# Citizenship question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-question/773382 "2016-11-29T15:54:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-question/773382/61 "2016-12-02T17:39:26Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > But according to your own cite, in _Rogers v. Bellei_ the central holding of the court was that:Emphasis mine. > > My reading of this suggests that Congress DOES have the power to make a law that sets particular residency requirements (or whatever other conditions) for a person who receives citizenship through _jus sanguinis_, but that Congress DOES NOT have the power to make such a law for a person born or naturalized in the United States. > > You said, in your previous post:Emphasis mine. > > Now, you might be right (you’re the lawyer, after all), but that’s NOT what the Wikipedia explanation suggests to me. > > The Wikipedia summary of the court’s decision seems to say that Congress CAN make certain acts result in loss of citizenship for certain persons who were NOT born or naturalized within the United States. The summary seems to suggest that if a person (like me, when i get my citizenship) DOES fall within the 14th amendment’s definition of “born or naturalized in the United States,” then the rules are different. This is what I read, too. (IANAL) The constitution and 14th especially say nothing about children born abroad to citizens. (After all, it was designed mainly to define ex-slaves as the equivalent of all other citizens). Therefore congress has the right to confer citizenship above and beyond what the constitution says about “born here, subject to jurisdiction; or naturalized”; presumably they can also set the conditions as to what is required to obtain naturalization - but once an import properly acquires citizenship, their status is subject to the same rules as a natural-born citizen. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-question/773382/62 "2016-12-02T17:50:16Z")
At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if someone tried to shoehorn-in a scenario like "But what if both parents are Americans…_but she has to give an emergency birth while taking a sightseeing tour at the Latverian Embassy?_😃 ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-question/773382/63 "2016-12-02T20:13:39Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if someone tried to shoehorn-in a scenario like "But what if both parents are Americans…_but she has to give an emergency birth while taking a sightseeing tour at the Latverian Embassy?_😃 Which opens up a whole side discussion on the status of embassy grounds… What if the baby’s almost all out except the left leg when the ambulance exits the front gates? Does that mean that child can be deported, but first his leg has to be amputated? What if it’s a breech birth while the ambulance exits. Then at cocktail parties as a grown-up, he can mention “Did you know I have a Latervian ass? True story…” ---
**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:** [December 2, 2016, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-question/773382/64 "2016-12-02T20:36:20Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Which opens up a whole side discussion on the status of embassy grounds… Common misconception (ha!) but there is no confusion here. US Embassies have no impact on citizenship. For these purposes, a US Embassy is foreign soil and doesn’t convey _jus soli_. [https://fam.state.gov/fam/07fam/07fam1110.html](https://fam.state.gov/fam/07fam/07fam1110.html) > [@](#): > > c. Birth on U.S. Military Base Outside of the United States or Birth on U.S. Embassy or Consulate Premises Abroad: > > (1) Despite widespread popular belief, U.S. military installations abroad and U.S. diplomatic or consular facilities abroad are not part of the United States within the meaning of the 14th Amendment. A child born on the premises of such a facility is not born in the United States and does not acquire U.S. citizenship by reason of birth. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-question/773382/65 "2016-12-02T20:37:58Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Common misconception (ha!) but there is no confusion here. US Embassies have no impact on citizenship. For these purposes, a US Embassy is foreign soil and doesn’t convey _jus soli_. > > [https://fam.state.gov/fam/07fam/07fam1110.html](https://fam.state.gov/fam/07fam/07fam1110.html) Is a person born in a foreign embassy here still a U.S. Citizen? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-question/773382.md?page=3)