Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer any change to citizenship or nationality.

North America

By act of United States Congress and presidential assent, an individual may be named an honorary citizen of the United States. Since 1963, it has been awarded to only eight individuals.

Honorary Canadian citizenship Honorary Canadian citizenship ( French: ''citoyenneté canadienne honoraire'') is an honour bestowed on foreigners of exceptional merit following a joint resolution by both Houses of the Parliament of Canada. Honorary Canadian citizenship is pu ...

requires unanimous approval in both houses of Parliament. The only people to ever receive honorary Canadian citizenship are Raoul Wallenberg posthumously in 1985;

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

in 2001; the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...

Tenzin Gyatso in 2006; Aung San Suu Kyi in 2007 (revoked in 2018);

Prince Karim Aga Khan Shāh Karim al-Husayni (born 13 December 1936), known by the religious title Mawlānā Hazar Imam by his Ismaili followers and elsewhere as Aga Khan IV, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailis, a denomination within Shia Islam. He h ...

in 2009; and Malala Yousafzai in 2014.

Europe

In Germany honorary citizenship is awarded by cities, towns and sometimes federal states. The honorary citizenship ends with the death of the honoured, or, in exceptional cases, when it is taken away by the council or parliament of the city, town, or state. In the case of war criminals, all such honours were taken away by "Article VIII, section II, letter i of the directive 38 of the Allied Control Council for Germany" on 12 October 1946. In Ireland, honorary citizenship bestowed on a foreigner is full legal citizenship including the right to reside and vote.

Israel

Members of the Righteous Among the Nations may be conferred honorary Israeli citizenship by Yad Vashem, or commemorative citizenship if deceased. Those who choose to live in Israel are entitled to a pension, free health care, and assistance with housing and nursing care.

Examples

* Berlin awarded

Lucius D. Clay General Lucius Dubignon Clay (April 23, 1898 – April 16, 1978) was a senior officer of the United States Army who was known for his administration of occupied Germany after World War II. He served as the deputy to General of the Army Dwight D ...

1962 for his role as military governor and for creating the Berlin airlift and

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

for his change in world politics that led to the fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

and the

reunification of Germany German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

. * Che Guevara was made an honorary citizen of Cuba by

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

for his part in the Cuban Revolution. Embarking on fomenting revolutions in other countries, Che Guevara, in his farewell letter to Fidel, gave up all his official ties to Cuba, including citizenship. * In 2002 South Korea awarded honorary citizenship to Dutch football (soccer) coach

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

who successfully and unexpectedly took the national team to the semi-finals of the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. Honorary citizenship was also awarded to Hines Ward, an American football player of Korean and African-American descent, in 2006 for his efforts to minimize discrimination in Korea against half-Koreans. * To mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest the

Nepalese government The Government of Nepal ( ne, नेपाल सरकार) is the federal executive authority of Nepal. Prior to the abolition of the Nepali monarchy in 2006 (became republic in 2008), it was officially known as His Majesty's Government. T ...

conferred honorary citizenship upon Edmund Hillary at a special

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু ...

celebration in Kathmandu, Nepal. He was the first foreign national to receive that honour. * At the end of their studies, all the students of the College of Europe are invited to the city hall by the mayor of Bruges to become honorary citizens of the city of Bruges. * In 2005, actress Angelina Jolie received an honorary Cambodian citizenship in 2005 for her humanitarian efforts * In March 2007, cricketers

Matthew Hayden Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer. His career spanned fifteen years. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed batting order (cricket)#opening batsman, opening batsm ...

and Herschelle Gibbs were awarded honorary citizenship of

St. Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of ...

, following their record-breaking innings in the

2007 Cricket World Cup The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth Cricket World Cup, a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007. There were a total of 51 matches played, three fewer than at the ...

* In 2011, Lady Gaga received the title of honorary citizen of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

for her support of the LGBT+ community. * In April 2013, Raoul Wallenberg became the first person to be granted an honorary

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n citizenship. * In August 2013, French actor

Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu, CQ (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor, filmmaker, businessman and vineyard owner since 1989 who is one of the most prolific thespians in film history having completed over 250 films since 1967 alm ...

received an honorary citizenship by Belgium. * In October 2013, Argentinian football coach José Pekerman received

Colombian citizenship Colombian nationality is typically obtained by birth in Colombia when one of the parents is either a Colombian national or a Colombian legal resident, by birth abroad when at least one parent was born in Colombia, or by naturalization, as define ...

after he qualified Colombia to the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, the first World Cup for the country after a 16-year hiatus. * On 12 April 2017, Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan was awarded honorary

Canadian citizenship Canadian nationality law details the conditions in which a person is a national of Canada. With few exceptions, almost all individuals born in the country are automatically citizens at birth. Foreign nationals may naturalize after living in Ca ...

by PM Justin Trudeau for her work on providing education to girls in her hometown

Swat In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

during Taliban occupation. * On 12 July 2017,

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

was made an honorary citizen of Manchester for her efforts to raise funds for victims of 22 May 2017 terrorist attack in Manchester Arena. * In August 2019, Guillermo Rodriguez, a security guard on '' Jimmy Kimmel Live'', became an honorary citizen of Dildo,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, Canada, after TV host Jimmy Kimmel ran for mayor. * On 7 October 2019, Afghanistan granted honorary Afghan citizenship to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese physician

Tetsu Nakamura , also known as Kaka Murad (Pashto: , transl. "Uncle Nakamura"), (15 September 1946 – 4 December 2019), was a Japanese physician and honorary Afghan citizen who headed Peace Japan Medical Services (PMS), an aid group known as ''Peshawar-kai'' ...

for his long-standing humanitarian work in the country. * Pakistan gave honorary citizenship to St Lucian cricketer

Darren Sammy Daren Julius Garvey Sammy (born 20 December 1983) is a Saint Lucian cricketer who played international cricket for the West Indies. He is a two time T20 World Cup winning captain. On making his One-Day International (ODI) debut against Banglad ...

on 23 March 2020. * On 9 June 2022, a House Resolution granted the title of Brazilian citizen to British

Formula 1 Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

driver Sir Lewis Hamilton.

References

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