“travel document” means a passport or other document of identity of a class recognized by the Minister
which is issued by or on behalf of the Government or any other government or other authority
recognized by the Government;
“Zimbabwe citizen” means a citizen of Zimbabwe in terms of the laws relating to citizenship.
3 Domicile
(1) Subject to this section, a person shall be regarded, for the purposes of this Act, as being domiciled in a
country if—
(a) he resides permanently in that country; or
(b) that country is the country to which he returns as a permanent resident.
(2) A person who resides in Zimbabwe by virtue of the fact that—
(a) he has been allowed to enter or remain in Zimbabwe through error, oversight, misrepresentation or a
contravention of this Act or a repealed Act; or
(b) it has not been discovered that he is a prohibited person or an alien;
shall not acquire a domicile in Zimbabwe.
(3) No person shall, for the purposes of this Act, have a domicile in Zimbabwe unless he has lawfully
ordinarily resided therein for a continuous period of ten years, which period shall not include—
(a) any period during which a person has—
(i) been detained in any prison, reformatory or mental hospital in or outside Zimbabwe; or
(ii) resided in Zimbabwe in terms of any permit other than a residence permit;
or
(b) any period of residence of a person while he is such a person as is described in paragraph (e) of
subsection (2) of section fifteen or who has entered Zimbabwe in terms of a convention or scheme
referred to in paragraph (f) of that subsection:
Provided that, where the President, in terms of the proviso to subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (c) of subsection
(1) of section 4 of the Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act [Chapter 4:01], has authorized the Minister responsible for
the administration of that Act to accept a shorter period than ten years for the registration of a person as a citizen
of Zimbabwe, the reference in this subsection to ten years shall be deemed in respect of such person to be a
reference to such shorter period.
[Subsection amended by s. 2 of Act 8/2000.]
(4) Subject to subsection (5)—
(a) a person shall, for the purposes of this Act, lose his domicile in Zimbabwe if he—
(i) has voluntarily departed from and resides outside Zimbabwe with the intention of making his
home outside Zimbabwe; or
(ii) is absent from Zimbabwe for a continuous period of five years or such longer period as the
Minister may, at his request, fix before the expiry of that period:
Provided that the Minister may, in special circumstances, fix a longer period in terms of this
subparagraph after the expiry of the period of five years;
[Subparagraph amended by s. 2 of Act 8/2000.]
(b) the fact that a person has taken up residence outside Zimbabwe shall be prima facie evidence of his
intention of making his home outside Zimbabwe and the onus of proving otherwise shall be on the
person who status is in question;
(c) the fact that a person who was domiciled in Zimbabwe has made any statement, whether for the
purposes of this Act or any other enactment or otherwise, to the effect that he is no longer a resident or
no longer regards himself as a resident of Zimbabwe shall be prima facie evidence that he has lost his
domicile in Zimbabwe.
(5) Any period during which a person—
(a) resides outside Zimbabwe by reason of his service—
(i) with the State; or
(ii) with an international organization of which Zimbabwe is a member; or
(iii) in the employment of—
A. a person resident in Zimbabwe; or
B. a society, body of persons or company, the central control and management of which are
in Zimbabwe; or
C. a body incorporated directly by a law in force in Zimbabwe;
or
(b) resides outside Zimbabwe on account of ill health or disability; or
(c) resides outside Zimbabwe to attend any educational institution; or
(d) resides outside Zimbabwe, having left Zimbabwe for a reason described in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of
subsection (1) of section 3 of the Refugees Act [Chapter 4:03]; or