# Child of two American parents born in Philippines. Any issues becoming POTUS one day? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810 "2013-01-20T16:07:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810/1 "2013-01-20T16:07:41Z")
Child of US Citizen (State Dept employees) born at Clark Field AFB hospital in Philippines. Any legal impediments to being POTUS one day? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810/2 "2013-01-20T16:12:19Z")
None deriving merely from the information at hand. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810/3 "2013-01-20T16:12:37Z")
There shouldn’t be. The child is a natural born US citizen. The only problem would be if the parents haven’t lived in the US but that seems unlikely for State Department employees. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810/4 "2013-01-20T17:05:55Z")
Your child or you by any chance? Should I follow your future career with considerable interest? Best of luck in order? ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810/5 "2013-01-20T17:06:52Z")
The child would still need to live in the US fourteen years prior to being eligible to run for POTUS. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810/6 "2013-01-20T17:25:26Z")
Need to make sure that the child has a “consular report of birth abroad” issued by the US Embassy. This is your official US document in lieu of a US birth certificate. IIRC, The child needs this for their US passport. To the OP, it matters not that the child was born on a US base. That base is not US sovereign territory. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810/7 "2013-01-20T17:27:28Z")
The child’s citizenship would derive purely from that of the parents. The fact that it was born in the Philippines or on a US military base are irrelevant to the question. The requirements are found [here:](http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_5199.html) > [@](#): > > Birth Abroad to Two U.S. Citizen Parents in Wedlock > > A child born abroad to two U.S. citizen parents acquires U.S. citizenship at birth under section 301(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provided that one of the parents had a residence in the United States or one of its outlying possessions prior to the child’s birth. The child is considered to be born in wedlock if the child is the genetic issue of the married couple. In the case of a child born out of wedlock, since it is specified that both parents are citizens, we only need to consider the citizenship of the mother (requirements if only the father is a citizen differ): > [@](#): > > Birth Abroad Out-of-Wedlock to a U.S. Citizen Mother: > > A person born abroad out-of-wedlock to a U.S. citizen mother may acquire U.S. citizenship under Section 309(c) of the INA if the mother was a U.S. citizen at the time of the person’s birth and if the mother was physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year prior to the person’s birth. The mother must be genetically related to the person in order to transmit U.S. citizenship. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810/8 "2013-01-20T17:59:36Z")
I’m a U.S. citizen born in Israel to two American parents who had lived in the U.S. until their early 20s. It was always my understanding that I could never be the President of the United States (something that caused me a great deal of distress as a child), but who knows? My son, incidentally, is also a U.S. citizen, as I lived in the States for 5 years as a child and 2 years as an adult. I think there’s an even smaller chance that \*he \*can be President. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810/9 "2013-01-20T18:42:45Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’m a U.S. citizen born in Israel to two American parents who had lived in the U.S. until their early 20s. It was always my understanding that I could never be the President of the United States (something that caused me a great deal of distress as a child), but who knows? You would satisfy the birth requirements, but not the residency requirement. The Constitution says a president must have been a resident “within the United States” for 14 years. Since it doesn’t say anything about continuous residence, you might be eligible if you went to live there for another 7 years. > [@](#): > > My son, incidentally, is also a U.S. citizen, as I lived in the States for 5 years as a child and 2 years as an adult. I think there’s an even smaller chance that \*he \*can be President. He would also appear to be a “natural born citizen” as it is generally understood, although he would also have to meet the residency requirement. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810/10 "2013-01-20T18:56:48Z")
Is the child black? Then there are going to be issues because people are racists. The situation you describe is similar to the 2008 race between McCain and Obama. McCain was born in Panama in the American Canal Zone to two American citizen parents. Not a peep out of the birthers. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810/11 "2013-01-20T19:32:16Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Is the child black? Then there are going to be issues because people are racists. > > The situation you describe is similar to the 2008 race between McCain and Obama. McCain was born in Panama in the American Canal Zone to two American citizen parents. Not a peep out of the birthers. **Moderator Note** **The Second Stone** , political jabs are not permitted in GQ. This post in no way contributes to answering the question in the OP. No warning issued, but don’t do this again. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810/12 "2013-01-20T22:21:50Z")
Didn’t affect McCain at all in 2008. He was born in Panama to US citizens. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810/13 "2013-01-21T02:33:11Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Need to make sure that the child has a “consular report of birth abroad” issued by the US Embassy. This is your official US document in lieu of a US birth certificate. IIRC, The child needs this for their US passport. > > To the OP, it matters not that the child was born on a US base. That base is not US sovereign territory. It exists, signed by Henry Kissinger. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810/14 "2013-01-21T04:05:40Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > Didn’t affect McCain at all in 2008. He was born in Panama to US citizens. To be technical, a Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone. It was a territory of the US, too. This might’ve created some questions about his eligibility, but those are moot because of his parents. Barry Goldwater: Phoenix, Arizona Territory, 3 years before it was a state. George Romney (Mitt’s dad) Chihuahua, Mexico. Family lived down there because the grandparents were polygamists, which might make some people question for either Romney. They were not practicing that by the time, but criticism about ancestors is stupid. Of course, all these were valid, unless someone is making nutty claims. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810/15 "2013-01-21T04:20:34Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > To be technical, a Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone. It was a territory of the US, too. This might’ve created some questions about his eligibility, but those are moot because of his parents. No, technically speaking the Panama Canal Zone was not a territory of the US. And as described in [this recent thread,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=679156) because of a technicality in the way the laws were phrased, McCain did not qualify as a citizen at the time of his birth, although the law was changed so he did qualify shortly thereafter. McCain’s citizenship is basically derived from that of his parents, rather than from his place of birth. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810/16 "2013-01-21T16:17:42Z")
As always with these questions, the answer is necessarily indeterminate, because no court has ever interpreted the natural-born citizen provision. It may equate to US citizenship from birth, or it may vary in some way. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-two-american-parents-born-in-philippines-any-issues-becoming-potus-one-day/647810/17 "2013-01-21T16:25:32Z")
There have been three candidates who were born outside the USA to citizen parents, none won. A report prepared by the congressional research service came to the conclusion children born to US citizens abroad are natural born citizens.I think its pretty settled but of course some always want to wait for a future supreme court ruling. Thats about the long and short of it, answer is most likely but it has never happened.