[4][5] Commonwealth countries often use the terms nationality and citizenship as synonyms, despite their legal distinction and the fact that they are regulated by different governmental administrative bodies.

[9] Those who are eligible include: Naturalisation can be granted to persons who have resided in Namibia for a sufficient period of time to confirm they understand the customs and traditions of the country and the responsibilities of citizenship.

Besides foreigners meeting the criteria,[7] other persons who may apply for naturalisation include: Namibians are allowed to renounce their nationality, provided that comply with registration processes.

[23][24] Between the ninth and fourteenth centuries Zambezi people pushed the early inhabitants into the Kalahari Desert and established decentralised chieftainships.

[25] Until the 1780s, coastal indigenous people largely did not have involvement with the rival commercial foreigners, but slowly began to engage in trade with them to acquire iron and tobacco.

[27] In 1792, the Dutch East India Company which had claimed the coastline two years earlier, took possession of Walvis Bay.

[25] The first half of the nineteenth century saw the destabilisation of African communities with territorial disputes arising both internally among chieftainships and with foreigners.

[31][32] In 1883, Adolf Lüderitz, merchant from Bremen, acquired a tract of land including Damaraland and Namaqualand from the native chief.

[31][36] That year, at the Berlin Conference, European powers agreed on the boundaries of South West Africa and endorsed the German possession of the colony.

[40][41] While the Netherlands was attempting to regain its independence from France, Britain moved against Dutch overseas possessions, and formally acquired the Cape of Good Hope under the terms of the Convention of London in 1814.

[45] In 1817, Charles Henry Somerset, the Governor General of the Cape of Good Hope, issued a decree that foreigners could be granted a deed of burghership, after having lived in the colony for five years and taking an oath of allegiance.

Further laws on naturalisation, which did not vary overmuch from the 1817 decree,[46] were passed for the Cape colony in 1856, 1861, and 1868, which were repealed by the consolidation and amendment of 22 August 1883.

[54] For those born abroad on or after the effective date, legitimacy was still required, and could only be derived by a child from a British father (one generation), who was natural-born or naturalised.

[23][64] The war lasted for four years, resulting in the massacre of more than half of the Herero, Damara, and Nama populations in South West Africa.

[65][66] On the first official day of World War I, a subcommittee of the British Committee of Imperial Defence recommended the seizure of German South West Africa.

[69] At the 1919 Peace Conference of Versailles, Britain made it clear that it did not want direct control in administering South West Africa.

[72][Notes 2] This was not the case for white settlers and South Africa granted the status of British subject to Germans residing in the territory from 1924.

[79] In 1931, passage of the Statute of Westminster limited the powers of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to legislate on behalf of its Dominions — Australia, Canada, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New Zealand, and South Africa — declaring them all to be equal, self-governing states, united by their allegiance to Britain, with the authority for managing their own internal and external affairs.

[84] Chiefs of the Damaras, Hereros, Nama and Ovambos, protested directly to the British High Commissioner and led a campaign against annexation.

[87] In 1948, the policy of Apartheid was instituted through various legislation, which has had a lasting impact on statelessness for many persons who were native or descended from South West Africans, as birth registration was not mandatory or routine.

[91] Commonwealth citizens were allowed to obtain nationality through registration after a cumulative residency of four years over a six-year period.

[92] Naturalisation required a literacy in a language of the Union, evidence of no confinement for offences or mental illness, and proof of a cumulative residency of five years over a seven-year period.

[99] In 1971, the United Nations Security Council asked the International Court of Justice to rule on South Africa's continued presence in Namibia.

[36] In both 1976 and 1977 United Nations resolutions decreed that Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands were an integral part of Namibia.

[100] That year, sanctions against South Africa were proposed in Resolution 435, which advocated for a Pan-African solution to the occupation of Namibia and its ultimate independence.

[11] In addition, for a one-year period, persons who had been ordinary residents for a continuous five years prior to independence could register as nationals, providing that they renounced any other allegiance.

[106] Under its terms, persons of majority could acquire nationality by having resided in Namibia for five years, and could prove their good character and understanding of the responsibilities of citizenship.

Naturalised Namibians can also be denaturalised for disloyal or treasonous acts, criminal offences which result in a sentence of twelve months or more, or had been a prohibited immigrant immediately prior to acquiring nationality.

[107] Cases brought in the High Court, such as Tlhoro v Minister of Home Affairs (2008 (1) NR 97 HC) and Le Roux v Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration (2011 (2) NR 606 HC), successfully overturned the prohibition for those born as Namibians to hold dual nationality.

[112] In 2016, a legal case De Wilde v Minister of Home Affairs (SA 48/2014 [2016] NASC 12 of 23 June 2016, also cited as MW v Minister of Home Affairs 2016 (3) NR 707 SC) brought before the Supreme Court of Namibia determined that "ordinary residence" was not the same as permanent residence.