Citizenship by Birth in 2026: Restrictions in the US and Other Countries

Citizenship by birth — jus soli, the right of soil — gives a child the nationality of the country where they are born, regardless of their parents’ nationality. It was once the norm across much of the world. Today, unconditional citizenship by birth survives in roughly thirty countries, almost all of them in the Americas.

Everywhere else, the rule has been narrowed. This guide sets out where citizenship by birth still applies without conditions, where it has been restricted, and exactly what parents must satisfy in each of the main restricting countries.

Key takeaways

• The United States confirmed unconditional citizenship by birth on 30 June 2026, when the Supreme Court struck down Executive Order 14160.
• Germany cut its residence requirement from eight years to five in June 2024, making its rule more generous, not less.
• Portugal moved the other way, raising the parental residence requirement to five years under a law enacted on 3 May 2026.
• France restricted citizenship by birth in Mayotte in 2025 but left mainland rules untouched.
• Malaysia removed automatic citizenship for children of permanent residents in 2024.

What citizenship by birth actually means

Two principles decide nationality at birth.

Jus soli looks at the place of birth. Jus sanguinis looks at the parents’ nationality. Most countries use a blend, and the interesting question is always how much soil-based entitlement survives alongside descent.

There are three broad models:

• Unconditional jus soli. Birth in the territory is enough. The Americas.
• Conditional jus soli. Birth plus a condition — a parent’s residence, a parent’s own birth in the country, or the child’s own years of residence. Most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand.
• Jus sanguinis only, with anti-statelessness exceptions. Citizenship by birth applies solely to prevent a child being left stateless. Much of Asia, the Gulf, and parts of Africa.

Countries with unconditional citizenship by birth

Around thirty countries still grant citizenship by birth with no conditions attached. The list is dominated by the Americas: the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Cuba, the Dominican Republic (with a major exception, below), Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Belize, Guyana and several smaller Caribbean states.

Outside the Americas the list is very short. Pakistan is the most-cited example, though its statute carries exceptions for diplomats and enemy aliens.

A correction worth making: Tanzania is frequently included in lists of unconditional jus soli countries, including in earlier versions of this guide. It should not be. Tanzanian law requires a parental link.

The United States

The US is the most significant unconditional jus soli country, and its rule was tested hard between 2025 and 2026.

Executive Order 14160, signed on 20 January 2025, would have denied recognition of citizenship to children born after 19 February 2025 to mothers unlawfully present or present only on a temporary visa. It never took effect. Federal courts blocked it immediately, and on 30 June 2026 the Supreme Court struck it down 6–3 in Trump v. Barbara. Chief Justice Roberts held that children of parents unlawfully or temporarily present “are citizens at birth” under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Children born in the US to H-1B, F-1 or B-2 visa holders are US citizens. So are children of undocumented parents. Our companion guide covers the case and its aftermath in detail.

The 2020 birth tourism visa rule still applies

Separately from the constitutional question, a State Department rule from 24 January 2020 amended 22 CFR 41.31 to make travel for the primary purpose of obtaining citizenship by birth an impermissible use of a B visa. Consular officers may refuse an applicant they believe is travelling to give birth in the US.

The rule survives the 2026 ruling untouched — it governs who receives a visa, not who is a citizen once born. Pregnancy alone is not grounds for refusal, and officers cannot demand a pregnancy test.

Europe

Germany

Germany’s rule became more generous in 2024, reversing years of tightening. Since 26 June 2024, a child born in Germany to foreign parents acquires German citizenship by birth if at least one parent has lawfully and habitually resided in Germany for five years — down from eight — and holds permanent residency.

The old Optionspflicht, which forced such children to choose between German and foreign nationality by age 23, was abolished outright. Multiple nationality is now broadly permitted. The school-attendance and vocational-qualification conditions described in older guides no longer apply.

France

Mainland France applies conditional jus soli on two tracks.

Double jus soli: a child born in France to a parent who was also born in France is French at birth, automatically.

Otherwise: a child born in France to foreign parents becomes French automatically at 18, provided they are resident in France and have accumulated five years of residence since age 11. The claim can be made earlier — from 16 by the young person, or from 13 by the parents.

Mayotte is now different. A law passed in February 2025 requires both parents to have lived legally in Mayotte for at least a year before the birth, up from three months for one parent, with an exception for single parents. It applies only to that overseas department.

Ireland

Ireland ended unconditional citizenship by birth by referendum. The 27th Amendment passed with 79% support in June 2004, and the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2004 took effect on 1 January 2005. Ireland was the last EU member state to grant citizenship by birth without conditions.

A child born in Ireland is Irish if a parent is an Irish or British citizen, or is entitled to reside without restriction in Ireland or Northern Ireland. Otherwise a parent must have been lawfully resident on the island of Ireland for three of the four years immediately before the birth. Time spent as a student or awaiting an asylum decision does not count.

United Kingdom

The British Nationality Act 1981, in force from 1 January 1983, ended unconditional citizenship by birth. A child born in the UK is British at birth only if a parent is a British citizen or “settled” — usually meaning indefinite leave to remain.

Section 1(4) provides a second route. A child born in the UK who is not British at birth is entitled to register as a British citizen after their tenth birthday, provided they were absent from the UK no more than 90 days in each of those ten years. This is a registration entitlement, not automatic citizenship, and it requires an application and a fee.

Greece

Under the Citizenship Code as amended by Law 4332/2015, a child born in Greece to foreign parents can acquire Greek citizenship if at least one parent had lawfully resided in Greece for five consecutive years before the birth, or ten years in total, and the child is enrolled in and attending a Greek school. Both parents file the declaration.

