Citizenship By Birth: Restrictions And Rules By USA And Other Countries

The citizenship by birth is commonly known as ‘Jus Soli’ and this means right of soil. This is the right for any individual (daughter/son of a foreigner) born within the territory of a specific country to be a national/citizen of that country. However, over the years many countries started imposing severe restrictions on this right due to its misuse.

The US has recently decided to impose visa restrictions on pregnant women from other nations following the reports that many were using this visa to secure permanent/automatic citizenship for their daughters/sons by giving birth in the country.

US Restrictions On Birth Citizenship – New Ruling

The President of the United States, Donald Trump has recently taken a new decision to restrict ‘birth-tourism’ in the country
Children born in the US soil for international parents have the right to automatic and permanent citizenship
The Constitution of the US ensures the right to citizenship to all children born in their soil
The new ruling states that international women who are pregnant and seek to enter the US will not be granted a visa
Several foreigners were using this visa (misusing this visa according to the US authorities) to secure citizenship by birth for their children by giving birth in America
The enforcement of this rule began on the 25^th of January 2020
A statement by the White House said that the temporary visa for visitors, B1 and B2, will not be granted to pregnant women who sought to enter the United States to curb ‘birth tourism’
The consular officer has the right to deny the visa if she/he has enough reasons that point to the fact that the foreigner intends to be in the US to give birth to her child there
This new ruling has been enforced by the US to protect the integrity of the country’s system for immigration
The US also want to prevent the usage of the hard-earned money of taxpayers to fund the costs linked to ‘birth-tourism’
Around 33,000 babies of foreigners were born in the US during the period between 2016-2017
The operators for ‘birth-tourism’ charge up to 100,000 US dollars for each woman who intends to have a baby in the US
It could be difficult to enforce this new law successfully as they cannot ask all female applicants if they are pregnant or not
The consular officers also do not have the authority to request the applicants for a pregnancy test

Other Countries That Have Imposed Restrictions On Citizenship By Birth

Several countries have imposed restrictions on foreigners getting automatic citizenship by birth. The restriction imposed states that for a child to get birth-citizenship the following criteria have to be satisfied.

At least one of the parents must be a citizen or a national of that country
One of the parents should be a permanent resident in the country

The following are some of the countries that have imposed visa restrictions on citizenship by birth

Germany

Germany imposed the new restrictions since the 1^st of January 2000
A child born in Germany to parents who are not German will get citizenship by birth only if one of the parents has the status of a Permanent Resident for more than 3 years
The parent must have been living in Germany for a minimum of 8 years before the birth of the child
The child will lose citizenship by birth when he or she fails to keep certain criteria prescribed by the German authorities for immigration
The child should have lived in the country for at least 8 years during their 21 years of life
Attend a school in the country for a minimum of 6 years
Graduate from a college or school in Germany
Get a degree/diploma in vocational/professional training in this country

Australia

In Australia, a child gets citizenship by birth only if one of the parents is a permanent resident/citizen of Australia
He/she may also get this right after living in the country during the first ten years of their lives. In this situation, the citizenship status of the parents is not an issue
This ruling has been in force since the 20^th of August 1986

France

To get citizenship by birth in France the child should have at least one parent who was born in France or is a citizen of that country
A child born to parents from other nations becomes a citizen of France automatically if she/he is in France on her/his 18^th birthday
The child should have spent a total of 5 years in France after the age of 11

Cambodia

Cambodia imposed the new ruling from 1996 (Nationality Law)
The law permits citizenship by birth only if the parents are legal residents of this country

Bahrain

Citizenship by birth is granted to only those children whose father has a permit for residency in Bahrain that is valid
The child gets citizenship if the father was also born in Bahrain

Hong Kong

The child born in Hong Kong gets the right to citizenship if the parents are legal permanent residents
Children of Chinese ethnicity born in this country are considered citizens of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)
This rule is also applicable even if the parents (with Chinese ethnicity) were not born in China

Egypt

A child gets citizenship by birth in Egypt only if his/her father was born in Egypt
This is based on the Nationality law of this country

