Jus soli

Jus soli (English: /dʒʌs ˈsoʊlaɪ/ juss SOH-ly, /jus ˈsoʊli/ yoos SOH-lee, Latin: [juːs ˈsɔliː]; meaning "right of soil"[1]), commonly referred to as birthright citizenship in Canada and the United States, is the right of anyone born in the territory of a state to nationality or citizenship.[2][3]

Countries by jus soli

jus soli for persons born in the country

Jus soli with restrictions

Jus soli abolished

Jus soli was part of the English common law, in contrast to jus sanguinis, which derives from the Roman law that influenced the civil-law systems of continental Europe.[4][5] Jus soli is the predominant rule in the Americas, but it is rare elsewhere.[6][7] Since the Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland was enacted in 2004, no European country grants citizenship based on unconditional or near-unconditional jus soli.[8][9]

Almost all states in Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania grant citizenship at birth based upon the principle of jus sanguinis ("right of blood"), in which citizenship is inherited through parents rather than birthplace, or a restricted version of jus soli in which citizenship by birthplace is automatic only for the children of certain immigrants.

Jus soli in many cases helps prevent statelessness.[10] Countries that have acceded to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness are obligated to grant nationality to persons born in their territory who would otherwise become stateless persons.[11][lower-alpha 1] The American Convention on Human Rights similarly provides that "Every person has the right to the nationality of the state in whose territory he was born if he does not have the right to any other nationality."[10]

National laws

Lex soli is a law used in practice to regulate who and under what circumstances an individual can assert the right of jus soli. Most states provide a specific lex soli—in application of the respective jus soli—and it is the most common means of acquiring nationality. However, a frequent exception to lex soli is imposed when a child is born to a parent in the diplomatic or consular service of another state on a mission to the state in question.[12][13]

Unrestricted jus soli

Africa

Chad[14][15] (the choice to take Chadian citizenship, or that of the parents is made at 18 years of age)[16]
Lesotho[17]
Tanzania:[15] Per the Tanzania Citizenship Act of 1995, "any child born within the borders of the United Republic of Tanzania, on or after Union Day, 26 April 1964, is granted citizenship of Tanzania, except for children of foreign diplomats."[18]

Americas

Caribbean Islands

Antigua and Barbuda: Guaranteed by the Constitution.[19][20]
Barbados: Guaranteed by the Constitution.[19][21] However, the Barbados Ministry of Labour & Immigration recently proposed ending automatic birthright citizenship.[22]
Cuba[23]
Dominica[19][24]
Grenada[19]
Jamaica[19][25]
Saint Kitts and Nevis[19]
Saint Lucia[19]
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines[19]
Trinidad and Tobago[19][26]

Continental North America

Canada: Subsection 3(2) of the Act states that Canadian citizenship by birth in Canada granted to a child born in Canada even if neither parent was a Canadian citizen or permanent resident except if either parent was a diplomat, in service to a diplomat, or employed by an international agency of equal status to a diplomat. However, if neither parents were diplomats, the nationality or immigration status of the parents do not matter.[27] Some Conservative Party members wish to end birthright citizenship in Canada to the children of tourists and unauthorized immigrants.[28]
Mexico[19][29]
United States: The Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1868, provides: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."[30] The concept of birthright citizenship applying to the child born of a foreign national in the country without proper credentials has never been formally litigated, but the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) allowed the government to deny citizenship to U.S.-born children only in the cases of children born to foreign diplomats and children born to enemy forces engaged in hostile occupation of the country's territory, and thus this decision is most often interpreted as barring the government from denying citizenship to a U.S.-born person based on the alienage of his or her parents.[31][32] (see United States nationality law).

From 24 January 2020, the Trump administration adopted a new policy to make it more difficult for foreign nationals to travel to the US to give birth on US soil to ensure their children become US citizens, a practice commonly known as "birth tourism."[33]

Persons born in American Samoa (a U.S. territory) are not U.S. citizens at birth (they are non-citizen U.S. nationals, unless one of their parents is a U.S. citizen).[34] In 2019, a federal court ruled that American Samoans are U.S. citizens, but the ruling was put on hold, and the litigation is ongoing.[35][36]

Central America

Belize[19][37]
Costa Rica: Jus sangui requires registration with the Costa Rican government before the age of twenty-five.[38]
El Salvador[19]
Guatemala[19]
Honduras[19]
Nicaragua[19]
Panama[19][39]

Continental South America

Argentina[19]
Bolivia[19]
Brazil[19][40] (requires that the foreign parents are not working for their country's government in Brazil by the time the child is born).
Chile[19][41]
Ecuador[19]
Guyana[19]
Paraguay[19]
Peru (registration required at 18 years of age)[19]
Uruguay[19][42]
Venezuela[19][43]

Oceania

Asia

Pakistan[47][48]

Restricted jus soli

There is a trend in some countries toward restricting lex soli by requiring that at least one of the child's parents be a citizen, national or legal permanent resident of the state in question at time of the child's birth.[49] Modification of jus soli has been criticized as contributing to economic inequality, the perpetuation of unfree labour from a helot underclass[49] and statelessness. Jus soli has been restricted in the following countries: