Birthright Citizenship: Nationality Laws Around the World

Shakthi Suthakaran | November 24th, 2020

Birthright citizenship is a policy granting a citizenship status to individuals who are born within a country’s territory. Over thirty countries around the world subscribe to birthright citizenship, also referred to as jus soli, while the remaining global nations adhere to a law known as jus sanguinis (1). The latter is a nationality law that only grants citizenship to an individual if one or both of their parents hold a citizenship status. However, there are specific, conditional rules factored into various countries’ regulations which dictate the classification of an individual’s status in a country. Thereby, birthright citizenship is an intricate law that varies internationally when considering individuals’ legal status. This article elucidates the significance of birthright citizenship as a global policy through the origins of nationality laws and the conditional factors of legal statuses.

Birthright citizenship, similar to much of Canadian law, originates from the established laws of European colonial powers (2). The unconditional right to citizenship through birth was a foundational principle from English common law, and was later implemented into the Americas. The law was viewed as integral in building the population by attracting immigrants and simultaneously displacing native populations within the New World. However, although jus soli is a centuries-old, traditional establishment in Continental Europe, other civil law countries opted to determine citizenship through the jus sanguinis rule (3). Subsequent to English common law’s implementation in the Americas, the Fourteenth Amendment was established in 1868 in the United States of America so as to confer citizenship on liberated slaves. This law succeeded the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which was the first United States federal law to define citizenship and ensure the equal protection of all citizens, regardless of race, under the law (4). Birthright provision is a central aspect of Canada’s 1947 Citizenship Act which is integral to the nation’s conceptions of equality and multiculturalism (5). Therefore, birthright citizenship is a global policy implemented across various nations with continental roots.

The majority of countries that provide unrestricted birthright citizenship are located in the West. In contrast, many nations around the world implement conditions upon birthright citizenship, such as on the basis of legal status of an individual’s parents, or the age and length of residency in the country of the individual applying for citizenship. This is because many European countries grant citizenship on the basis of jus sanguinis, which directly translates to “right of blood,” referring to the nationality of the individual’s parents. An example is how individuals who are born in the United Kingdom automatically become British citizens if at least one parent is a British citizen or is considered “settled” in the U.K., such as by having permanent residency. Following the year 2000, Germany permitted eligibility for those born in the country to foreign-born parents to apply for citizenship, so long as at least one parent remained a lawful resident in the country for a minimum of eight years. In Italy; however, individuals born in the country to foreign-born parents must meet certain requirements before applying for citizenship within one year of their eighteenth birthday. France dismissed birthright citizenship in 1993 after the implementation of the Méhaignerie Law. This law limits citizenship to only individuals who are born to a French parent. As a result, those born in France to foreign-born parents must wait until they turn eighteen to acquire French citizenship. In 2005, Ireland was the last of the countries in the European Union to abolish birthright citizenship. This was done through a referendum supported by approximately 80% of Irish voters, after which citizenship was granted only to those born to at least one Irish parent. This decision was a result of Man Levette Chen’s case, in which a Chinese national traveled to Northern Ireland so that her daughter would be born an Irish citizen (6). Similarly to the case in Ireland, birthright citizenship has also proven controversial in Canada and the United States of America. This is because these countries especially attract large numbers of immigrants and have, as of recent, addressed an influx of illegal immigration. As a result, the influx of controversy regarding illegal immigration has sparked a debate to abolish birthright citizenship in the United States of America and Canada. Therefore, conditional factors of birthright citizenship have proven to be a prominent aspect of nationality laws around the world.

In consideration of global, nationality laws, there are also countries that grant citizenship solely based on the parents’ legal status, regardless of the individual’s birth. This is executed through a legal process known as naturalization, in which foreign citizens or nationals become officially recognized as citizens of a country (7). In countries that grant citizenship based on the parents’ legal status, then the children automatically become citizens of that country. An example of a nation that uses this law is Qatar, where citizenship is inherited solely through the father. As a result, there is an approximation that Qatari nationals contribute to less than 10% of the country’s total population. Furthermore, following a new residency law passed in September 2018, foreign-born residents who have lived in Qatar for a minimum of 20 years are now permitted to apply for permanent residency. Similarly to Qatar, Kuwaiti citizenship is also passed onto individuals through the father’s status. According to Kuwait’s Nationality Law of 1959, individuals seeking to acquire citizenship must lawfully reside in the country for a minimum of 20 years, or 15 years in the case of being an Arab national. Individuals applying for citizenship must also speak Arabic and be Muslim by birth, or if a convert, must wait at least five years prior to applying. The United Arab Emirates, a federation comprising of seven emirates, is a sovereign state bordering Saudi Arabia and Oman (8). Citizenship in the UAE is a status that also passes through the father, though a royal decree passed in 2011 by President Sheikh Khalifa allowed children born to Emirati women to apply for citizenship after they turned 18 (9). Furthermore, although Arab citizens from Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar are able to apply for Emirati citizenship on the condition of having lawfully resided in the country for a minimum of three years, citizens born outside of the regions listed prior with no familial relation must reside in the country for at least 30. Therefore, various countries around the world have implemented conditions upon nationality laws to ensure citizenship regulations are upheld.

Birthright citizenship is a significant global policy. Its intricacies elucidate the remaining disputes within the international community regarding which individuals receive a citizenship status. Furthermore, the rules and regulations regarding birthright citizenship reveals the origins of nationality laws across the world, as well as the conditional factors that have been adopted to place restrictions upon those who receive official legal statuses. As evidenced, citizenship and nationality laws have evolved across various countries and international regulations, proving that while citizenship laws were rooted in common law from colonialism, countries have recently discovered that stricter regulations are required to safeguard the nations’ legal status. Consequently, multiple components must be taken into consideration before the classification of an individual’s legal stature and integration into a country. As a result, birthright citizenship, since its inception stemming from continental, common law roots, remains a significant, legal policy utilized across the globe.

Endnotes

1."Birthright Citizenship Around the World." Library of Congress. Last modified July 24, 2020. https://www.loc.gov/law/help/birthright-citizenship/global.php.

2. Serhan, Yasmeen, and Uri Friedman. "America Isn’t the ‘Only Country’ With Birthright Citizenship." The Atlantic. Last modified October 31, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/10/birthright-citizenship-other-countries-trump/574453/.

3. Serhan, Yasmeen, and Uri Friedman. "America Isn’t the ‘Only Country’ With Birthright Citizenship." The Atlantic. Last modified October 31, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/10/birthright-citizenship-other-countries-trump/574453/.

4. "The Civil Rights Bill of 1866." US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1851-1900/The-Civil-Rights-Bill-of-1866/.

5. Serhan, Yasmeen, and Uri Friedman. "America Isn’t the ‘Only Country’ With Birthright Citizenship." The Atlantic. Last modified October 31, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/10/birthright-citizenship-other-countries-trump/574453/.

6. Staunton, Denis. "Chinese Mother and Irish Baby 'entitled to Live in EU'." The Irish Times. Last modified May 19, 2004. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/chinese-mother-and-irish-baby-entitled-to-live-in-eu-1.1141026.

7. FindLaw Staff, and Maddy Teka. "The Basics of Naturalization." Findlaw. Last modified May 26, 2020. https://www.findlaw.com/immigration/citizenship/the-basics-of-naturalization.html.

8. Peterson, J. E. "United Arab Emirates." Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified November 22, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Arab-Emirates.

9. Issa, Wafa. "Children of Emirati Mothers, Expatriate Fathers Offered Citizenship." The National. Last modified November 30, 2011. https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/children-of-emirati-mothers-expatriate-fathers-offered-citizenship-1.435309.