The U.S. is one of few countries to grant citizenship to children born on its soil, but many have suggested that the country revoke this right to deter immigration.
Nationality laws vary greatly around the globe.
In Greece, for example, some children face insecurity and confusion because they are not Greek citizens, despite being born in and living in the country. In Japan, the government may pass a law granting 20,000 mixed race children Japanese citizenship.
When a child is born, he or she can gain a nationality in a variety of ways – from the place of birth or from parents’ nationalities or ethnicities; sometimes automatically and other times requiring an application process.
Standard basis for citizenship:
Jus soli — birthright — a rule that the citizenship of a child is determined by the place of its birth
Jus sanguinis — blood right — a rule that a child’s citizenship is determined by its parents’ citizenship
The chart below details the foreign populations in world countries, residency requirements for naturalization (excluding special factors such as marriage to a national) and types of citizenship.
Data is from 2005, the latest available date for comprehensive comparative information. For more detailed information on citizenship laws and requirements in a particular country, visit that country’s Web site.
| 642,000 15.9% of population * |
Residence for 1,350 days of past 5 years | Eliminated birthright citizenship in 2006 | |
| 1.2 million 15.1% of population 40.9% are nationals |
10 years continuous residence | Blood right | |
| 585,000 14.1% of population 45.2% are nationals |
3 years residence | Eliminated automatic birthright citizenship in 2004 | |
| 38.36 million 12.9% of population 46.4% are nationals |
Legal residency for 5 years | Birthright | |
| 10.14 million 12.3% of population |
At least 8 years residence | Blood right | |
| 6.47 million 10.7% of population 53.1% are nationals |
5 years residence | Blood right; delayed birthright (can acquire citizenship on request) | |
| 5.41 million 9.1% of population |
5 years residence | Many types of citizenship (vary) | |
| 974,000 8.8% of population 41.5% are nationals |
10 of last 12 years | Blood right; birthright if no other nationality acquired | |
| 2.52 million 4.3% of population 47.5% are nationals |
10 years residence | Blood right; birthright if no other nationality acquired | |
| 168,000 2.7% of population |
3 years residence | Birthright | |
| 1.11 million 2.3% of population |
4 of 8 last years | Blood right | |
| 124,000 2.3% of population |
5 years residence | Blood right | |
| 2.05 million 1.6% of population |
5 years of residence | Blood right | |
| 644,000 0.6% of population |
5 years residence | Birthright; recognizes dual nationality | |
| 596,000 0% of population |
Settlement in China | Blood right |
*When data on foreign-born nationals is blank, the information is not available.
Sources: United Nations, NationMaster. Photos courtesy of Flickr users under a Creative Commons license.