far outside my circle of competence...it's NOT even in the same galaxy! What I can tell you is that if I show up with a Guiné-Bissau passport anywhere near a bank in the West, I'm getting my *ss arrested for sure 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 My name ALONE is a DEAD GIVEAWAY that I have ZERO connections to the African Continent. I'm so f*cking fried if I even tried that
This might be a thing, but I don't feel comfortable flying to Africa alone on this mission.
Cotonou is…ok. For West Africa. I’m tempted
to pursue this to see what comes of it. I have a qualifying document chain. I’ll be in the region again later this year. I don’t mind losing the $100 even if it ends up not becoming anything. I don’t mind flying to Benin since I’ll be in the area. What I don’t like is the idea of giving documents with my PII to a government employee anywhere in West Africa. I’m also not convinced that Beninese citizenship and a passport will enrich my life in any way. It might even cause problems.
Can you tell more of this program?
Aren’t we all of African descent?
Africa is bigger than it appears! (The other continents are smaller, than is). Its countries and nations are so different from each other.
Not arrested, but for sure bounced and blacklisted.
Plus, if you hold a diplomatic passport you are considered a PEP. So you can finally experience what happens if you answer “yes” to THAT question on the forms
You are 100% correct about this! 100%!!!
Mitochondrial Eve!
Matrilineal most recent common ancestor of all living humans.
In human genetics, the Mitochondrial Eve (more technically known as the Mitochondrial-Most Recent Common Ancestor, shortened to mt-Eve or mt-MRCA) is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of all living humans. In other words, she is defined as the most recent woman from whom all living humans descend in an unbroken line purely through their mothers and through the mothers of those mothers, back until all lines converge on one woman.
Source: Wikipedia
Anybody tested the Guinea Bissau one? What do you think about contacting and investing with the Guinea-Bissau National Investment Agency? It comes top on Google and the website looks legit. It is a bit dated, though. Most stuff is from 2014 and the source code still has "<!--[if IE 7]>" stuff in it. Maybe, we can hire @Laid Back Llama to upgrade the website for them and in return get a proper introduction to the Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau?NGL, but besides the citizens of the African continent I meet when I go to Yiwu, I have zero knowledge of Africa. I do some business with some people on the African continent, but they are white people, Dutch and English in Zuid Afrika (South Africa) and Germans in Namibia and we speak either English or Afrikaans (kind of like Dutch, so we can understand each other) or German with those living in Namibia.
I wished I could be of further help. This is so far outside my circle of competence...it's NOT even in the same galaxy! What I can tell you is that if I show up with a Guiné-Bissau passport anywhere near a bank in the West, I'm getting my *ss arrested for sure 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 My name ALONE is a DEAD GIVEAWAY that I have ZERO connections to the African Continent. I'm so f*cking fried if I even tried that
Benin passed a law back in 2024. It’s supposed to be for reconciliation for the role Benin played in capturing Africans and selling them to slavers. It allows people with African ancestry to apply for Benin citizenship. It’s documented as well as any African government program, which is to say not well. I’ve not done this, though I am tempted to apply in June, just to see what happens, after I deal with other matters. Here is what I’ve been able to find out.
There is a website that you use to apply.
myafroorigins.bj
It appears the primary proof requires civil documents. The genetic test is a supplemental piece of documentation and seems to not be needed. There are reports of people with just a DNA test being contacted with a request for documents. Based on reports, sometimes they ask these documents to be with apostille and translated into French; sometimes PDFs from Ancestry.com are enough.
The requirements are thus. You must have an ancestor born before 1944 in a region of historical slavery. This exact region is not defined but appears to include most of the Americas. The ancestor must be denoted as racially African or mixed on their documents (some have had success including a DNA test instead of having a racial indication in the documents), and you must have a document chain showing lineage from you to the ancestor. You cannot have current African citizenship. There appears to be no hard requirements on how distant the ancestor is or the amount of African ancestry. People have applied with ancestors from the 1600s and 6% African genetic markers (unsure how many have been successful).