A child born in Greece who would otherwise be stateless, or whose nationality is unknown, receives Greek citizenship.

Portugal

Portugal tightened its rule significantly. A reform enacted on 3 May 2026, following revision after Constitutional Court Judgment No. 1133/2025, requires parents to have held five years of legal residence at the date of birth — up from the previous, much shorter threshold. Minors must also be enrolled in and attending compulsory education in Portugal.

Legal residence now counts from the date the parent was regularised, not from the date of a first application. Any guide quoting one or two years is out of date.

Spain

Spain has no general citizenship by birth. Article 17 of the Civil Code grants nationality at birth only in narrow anti-statelessness cases: both parents stateless, neither parent’s law transmits nationality to the child, parentage unknown, or at least one parent also born in Spain.

The practical route for everyone else is Article 22.2 — naturalisation after just one year of legal residence for a child born in Spain. That is the shortest residence-based path in the EU, but it is naturalisation, not citizenship by birth.

Asia and the Pacific

Australia

Citizenship by birth in Australia requires at least one parent to be a citizen or permanent resident. The rule has applied since 20 August 1986.

A child who does not qualify acquires citizenship automatically on their tenth birthday if they have been ordinarily resident in Australia for those ten years, whatever their parents’ status.

New Zealand

The Citizenship Amendment Act 2005 ended unconditional citizenship by birth for children born on or after 1 January 2006. A child born in New Zealand from that date is a citizen only if at least one parent is a New Zealand citizen or is entitled to reside indefinitely in New Zealand or Australia. Births before that date are unaffected.

India

India has narrowed citizenship by birth twice, and the current test is strict.

• Born between 26 January 1950 and 30 June 1987: citizen by birth, regardless of parents.
• Born between 1 July 1987 and 2 December 2004: citizen if at least one parent was an Indian citizen.
• Born on or after 3 December 2004: citizen only if both parents are Indian citizens, or one parent is Indian and the other is not an “illegal migrant” at the time of birth.

The 2004 threshold, introduced by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2003, is the strictest of the three and remains in force.

Malaysia

The Constitution (Amendment) Act 2024, passed in October 2024 with near-unanimous support, removed permanent residents from the categories whose children acquire Malaysian citizenship by operation of law. At least one parent must now be a Malaysian citizen. Children of permanent residents must apply for citizenship by registration, a discretionary process.

The same amendment fixed a long-standing gender inequality: Malaysian mothers can now pass citizenship to children born abroad on the same terms as Malaysian fathers.

Thailand

Under the Nationality Act B.E. 2508 as amended, citizenship by birth reaches a child of two foreign parents only if both parents are permanent residents. Children of parents on temporary status, without lawful status, or holding diplomatic status are excluded. The 2008 amendments opened a limited pathway for certain long-resident stateless people born in Thailand before 26 February 1992.

Africa

South Africa

Section 4(3) of the South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995 allows a person born in South Africa to parents who were neither citizens nor permanent residents to apply for citizenship on reaching majority, provided they lived in South Africa continuously from birth and their birth was registered under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1992.

The Department of Home Affairs long refused these applications. Litigation culminating in Ali and Others v Minister of Home Affairs established that the entitlement is real and must be honoured.

The Americas: the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is the sharpest reversal in this guide, and the direction is the opposite of what older articles report.

The 2010 Constitution reclassified undocumented residents as persons “in transit,” excluding their children from citizenship by birth. In September 2013, Constitutional Court judgment TC/0168/13 applied that reading retroactively to anyone born after 1929 without a Dominican-descended parent. Estimates put the number affected at up to 245,000 people, around 86% of them Dominicans of Haitian descent.

Law 169-14, passed in 2014, created a partial remedy — residency for many, restored citizenship for a narrower group. International bodies including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights continue to treat the resulting statelessness as unresolved.

Why countries restrict citizenship by birth

Governments give four reasons for narrowing citizenship by birth: controlling irregular migration, discouraging travel undertaken mainly to secure a passport for a child, aligning nationality with demonstrated ties, and managing the cost of public services.

The counter-arguments are equally consistent. Restrictions create stateless children, as the Dominican Republic shows, and can leave second-generation residents without the nationality of the only country they know. Germany’s 2024 reform is a reminder that the trend is not one-way.

Planning a birth abroad

• Check both countries. Your child’s entitlement where they are born and where you hold nationality are separate questions with separate answers.
• Watch the dual-nationality rule. India, China and several Gulf states do not permit dual citizenship, so gaining one nationality may cost another.
• Register the birth promptly. Several rules above — South Africa’s in particular — depend on registration at the time of birth.
• Get local advice. Citizenship by birth rules change often, and a two-year-old article may already be wrong.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Trump v. Barbara, No. 25-365 (US Supreme Court, 30 June 2026)
• Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz reform, in force 26 June 2024 (Germany)
• Law of 6 February 2025 on citizenship in Mayotte (France)
• Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2004; 27th Amendment of the Constitution
• British Nationality Act 1981, section 1(4)
• Greek Citizenship Code as amended by Law 4332/2015
• Portuguese Nationality Law reform, enacted 3 May 2026
• Citizenship Amendment Act 2005 (New Zealand)
• Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2003 (India)
• Constitution (Amendment) Act 2024 (Malaysia)
• South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995, section 4(3)
• Constitutional Court judgment TC/0168/13 and Law 169-14 (Dominican Republic)

This article is general information, not legal advice. Nationality law changes frequently — confirm the current position with a qualified lawyer in the relevant country before acting.