Native-born citizen

In general, a native-born citizen of a country is a person who was born within the country's territory and has been legally recognized as a citizen of that country since birth. In some countries, being a native-born citizen provides certain privileges and rights not afforded to naturalized or foreign-born citizens, such as being able to hold certain offices or being able to pass on citizenship to one's offspring.

In some countries, native birth is a requirement for certain high offices, such as the head of state or head of government.

Being a native-born citizen is not exactly the same as the principle of jus soli (that is, citizenship due to place of birth). For example, a person born in Japan to Japanese parent(s) is clearly a native-born citizen of Japan. However, such a person became a citizen of Japan due to jus sanguinis (i.e., citizenship through descent) as Japan does not recognize the principle of jus soli. That is, if parent(s) who are not Japanese citizens visit Japan just to give birth to a person, that person will not be entitled to a Japanese citizenship.

In many countries (such as Japan), being native-born is not sufficient to confer citizenship.

See also

• Natural born citizen clause of the U.S. Constitution

References