You apply online with digitized documents. The application fee is $100 US. After application, you will receive a level 1 approval. After about three months, if approved, you will receive a level 2 approval and a certificate of Benin recognition. You then have three years to fly to Cotonou with this and attend a citizenship ceremony where you are made a national. After that, you can apply for a Beninese passport at the office in Cotonou. It appears the passport applications there are fulfilled with passport ready to pick up in a day or two. If you want the ability to vote or hold a government job, you need to reside in Benin for two years and apply to be regularized from national to citizen. This distinction is apparently an entry in your civil file and there is no notation of the difference on your passport. For all practical purposes except for those two, you are a full citizen of Benin.
All of this information was gathered from reading and reports by those who have done the process. The singer Ciara got this citizenship a while ago.
www.bbc.com
There is a website that you use to apply.
Afro-descendant recognition
Recognition of Beninese nationality for Afro-descendants
myafroorigins.bj
It appears the primary proof requires civil documents. The genetic test is a supplemental piece of documentation and seems to not be needed. There are reports of people with just a DNA test being contacted with a request for documents. Based on reports, sometimes they ask these documents to be with apostille and translated into French; sometimes PDFs from Ancestry.com are enough.
The requirements are thus. You must have an ancestor born before 1944 in a region of historical slavery. This exact region is not defined but appears to include most of the Americas. The ancestor must be denoted as racially African or mixed on their documents (some have had success including a DNA test instead of having a racial indication in the documents), and you must have a document chain showing lineage from you to the ancestor. You cannot have current African citizenship. There appears to be no hard requirements on how distant the ancestor is or the amount of African ancestry. People have applied with ancestors from the 1600s and 6% African genetic markers (unsure how many have been successful).
You apply online with digitized documents. The application fee is $100 US. After application, you will receive a level 1 approval. After about three months, if approved, you will receive a level 2 approval and a certificate of Benin recognition. You then have three years to fly to Cotonou with this and attend a citizenship ceremony where you are made a national. After that, you can apply for a Beninese passport at the office in Cotonou. It appears the passport applications there are fulfilled with passport ready to pick up in a day or two. If you want the ability to vote or hold a government job, you need to reside in Benin for two years and apply to be regularized from national to citizen. This distinction is apparently an entry in your civil file and there is no notation of the difference on your passport. For all practical purposes except for those two, you are a full citizen of Benin.
All of this information was gathered from reading and reports by those who have done the process. The singer Ciara got this citizenship a while ago.
US Grammy winner Ciara becomes citizen of Benin under new slavery-descendants law
Benin in West Africa is trying to forge ties with the African diaspora and boost tourism.
www.bbc.com
The interesting part is that you don’t need a document from Africa. There is a presumption of slavery. For example, if you have an ancestor born in 1910 (or whenever, before 1944) in the United States and the birth certificate denotes that ancestor as black, negro, or African, that is sufficient to activate the presumption. It seems too easy to be true but there are reports of people getting citizenship through the process and since it costs effectively nothing, it is inexpensive enough to try just to see what happens. I’ll be in West Africa at the end of the year anyway, so a side trip to Benin is nothing if it is successful. I’m looking for all the downsides to having Beninese citizenship and thinking about my discomfort with an African government having copies of personal documents. It’s an experiment and not something that brings a lot of value to my life so I need to convince myself to do it for a laugh.
I am a tax slave, but I have nothing linking me to Africa apart from a well tanned skin. 23andMe says I have 0% African DNA.
Am I hopeless?
The main qualification seems to be a chain of civil documents from you to an ancestor who is noted as of African race and who was born in the area of historical slavery prior to 1944, plus no other African citizenship at the time of application. It’s Africa, though. I’m sure with proper contacts you could just buy it. The real question is why would you want it? It offers very little even at a cost of $100 US.
I wonder if there is a DNA company that will mark us at 5% African? (for a fee, of course?)
I wonder if I can take a DNA test but in China where my results don't end up getting hacked.... Anyone know?