I have moved back to the UK from Spain
I have a question about filling in an Esta form for the USA
There is a question asking if I have ever been a citizen or national of another country
I am not sure what to put, as I was on the foreign citizens register, but did not become a Spanish citizen or national
It is a bit confusing as the USA may regard resident or citizen as the same thing

Ask your question in the USA forum because they have a wealth of knowledge of this sort of thing and will happily advise you.

Rosemary

Citizen and National are pretty much the same as far as you are concerned.

You are a Brit - simple as that. Residency has nothing to do with citizenship or nationality.

Here's Ian's three rules for form fillingâ„¢. If you follow them, you won't have a problem completing the forms. If you ignore them, you'll end up confused.

1) Take each question at face value;
2) Don't ascribe meaning to the question beyond what is plainly written; and
3) Don't try to alter the question to fit your circumstances.
If the US had wanted to include "residents", then they would have said so. The question is clear and precise; it is only confusing because you have made it so.

I applied for an ESTA about 18 months ago to transit through the US.

I don't remember including anything about having lived in Spain on it, nor even about Chile, where I was living at the time although it's possible I had to give my address.

It was for an emergency trip home and I was very worried I wouldn't get it on time and would have to go to the embassy, but in fact I received the confirmation in seconds.

The rules on ESTA have changed recently, and there are several countries that, if you have lived there, will be sufficient to stop you ever using ESTA, however the question you are asking about says 'citizen or National' so if you haven't been, aren't then answer no.

I think this new question could have better worded, such as
Have you ever been a resident in another country?
Or
Have you ever lived abroad?
Surely this is what they are getting at, as few people change their nationality, or obtain citizenship, yet they do live in that country for years

Since the question is asking about other citizenships I think it's safe to assume that's all what they want to know. If they wanted to know about periods spent residing outside your home country then that would be the question they would ask.

Why? The question is perfectly clear, however you seem to think they should have asked a different question. Maybe they should, maybe they shouldn't, but that point is moot, because that isn't the question they asked, which was specific to citizenship.
No it isn't! They asked about citizenship, so that is what they meant.

Please reread post #4, above, especially point #2.

Oh don't be naive, Pulaski, it's an obvious trick by the CIA to con people into giving up detailed personal information. For example, if they ask your name, we all know they're asking whether you have a cat. And with that info, they can determine if you're a terrorist.