A/N: Typo cleanup
Updated March 2020
Chapter 8: Citizenship Tiers
THE SYSTEMS ALLIANCE ORDER OF BATTLE
With Addenda Regarding Citizenship Tiers and Your Government
Prepared by the Systems Alliance Commissariat
Distribution limited by the Manswell State Security Act
OFFICER EDITION : DO NOT DISTRIBUTE TO NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS OR ENLISTED PERSONNEL
Section G: Citizenship Tiers. Your citizenship rights as a military member, and how those rights elevate you above the average civilian or alien immigrant. An overview of relevant laws.
"As long as I live, I will never forget that day nineteen years ago when I raised my hand and took the oath of citizenship. Do you know how proud I was? I was so proud that I walked around with an SA flag around my shoulders all day long, and its blue and my own were as one." - Thena Nasias, first sworn-in asari citizen of the Systems Alliance
In the past, citizenship was a dual state enforced by nations. You were either a citizen or you were not. On paper, this was very egalitarian, making both rich and poor equal under the law and government. In practice, most people had their rights ignored, trampled upon by mega-corporations, or trivialized by government corruption.
The Systems Alliance has three rough tiers of citizenship. The first tier is that of the Citizen. The second tier is that of those with political restrictions on their citizenship, and the last are those who have been convicted of crimes.
All members of the Systems Alliance military with the exception of the Penal Legions, regardless of background, hold the full rights of a Class IV citizen of Earth itself as long as they are serving on active duty with the exception of the ability to hold office. This includes those with Restricted Citizenship, Alien Nationals, and those from a lower citizenship class. The SA values and honors the sacrifice made by our men and women in uniform. We will never cheapen that sacrifice, or use it for cheap political gain.
CITIZENSHIP TIERS:
The Citizenship tears all have a similar layout:
Transportation Restriction: Any limits on where you can and cannot go freely. Bypassing these requires approval by the Commissariat.
Property / Wealth Restrictions: Limits on wealth or property within the SA.
Legal Rights: Which legal rights (I through X) does the citizen have?
Heritable: Some citizenship classes pass on to your children, others do not. If they do not your children will start as one rank lower.
Open to: how to obtain this citizenship rank
Class O Immigrant : the rank of those humans, asari, volus, or quarians immigrating into the SA, the Class O is a temporary assignment until processing is completed. They are guests of the SA and should be treated with respect.
Transportation Restriction: restricted to planet where applying
Property / Wealth Restrictions: cannot own property or invest in SA until a citizen, but no cash limits.
Legal Rights: Technically none.
Heritable: no
Open to: human and some alien immigrants. Free for humans and asari, 25k cr free for other aliens.
Class I Basic Citizen: The citizenship held by the poorer classes of society, those living on the outer colonies, or those engaged in heavy travel outside the SA where investing in a higher citizenship tier makes little sense. Class I citizens enjoy all of the protections of the SA legal charter without higher tax rates.
Class I citizenship has a 9% tax rate on gross income from all sources.
Transportation Restriction: Within Domain only. (Free to travel outside the SA).
Property / Wealth Restrictions: Restricted to 250,000 credits worth of property and cash within SA.
Legal Rights: I, II, III
Heritable: No (defaults back to ANC)
Open to: Humans, some aliens, with a 10k cr fee and clearance by the Domain Commissariat. 500 cr a year fees.
Class II Esteemed Citizen: The bulk of our citizens are class II citizens! The Class II citizenship is for those who intend to make a long-term home in the Systems Alliance. Possessing a good majority of the rights of our laws, Class II citizens can be considered the everyday person.
Class II citizens bear the burden of supporting the SA. They pay a 18% tax rate on gross income from all sources.
Transportation Restriction: Within district. Anywhere in SA with a local governmental travel visa.
Property / Wealth Restrictions: No more than 1 million cr of total property and cash.
Legal Rights: I, II, III, V, VII
Heritable: Yes
Open to: Class I citizens with a 50k cr fee, District Commissariat clearance. 3500 cr fee a year. Class O Immigrants of alien nature with a 100k fee, District Commissariat clearance.
Class III Member Citizen: Enjoyed by the population of our member colonies and most Class III colonies, class III citizenship is similar to class II but with additional financial and security requirements. Since class III citizens can hold most offices, security is a concern. Mostly upper-middle class families and the occasional asari, the class III citizen enjoys the bulk of the SA's legal protections.
Class II citizens bear a heavier burden of supporting the SA. They pay a 32% tax rate on gross income from all sources.
Transportation Restriction: None, with local governmental travel visa.
Property / Wealth Restrictions: Less than 5 million cr of property, and less than 2 million in cash.
Legal Rights: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII
Heritable: Yes, with appropriate fees and background checks. (defaults back to class II)
Open to: Class II citizens with a 350k cr fee, District Commissariat clearance. 8500 cr fee a year. Class O Immigrants of alien nature with a 500k fee, District Commissariat clearance.
Class IV Full Citizen: Currently restricted to military members and inhabitants of Sol, class IV membership provides full rights and protections in the SA. Able to hold any office and voting in every election, the Class IV citizen is fully behind the SA.
Class IV citizenship has a 39% tax rate on gross income from all sources.
Transportation Restriction: None. No visa required.
Property / Wealth Restrictions: None.
Legal Rights: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII.
Heritable: Yes, with background checks. No fees.
Open to: active duty military, natural born (human and asari) inhabitants of the Sol System, human immigrants to Sol with a class III citizenship, with a 2.5 million cr fee, AIS and Commissariat background investigation, interview with the Commissariat. 250K fee a year for non-military or non-Sol natives.
Class V Noble Citizen: Awarded upon the receipt of the appropriate orders of knighthood, or by receipt of the Star of Terra, the Noble Citizen is the highest echelon of membership in the SA. Possessing all the rights we have available, this tier of citizenship is currently limited to humans and asari of the Thirty Families.
Class V citizens pay 35% of all sources of income as tax. They are also expected to tithe at least 5% of their wealth towards arcology maintenance and 5% to the electoral funding boards.
Transportation Restriction: None.
Property / Wealth Restrictions: None.
Legal Rights: All (I - X)
Heritable: Yes.
Open to: human and asari knights only. No fees or clearances required.
CITIZENSHIP RESTRICTIONS:
Sadly, not everyone can appreciate or participate in the daily life of a citizen in the SA.
Restricted Citizenship , Commissariat (RCC): A restriction placed on political unreliables by the Commissariat. Lasts until lifted.
Transportation Restriction: Domain only, with escort
Property / Wealth Restrictions: 30% of current tier
Legal Rights: Annulled
Restricted Citizenship, AIS (RCI): A restriction placed on those being investigated by the AIS for crimes. Most last 30 days.
Transportation Restriction: District only, with AIS escort. Will maintain contact with AIS at all times.
Property / Wealth Restrictions: 70% of current tier
Legal Rights: Restricted to I
Restricted Citizenship, Alien (RCA): Aliens who do not qualify for Class I citizenship are restricted to this tier with their travel visa.
Transportation Restriction: Only to location on travel visa.
Property / Wealth Restrictions: Cannot invest or hold property. No limits on cash brought in.
Legal Rights: Citadel Code 4, 11, and 15
Open to: Krogan, Drell, Hanar, Batarian.
Annulled Citizenship, Alpha I (ACF A1): Criminals who are convicted of felony level crimes have their citizenship stripped. The ACF AI is the lightest level of criminal, mostly white-collar crimes and the like. Once the Annulled Period is over, they are allowed to become up to Class IV citizens again, but must pay all fees. ACF A1 lasts from one to ten years.
A1's also pay a restitution tax of 20% of their gross income.
Transportation Restriction: Domain only, with parole check-in and police escort.
Property / Wealth Restrictions: Cannot own property, cannot invest, cash limited to 150,000 cr.
Legal Rights: NONE. An ACF can be executed at will by the Commissariat.
Heritable: No.
Annulled Citizenship, Alpha II (ACF A2): A2 restrictions are for more serious but still non-violent crimes, such as grand theft, drug dealing, and low treason. Once the Annulled Period is over, they are allowed to become up to Class III citizens again, but must pay all fees. It lasts from one to fifteen years.
A2's also pay a restitution tax of 40% of their gross income.
Transportation Restriction: Domain only, with parole check-in and police escort.
Property / Wealth Restrictions: Cannot own property, cannot invest, cash limited to 80,000 cr.
Legal Rights: NONE. An ACF can be executed at will by the Commissariat.
Heritable: No
Annulled Citizenship, Zeta I (ACF Z1): ACF Z1 have been convicted of violent crimes of a lesser nature, such as manslaughter or negligent homicide, or high treason. Once the Annulled Period is over, they are allowed to become up to Class II citizens again, but must pay all fees. It lasts from five to twenty five years.
Z1's also pay a restitution tax of 50% of their gross income.
Transportation Restriction: Domain only, with parole check-in, tracking device, Commissariat supervision and police escort.
Property / Wealth Restrictions: Cannot own property, cannot invest, cash limited to 50,000 cr.
Legal Rights: NONE. An ACF can be executed at will by the Commissariat.
Heritable: No.
Annulled Citizenship, Zeta II (ACF Z2) : The citizenship rating of a criminal slated for execution, who were spared by entering the Penal Legion. The highest citizenship restriction available. Murderers, gang members, biotic criminals, rapists, slavers, and those who commit grand treason. All Z2 restrictions are for forty years or life.
Z2's also pay a restitution tax of 80% of their gross income, as well as being forced to volunteer at least 1200 man-hours per year to volunteer assistance in their communities. ANY violation of parole is grounds for immediate execution.
Transportation Restriction: Cannot travel without authorization , period. Commissariat supervision and police escort standard, with orders to shoot to kill.
Property / Wealth Restrictions: Cannot own property, cannot invest, cash limited to 15,000 cr.
Legal Rights: NONE. An ACF can be executed at will by the Commissariat.
Heritable: No. ACFZ2's will have custody of any children removed.
Alien National and Non-Citizen (ANC): Those who have completed an immigration application but cannot afford citizenship.
Transportation Restriction: Cannot travel without a visa.
Property / Wealth Restrictions: Cannot own property , restricted to 50,000 credits worth of cash
Legal Rights: I , VII
Heritable: Yes if no citizenship achieved
Open to: Class O Immigrants.
Laws under the SA Charter:
The rights of citizenship under the SA Charter:
Article I: right to self-determination (freedom from slavery), right to religious freedom, right to life
Article II: right to free speech, mobility on planet, basic voting, basic wealth
Article III: right to trial, innocent until proven guilty, own property
Article IV: right to travel freely, immunity from self-incrimination, vote on some elections
Article V: right to enter the SA military , right to hold some offices
Article VI: right to hold most offices, vote on most elections
Article VII: right to silence
Article VIII: right to hold any office, vote on almost all elections
Article IX: right to all voting, noble title
Article X: right to immunity (Cannot be executed without trial by the Commissariat)
Laws under the Citadel Charter:
Charter Code 4: No sentient being may be unlawfully imprisoned without charges and evidence.
Charter Code 11: Any citizen imprisoned by another race is entitled to contact with their ambassador.
Charter Code 15: Capital punishment is forbidden for a sentient being who is not a citizen of your race.