# What countries do not confer citizenship to some children born there? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 29, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-do-not-confer-citizenship-to-some-children-born-there/501375 "2009-06-29T18:59:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-do-not-confer-citizenship-to-some-children-born-there/501375/1 "2009-06-29T18:59:09Z")
What countries do not confer citizenship to some children born there? My understanding is that any child born in the US or territories is automatically a citizen, even if the parents are tourists or illegal immigrants. Yet some European countries exclude these special categories. What countries have which rules. Is the US nearly alone or among the majority? ---
**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:** [June 29, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-do-not-confer-citizenship-to-some-children-born-there/501375/2 "2009-06-29T19:42:16Z")
Australia used (1949-1986) to give citizenship to all born there, but since 1986 at least one parent must be a citizen or permanent resident ([Wikipedia on “Australian nationality law”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_nationality_law)). ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-do-not-confer-citizenship-to-some-children-born-there/501375/3 "2009-06-29T19:51:10Z")
Wiki has a list (of course): > **[Jus soli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli#Specific_national_legislation)** > > Jus soli (English: /dʒʌs ˈsoʊlaɪ/ juss SOH-ly, /juːs ˈsoʊli/ yooss SOH-lee), commonly referred to as birthright citizenship, is the right to acquire nationality or citizenship by being born within the territory of a state. > Jus soli was part of the English common law, in contrast to jus sanguinis, which derives from the Roman law that influenced the civil-law systems of mainland Europe. > Jus soli is the predominant rule in the Americas; explanations for this geographical phenomenon include: the... You’ll have to follow links to obtain the details, but it appears that some of those countries work just like the US. ---
**Author:** ![bryanmaguire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bryanmaguire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryanmaguire)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-do-not-confer-citizenship-to-some-children-born-there/501375/4 "2009-06-29T21:24:08Z")
Ireland hasn’t since 2004 ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-do-not-confer-citizenship-to-some-children-born-there/501375/5 "2009-06-29T21:45:43Z")
I do not believe Spain or Germany ever did or do. ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-do-not-confer-citizenship-to-some-children-born-there/501375/6 "2009-06-29T22:57:10Z")
Japan never has and never will. ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-do-not-confer-citizenship-to-some-children-born-there/501375/7 "2009-06-30T01:25:11Z")
This makes me think of another question. Are there any countries that won’t give citizenship to a child born in another country but of one or two citizens of that country? What if two people from one of those countries have a child in one of the OP’s countries thus preventing it from having any citizenship? ---
**Author:** ![Waffle\_Decider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/77aa72/32.png) [@Waffle\_Decider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waffle_Decider)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-do-not-confer-citizenship-to-some-children-born-there/501375/8 "2009-06-30T03:10:32Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > This makes me think of another question. Are there any countries that won’t give citizenship to a child born in another country but of one or two citizens of that country? What if two people from one of those countries have a child in one of the OP’s countries thus preventing it from having any citizenship? The Chinese nationality law is like that. The child cannot inherit the parent’s Chinese nationality if they have already settled abroad. However, there is an exception to this rule if the child would otherwise be stateless. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-do-not-confer-citizenship-to-some-children-born-there/501375/9 "2009-06-30T07:31:41Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > This makes me think of another question. Are there any countries that won’t give citizenship to a child born in another country but of one or two citizens of that country? What if two people from one of those countries have a child in one of the OP’s countries thus preventing it from having any citizenship? Yes, and in fact the US is one of those. If two US citizens living outside the US have a child, one of them must have had “residence” in the US at some time in their lives to pass on that citizenship to the child. The definition of residence isn’t given in the law, but in general, summer vacations visiting grandparents won’t count but a semester at a US college probably will. If one US citizen living outside the US has a child with a non-US citizen, the US citizen has to have been physically present, though not necessarily resident, in the US for at least five years (with at least two after the parent’s fourteenth birthday) in order for the child to become a US citizen. If the parents are not married and the father is the US citizen, paternity must also be established. More details in the [relevant section](http://www.richw.org/dualcit/law.html#CitByBirth) of Rich Wales’ dual citizenship FAQ. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-do-not-confer-citizenship-to-some-children-born-there/501375/10 "2009-06-30T08:13:37Z")
> [@Hokkaido\_Brit](#): > > Japan never has and never will. Unless they’ve removed it from the nationality law since the early 1990s, Japan does grant citizenship to someone born on Japanese territory if the citizenship of neither parent can be determined. There was a case involving an abandoned child back then and the courts ruled that since the father could not be found and that the only identification the mother, who also could not be found, had was a stolen Philippine passport, the child fell under that category in the law and is therefore a Japanese citizen. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-do-not-confer-citizenship-to-some-children-born-there/501375/11 "2009-06-30T09:58:26Z")
For the US; I believe children born to foreign diplomats in the US and children born to prisoners (of some status) are not eligible for citizenship. I’ll check, there may be a few more exceptions to automatic US citizenship. ---
**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:** [June 30, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-do-not-confer-citizenship-to-some-children-born-there/501375/12 "2009-06-30T13:21:30Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > For the US; I believe children born to foreign diplomats in the US and children born to prisoners (of some status) are not eligible for citizenship. I’ll check, there may be a few more exceptions to automatic US citizenship. A child of a (female) prisoner-of-war would not be eligible, but I suspect that case has never arisen. However, the children of other prisoners, including illegal entrants awaiting deportation, would be.