# How many countries have a "natural born citizen" requirement for their head of state/head of gov't? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144 "2009-08-12T04:48:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/21 "2009-08-12T23:20:42Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > No one is excluded from political power on racial grounds in the USA. You are excluded from being Prez if you are not born here, but you can be any race or ethnicity. I think he was referring to our historical situation, the one recorded in the unamended Constitution and in place for a significant chunk of time. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/22 "2009-08-13T00:05:39Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Well obviously in the UK, the qualifications to be Head of State are pretty tight - there’s only one set of parents you can have if you want the top job. > > But to become Prime Minister, you have to be an MP (or a peer). And to become an MP you must be a British **or Commonwealth** citizen. So, given that the Commonwealth consists of 53 countries, it’s quite possible, should he choose to run, for the King of Tonga to become Prime Minister of the UK, although there’s a complicated set of disqualification criteria that he may fall foul of if his business interests are in conflict with his work as PM. Which means that a person could be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and not have a right to enter the UK. “Sorry Prime Minister, but the UK Border Agency is backlogged, your entry clearence won’t be renewed before it expires”. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/23 "2009-08-13T00:34:29Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > So does that mean that evil dictators of small tinpot countries in essence have veto powers over Australian senate or house candidates? “Hmm, John Smith has Australian Prime Minister ambitions, and he hates my guts. Lets declare him a citizen of our nation to prevent that!” > > I have a hard time imagining if this was tried in the real world that the response would be anything but “up yours!”, but the law seems to imply it would be a valid strategy. The High Court has commented on this issue in [Sykes v Cleary [1992] HCA 60](http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1992/60.html). The key conclusion is that candidates are disqualified from election to Parliament if they do not take “all reasonable steps” to renounce their other citizenship before nomination. The judgements all consistently state that “what amounts to the taking of reasonable steps to renounce foreign nationality must depend upon the circumstances of the particular case”. If the foreign country has a recognised legal method of allowing its citizens to renounce their citizenship, then “reasonable steps” would require that prospective candidates follow that process. A mere unilateral declaration renouncing citizenship by the candidate would not be sufficient. In the situation where the foreign country does not allow renunciation of citizenship, or does allow it but will not exercise discretion in the particular case, Dawson J had this to say: > [@](#): > > Thus the refusal of a foreign authority to exercise a discretion to allow a person to relinquish his foreign nationality need not necessarily preclude the person from being capable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or a member of the House of Representatives. Further, if the foreign law does not permit a person to relinquish his foreign nationality then there are obviously no steps, save for unilateral renunciation, which that person can reasonably take to do so and, therefore, that person will not be precluded by reason only of that foreign nationality from being capable of being chosen or of sitting as a member of either House of the Commonwealth Parliament. Mason CJ, Toohey J and McHugh J reach a similar conclusion in their judgement, arguing that such a situation (i.e. a rigid application of section 44(i) of the Constitution in the case of candidates legally unable to renounce their citizenship) > [@](#): > > might well result in the disqualification of Australian citizens on whom there was imposed involuntarily by operation of foreign law a continuing foreign nationality, notwithstanding that they had taken reasonable steps to renounce that foreign nationality. It would be wrong to interpret the constitutional provision in such a way as to disbar an Australian citizen who had taken all reasonable steps to divest himself or herself of any conflicting allegiance…s.44(i) finds its place in a Constitution which was enacted at a time, like the present, when a high proportion of Australians, though born overseas, had adopted this country as their home. In that setting, it could scarcely have been intended to disqualify an Australian citizen for election to Parliament on account of his or her continuing to possess a foreign nationality, notwithstanding that he or she had taken reasonable steps to renounce that nationality. So the legal position at the moment is that if candidates do all that is reasonably possible to renounce their foreign citizenship, the bloody-minded refusal of a tinpot dictator will not stand in the way of their successful election. I note that this is the position that the Australian Electoral Commission takes in its information briefings to prospective candidates for the House or Senate. Regarding section 44(i) of the Constitution it states: > [@AEC Electoral Backgrounder No. 19](#): > > Taking “all reasonable steps” necessitates the use of renunciation procedures of the other country where such procedures are available. If the other country refuses renunciation then proof of requesting renunciation is sufficient. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/24 "2009-08-13T00:43:50Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > But to become Prime Minister, you have to be an MP (or a peer). Would it still be constitutionally acceptable for a peer to lead the government from the non-elected Lords? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/25 "2009-08-13T01:59:15Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > … If there were an absolute massacre at Ascot one year, we could end up with King Harald of Norway as our head of state. Or worse: [King Ralph - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Ralph) ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/26 "2009-08-13T02:01:22Z")
Its not stopping Peter Mandelson from trying. Basically we have the Alec Douglas-Holmes precedent, you can become PM, but give up your peerage and get elected as soon as practicable. Lord Whitelaw was a peer and had Maggie been knocked off by the PIRA at Brighton as they intended would most likely have become PM for a time. