Democratic Republic of the Congo nationality law

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, nationality law is regulated by the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Congolese Nationality Code, the Congolese Civil Code, and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The legal means to acquire nationality, formal legal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship.

Congolese nationality is typically obtained under the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or jus sanguinis, by birth abroad to parents with Congolese nationality. It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalization.