I was born on an American army base in Germany when my dad was stationed there. The land I was born on was part of the Army base, and I think, therefore technically American land, but I’m not sure.
For the purposes of, say, becoming the president, where one has to be born on US soil (I believe), would I qualify?
The army base in Germany is not “US soil”.
Happily, the requirement for being President is not that you be “born on US soil” but that you be “a natural-born citizen”. This is generally understood to include those who, as the children of US citizens, are themselves US citizens from birth.
Now all you need is to get one of the major parties to nominate you.
Probably. While there can be some interpretation of what is meant by “natural born” (which is how the qualification is worded) the courts most likely would allow you to run if you were born of American parents and never had any other citizenship.
The closest similar case was George Romney, who ran for president in 1968 despite being born in Mexico to American parents. There were some idle questions about whether that was “natural born,” but no one tried to challenge him (and his campaign eventually self-destructed due to brainwashing).
I thought it was just “a light rinse”.
I thought I had read somewhere that US military bases on foreign soil were considered small bits of US territory, and therefore were immune to local laws, things that happened on it were subject to US law, etc.
I don’t think that US bases generally possess extra territoritality, which is what you are asking about. Guatanimo Bay in Cuba may be an exception. By agreement, the bases may not be subject to local law, which is not the same as extra territoritality, which implies a sovereign right.
It’s the other way around. They do enjoy some exemptions from local law, and certain aspects of US military and federal law do apply there. But that’s not enough to make the “US territory”, although a lot of people assume it is.
Another, related question: I was born in Nuremburg, but the German spelling is Nürnburg - if I need to file out governmental forms that require my city of birth, which is the way to spell it?
Embassies, are, IIRC, considered “part of the country” of which they serve. I don’t think that applies to army bases. However, UDS is correct in that a child born to U.S. citizens abroad are citizens of the U.S. themselves.
Zev Steinhardt
UDS: United States military bases overseas don’t “enjoy some exemptions from local law.” There’s this thing called the Status of Forces Agreement which describes how member of the US military who do violate local law will be dealt with whilst awaiting trial. The issue of the family members of the military members is quite easy: they’re dealt with just like the local population is dealt with by the local law enforcement.
Now, if the military member and his family are stationed overseas in a diplomatic capacity, then they are covered under diplomatic immunity.
Beef, I’ll assume you have some sort of American-issued birth certificate. (My kids got “Consular Reports of Births Abroad” from the embassy; might be something different for an Army kid.) Just stick with whatever spelling of the city they used there and it should work fine.
Ah, yeah, and that’s what I’ve been using. (It’s spelled the German way).
I just wasn’t sure if it was correct.
Actually, we lost that certificate once, and it was such a pain to get back. Apparently it’s a pain for the State department to find a record for a birth certificate created in a country that doesn’t exist anymore. 
SenorBeef:
I also was born in Germany to American parents (actually, one of my parents also had German citizenship). My birth was recorded by the doctor who delivered me as the law for reporting births in Bavaria is pretty much the same as the law for reporting births in most states here. What the local authorities issued is my Geburtskünde. That doesn’t have a single thing to do with citizenship at all! It is merely the birth certificate. My father used that birth certificate to prove to the Amercian Consulate that, yes, there really is the child, named Monty, born to my parents at a particular time, date, and place. The consulate issued a Report of Birth Abroad of an American Citizen. A note: in my case, it took years for the consulate to do that. The certificate issued by the Consulate is the proof of citizenship. The Geburtskünde is not.
If you’re looking for help on getting your birth certificate, contact the Germany Embassy or Consulate. Both times I needed a certified copy issued by the same office that issued the birth certificate, they helped me and I got the thing for no charge. Nowadays, it costs about $20 to get it. For assistance on getting the Certificate of Citizenship from the State Department, you can get some info from http://www.vitalchek.com
Here is a story written by a friend of mine in SJA. I dosn’t have any “official” rules, but it has a lot of background and could give you a place to start. Viel gluck.
“Natural born” means a citizen at birth - I don’t think there’s been any dispute about that. In the early days, it wasn’t clear who was a citizen at birth. Congress has the power under Article I of the Constitution “to establish a uniform rule of naturalization,” so legislation over the years has clarified the meaning of the term “natural born.” INA § 301 (8 U.S.C.A. § 1401) lists eight categories of people who are citizens of the United States at birth. It includes[ul][li]Anyone born in the United States[/li][li]Anyone born to a member of an Indian tribe[/li][li]Anyone born outside the United States, both of whose parents are citizens of the U.S., as long as one parent has lived in the U.S. [/li][li]Anyone born outside the United States, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year and the other parent is a U.S. national [/li][li]Anyone born in a U.S. possession, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year [/li][li]Anyone found in the U.S. under the age of five, whose parentage cannot be determined, as long as proof of non-citizenship is not provided by age 21 [/li][li]Anyone born outside the United States, if one is an alien and as long as one is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time) [/li]Anyone born before 5/24/1934 of an alien father and a U.S. citizen mother who has lived in the U.S.[/ul]
This is a common misapprehension. Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, the premises of a foreign diplomatic mission are “inviolable”; that is, under no circumstances can they be entered by the local government without consent, and the property is immune from search, seizure, attachment, and the like, but it’s still part of the same country. See Articles 20 - 25 of the convention, available at the UN website here:
http://www.un.org/law/ilc/texts/diplomat.htm
–Cliffy
Very minor point: “Anyone born to a member of an Indian tribe”
I understand that this was not the case until 1901 (or so). Before that, Native Americans were not (legally) Americans.
Similarly, Barry Goldwater was born in Arizona when it was still a colony. Ultimately, no major objections were made because LBJ knew he’d kick his butt. Plus, every president before Van Buren was born when the United States were still colonies. Also, John McCain was born in the Canal Zone, which was American soil at the time.
I read an article on Michigan gubenatorial candidate Jennifer Granholm, who was born in Vancouver but moved to Detroit when she was fairly young. People said that if she won the governorship she’d be a great presidential candidate if she wasn’t foreign-born. I wonder if the Romney case would apply to her, but I’m not sure on whether her parents were Americans or not.
You’re right JCHeckler. In Elk v. Wilkins (1884), the Supreme Court ruled that Indians were not citizens, since they were not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. It wasn’t until 1940 that Congress made all Indians born in the United States citizens at birth. Of course, slaves were also not considered citizens when the Constitution was written. The statute I referred to reflects current law and was most recently amended in 1994.
Hi guys,
do I say it or don’t I?
Okay, just to let you know: people who
are born in Germany are not automatically Germans. So
whatever you are, when your parents are non-German, you are also non-German. Sounds pretty rough, but the Germans
leave it up to the foreigners to sort out whether their child
is also a foreigner or without any citizenship. In SenorBeef’s
case he would be US citizen, but not German. I think the law
has changed slightly in recent years, but propably not
dramatically.
[smartypants on]
Also, you were probably born in Nürnberg, not Nürnburg, where
berg means mountain and burg means castle, quite a difference.
[smartypants off]