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/27 "2009-08-13T02:32:13Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Its not stopping Peter Mandelson from trying. Basically we have the Alec Douglas-Holmes precedent, you can become PM, but give up your peerage and get elected as soon as practicable. > > Lord Whitelaw was a peer and had Maggie been knocked off by the PIRA at Brighton as they intended would most likely have become PM for a time. Viscount Whitelaw’s peerage was an hereditary one. Like Alec Douglas-Home (formerly the 14th Earl of Home), he could have disclaimed it under the _Peerage Act_ 1963 and got himself elected back into the Commons. Lord Mandelson received a life peerage. I don’t think that the _Peerage Act_ 1963 makes any provision for a life peer to disclaim his peerage. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2009, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/28 "2009-08-13T04:59:28Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > The fourth Israeli prime minister, Golda Meir, was born in Kiev, in the Ukraine. She spent her early life in Milwaukee, where her family moved, before joining a kibbutz in Palestine in 1921. None of Golda’s predecessors were born here, either. The first Israeli prime minister to be born in the area that would later be Israel was Yitzhak Rabin; the first (and only) prime minister to be born in the State of Israel is Benjamin Netanyahu ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/29 "2009-08-13T06:45:18Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > None of Golda’s predecessors were born here, either. The first Israeli prime minister to be born in the area that would later be Israel was Yitzhak Rabin; the first (and only) prime minister to be born in the State of Israel is Benjamin Netanyahu Allon was acting PM for about a month after Eshkol died, and he was born in Kfar Tavor. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/30 "2009-08-13T08:52:27Z")
There is no such requirement in France. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/31 "2009-08-13T20:35:06Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Would it still be constitutionally acceptable for a peer to lead the government from the non-elected Lords? There’s no legal reason why not, but in practice it hasn’t happened since Lord Salisbury’s government a century ago, and the general view is that it would be politically unacceptable to have a Prime Minister who could not be held to account in the Commons. When Halifax was a possibility for the Premiership in 1940 one of the objections was his peerage; the King raised the possibility of placing his peerage in abeyance for the duration of the war. When Home and Hailsham decided to run for the Tory leadership in 1963 they did so on the understanding that they would disclaim their peerages using the brief window of opportunity which the passage of the Peerage Act 1963 had chanced to provide them with (never envisaged when it was devised). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/32 "2009-08-13T23:37:41Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > But to become Prime Minister, you have to be an MP (or a peer). And to become an MP you must be a British **or Commonwealth** citizen. Or Irish. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/33 "2009-08-13T23:39:48Z")
You can be a New Zealander, like Bryan Gould ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/34 "2009-08-14T01:24:16Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Interestingly, this meant that in an act of the U.K. Parliament (the origin of the Australian Constitution), “foreign power” included the United Kingdom. My English friend found it amusing that in becoming an NZ citizen he had to swear allegiance to “Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand”… you know, as opposed to his previous queen… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/35 "2009-08-14T03:49:29Z")
Peru has the requirement ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/36 "2009-08-14T12:24:05Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > My English friend found it amusing that in becoming an NZ citizen he had to swear allegiance to “Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand”… you know, as opposed to his previous queen… 🙂 Well, the Queen of New Zealand is a different legal person from the Queen of the United Kingdom. Back in 1836, the King of the United Kingdom and the King of Hanover were different legal persons, but the same natural person (King William IV). However, the next year the successors were Victoria as Queen of the United Kingdom and Ernest Augustus I as King of Hanover. It would be legally possible (though in practice highly unlikely) for New Zealand to adopt a different succession to the throne, and have a different monarch from the U.K. in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/37 "2009-08-14T13:09:49Z")
It would violate the Statute of Westminster if NZ did so. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/38 "2009-08-14T13:25:30Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > It would violate the Statute of Westminster if NZ did so. Perhaps, but New Zealand could ignore that if it chose to, and the U.K. and other Commonwealth dominions could not do much about it. But, as I said, it’s highly unlikely. It’s much more likely that N.Z. would become a republic and no longer have the Queen or her successors as head of state. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/39 "2009-08-14T14:01:43Z")
Not so much violate the Statute, as amend it, to the extent it applies to New Zealand. The Statute is now part of the constitutional structure of each of the Commonwealth realms, and each one can amend the Statute using their own processes to amend their own constitutions. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144/40 "2009-08-14T14:52:19Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Viscount Whitelaw’s peerage was an hereditary one. Like Alec Douglas-Home (formerly the 14th Earl of Home), he could have disclaimed it under the _Peerage Act_ 1963 and got himself elected back into the Commons. > > Lord Mandelson received a life peerage. I don’t think that the _Peerage Act_ 1963 makes any provision for a life peer to disclaim his peerage. I’m fairly certain that’s there’s precedent in common law for the voluntary renunciation of a life peerage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-a-natural-born-citizen-requirement-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-govt/506144.md?page=3)