Ling_Noi

One of the things I noticed being British and Canadian is that it's possible for the grand-kids to lose both citizenships if we have a child in the US and that child doesn't return to either country before having children.

Both British and Canadian law states that a child born to a British/Candian citizen also born abroad does not automatically inherit that citizenship. I understand why countries do this because ultimately they want citizens to reside in the country that provides it.

I was wondering then, with US citizenship, if a child is born abroad to a US citizen that was also born abroad, is that child automatically a US citizen and would that citizenship pass down indefinitely even though none of these theoretical children ever stepped foot in the United States?

I know this is the case with Irish citizenship but it's not automatic, foreign births must be registered.

scrubbedexpat099

US also has a residency requirement.

tht

Ling_Noi

Yeah that's what I meant. Loss would imply possession. My mistake.

I found this page which discusses residency requirements: https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...rn-Abroad.html

Strange that there doesn't appear to be a residency requirement if the US citizen is male and isn't married but there is a 1 year residency requirement for unmarried mothers that give birth abroad.

civilservant

No. The US has residency criteria just as the UK does.

Next question?

Ling_Noi

Rete

Just to expand on the replies above, if a USC is born in the US and leaves the US to reside elsewhere in the world before they are 14 or if the USC has obtained their US citizenship at birthfrom a US Citizen parent or grandparent and the child never lives in the US, then in neither case is that USC eligible to pass on their US citizenship to their children. You must have lived in the US for x number of years before age 14 and x number of years after the age of 14 to be eligible to pass on US citizenship.

christmasoompa

Where are you reading this? I've always understood it to be the same 5 year residency requirement, whether male or female/married or unmarried.

Rete

The USCIS / US does not have separate rules/laws for male and female. It is one size fits both genders.

scrubbedexpat096

this has changed recently however...


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Rete

You failed to note that there are also highlighted sections for FATHERS. I was born out of wedlock to a foreign mother and a USC father in Germany after WWII. I became a USC when they married as noted on my certificate of birth abroad.

scrubbedexpat096

And the criteria above both appear to be different...

newacct

No. For children born out of wedlock to an American father, there is the same residency requirement of 5 years physical presence, including 2 years after turning 14, plus there are the additional requirements that the child be legitimated, acknowledged, or paternity determined, and the father make a written agreement to support the child before the child turns 18. So the requirements for children born out of wedlock to an American father are more demanding than for any other category (the requirement for child born out of wedlock to an American mother had been changed from 1 continuous year of physical presence to the same 5 years, including 2 years after turning 14, as children born in wedlock, starting from 2017).