The Xiomeran government announced today that it will begin implementing major changes in how citizenship in the Empire is determined. The changes are due to a new citizenship law approved last Monday by Empress Calhualyana and the Imperial Parliament.
Effective November 1st, 2025, the Imperial Citizenship and Naturalization Agency (ICNA) will begin reclassifying the citizenship status of all legal residents of the Empire. There will be two official statuses: Citizen and Resident.
Citizens will retain all current privileges of Imperial citizenship, to include voting and holding political office or government positions. Citizens will also be eligible to receive the free healthcare, college education and other benefits accorded to Xiomerans in good standing. Citizens will also be assessed lower income tax rates by an average of ten percent.
Residents, by contrast, will retain what basic civil and legal rights are allowed by the Xiomeran government. They will not be able to vote in local or Imperial elections, cannot hold office or government positions, cannot receive public benefits for free, and will retain the standard tax rates currently in effect.
All those currently residing in the Empire, regardless of current citizenship status, will undergo reassessment by the ICNA and the Ministry of Security. They will be graded on a scale of 0-100 points, with a minimum of 80 required to be granted Citizen status. Factors that will increase a person’s Citizenship Grade include their social credit score, prior or current military service, documented history of successful entrepreneurship or business participation, membership in the Xiomeran Citizens’ Party, history of national or other community service, and assessments from the Ministry of Loyalty. Recommendations from XCP leaders, military or police officials, religious leaders of the Teotzin, elected officials and Imperial ministerial figures will also be considered as part of the overall process. The first reassessment and assigning of grades is expected to take at least a year.
Imperial officials were quick to emphasize that once granted, Citizen status will not be lifetime or guaranteed. Each Xiomeran’s Citizenship Grade will be assessed yearly on their official birth date, and it will be the responsibility of Citizens to ensure they continue to make the grade, so to speak.
Those convicted of political crimes or crimes against the state will be permanently ineligible for Citizen status, regardless of any other considerations. Those convicted of other crimes may be considered for Citizen status, depending on the crime involved and what measures the individual takes to atone for their offense and complete any sentences or financial penalties. Individuals who are repeat criminal offenders, regardless of the nature of their crimes, will still be at risk of being deemed permanently ineligible for Citizen status.
“The revision of our citizenship laws reaffirms the contract between Xiomerans, the state, and the government that is a simple proposition: one receives what one earns, not what one is simply given,” Empress Calhualyana said to XIN in an exclusive interview aboard Imperial Sun I, the royal aircraft. “The more one works to help build our Empire for the benefit of all, the more one shall benefit from the rewards for that great work which we should all strive to maintain. This Empire was the creation of centuries’ worth of hard work and achievement of many people, and we all have a responsibility to those that came before us to do the same.”