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic grants citizenship by birth to a child born in this country to parents who have a visa that has expired, workers who do not have proper documentation and for non-residents as well
The law was amended on the 26^th of January 2010

Greece

Citizenship by birth is granted to a child born in Greece if the parents are legal residents here and have been in Greece for a minimum of 5 years and the child did preliminary school education here
They’ll have to complete a total of ten years of residence in Germany if the child was born before they completed 5 years
A child is also given a Greek nationality status if he/she is not getting any foreign nationality or is of an unknown nationality

Luxembourg

A child born in Luxembourg becomes a citizen of this country automatically if one of the parents was born in this country
They’ll also be granted citizenship at the age of 12 even if the parents are foreigners but the child has resided in Luxembourg for a minimum of 5 years in total
Citizenship is granted to children if one of the parents have stayed in this country continuously for at least one year
Citizenship is also granted automatically once the individual turn 18 years and has resided for 5 years continuously before turning 18 and one of the parents have lived in this country for 12 months before the child was born

Ireland

You get citizenship by birth in Ireland if at least one of the parents is a citizen of Ireland, a citizen of Britain, a permanent legal resident of Ireland/Northern Ireland
Citizenship by birth is also granted if one of the parents has been residing legally in Ireland for a maximum of 3 years out of 4. However, this rule is not applicable for international students living in Ireland and for asylum seekers
This law came into enforcement beginning from the 1^st of January 2005

Malaysia

You become a citizen by birth automatically in Malaysia if one of the parents is a citizen or a permanent resident of this country

Israel

A child born in Israel can apply for citizenship between the age of 18 and 21 if they have lived in this country for more than 5 years.
He/she must not have acquired the citizenship of any other country

Iran

Citizenship by birth is granted to those children born in Iran for foreign parents if one or both of the parents was born in Iran

Morocco

An individual can apply for citizenship in Morocco if she/he was born there and two years before they become an adult
The parents must be legal immigrants who themselves were born in Morocco

Malta

Following the amendment of the law in Malta after the 1^st of August 2001, a child born in Malta becomes an automatic citizen if at least one of the 2 parents were born in Malta or one of the parents is a citizen of this country

Portugal

An individual can become a citizen of Portugal if he/she was born there and do not have citizenship of any other country
An individual born to parents who are foreigners and were not in their native country at the time of the birth of the child
An individual can also apply if one of the parents has legally stayed in Portugal for at least 2 years during the time of the birth of the child.

South Africa

South Africa grants citizenship by birth only to those individuals whose parent/parents are permanent residents or citizens of this country.
The rules were amended and came in to force in 1995

Namibia

An individual is granted citizenship by birth in Namibia only if one of the parents is a Namibian Citizen or a resident in the country

Spain

A child gets citizenship by birth in Spain only if one of the parents was born in this country
The child may also get citizenship by birth if the parents are unable to transfer his/her nationality to the children born in Spain

New Zealand

You can acquire citizenship by birth in New Zealand only if at least one of the parents is a citizen of New Zealand or Australia or a permanent resident in any of these countries

Thailand

Due to illegal migration from countries like Burma, Thailand made amendments to the Citizenship by birth law in 1972
For a child to get citizenship by birth in this country both the foreign parents must be legal residents in Thailand and have been based there for at least 5 years
Citizenship obtained through ‘Jus Soli’ may be revoked by the Thailand authorities if the individual fails to maintain the requirements- like living in another country

United Kingdom

To become a citizen by birth in the United Kingdom at least one of the parents must be a citizen of Britain or be a legal resident in this country
The child may be granted citizenship following her 10^th birthday regardless of her parents being citizens of this country

Tunisia

A child gets citizenship by birth in Tunisia if his/her father and grandfather were born in this country
The individual has to declare that he/she wants to be a citizen here before reaching the age of 20

Sudan

An individual gets citizenship by birth in Sudan if his/her father was born in this country
In the situation where the father was not born in Sudan, he/she can directly appeal to the Minister in Sudan to grant nationality there.

Most of the nations that have made severe restrictions and amendments to the citizenship by birth rules have done so taking into consideration the security of their country as well as the safety of the public in general.

Citizenship By Birth – Restrictions By The US And Other Countries