Birthright citizenship in the United States means that almost anyone born on U.S. soil is a citizen from the moment of birth, regardless of the parents’ immigration status or nationality. The rule comes from the 14th Amendment and has been settled Supreme Court doctrine since 1898. A January 2025 executive order tried to narrow it, but federal courts have blocked enforcement, and while the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in April 2026, it has not ruled. Until it does, the existing framework stands.
The Rule and Where It Comes From
The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, opens with a single sentence that governs the entire question: all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to its jurisdiction, are citizens of the United States and the state where they reside. Congress adopted it after the Civil War specifically to guarantee citizenship to formerly enslaved people and to overturn the 1857 Dred Scott decision. By tying citizenship to place of birth rather than ancestry, the framers put it beyond the reach of ordinary legislation. Changing it requires another constitutional amendment.
The Supreme Court applied the amendment to a child of noncitizen parents in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898). Wong was born in San Francisco to Chinese parents who lived and worked in the U.S. as permanent residents but were barred from naturalizing under the Chinese Exclusion Act. When federal officials denied him re-entry after a trip abroad, the Court ordered his release and held that his birth on American soil made him a citizen regardless of his parents’ nationality or immigration status. That ruling has governed birthright citizenship for more than 125 years. Under it, a child born in the United States is a citizen at birth even if both parents are noncitizens, temporary visitors, or lack legal status.
The Narrow Exceptions
The phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” carves out a small set of people whose U.S.-born children do not automatically become citizens.
- Children of foreign diplomats. Ambassadors, consular officials, and others with formal diplomatic immunity are not subject to U.S. jurisdiction in the ordinary sense, so their children born here do not receive automatic citizenship. This applies only to people carrying formal diplomatic credentials, not ordinary foreign visitors, students, or workers.
- Children of enemy forces during hostile occupation. In the rare scenario of a foreign military occupying U.S. territory, children born to enemy soldiers in the occupied zone would not qualify. This has never been applied in modern times.
- Members of Native American tribes, historically. Before the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, many tribal members were treated as citizens of their own nations rather than the United States. The 1924 act resolved the question by granting citizenship to all Native Americans born within the country’s borders.
Everyone else born on U.S. soil qualifies.
Where the Rule Applies
Birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment covers births in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Territories work differently: citizenship there flows from federal statutes rather than the Constitution itself.
People born in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands are U.S. citizens at birth, but by act of Congress rather than by direct operation of the 14th Amendment. For Puerto Rico, federal law recognizes citizenship at birth for anyone born there on or after January 13, 1941, and subject to U.S. jurisdiction. Similar statutes cover the other territories. The practical difference rarely matters day to day, but Congress could theoretically modify these statutes in a way it could not modify the 14th Amendment.
American Samoa
American Samoa and Swains Island are the outliers. People born there are classified as U.S. nationals rather than citizens. They owe permanent allegiance to the United States and can live and work anywhere in the country, but they cannot vote in federal elections and lack some rights that come with full citizenship. The distinction traces to the Insular Cases, a series of early-1900s Supreme Court decisions holding that the full Constitution does not automatically extend to every territory.
In 2021, Fitisemanu v. United States asked the Tenth Circuit to extend the Citizenship Clause to American Samoa. The court declined, noting that American Samoa’s own elected leaders had argued against imposing citizenship on their people without consent, and that Congress holds the primary role in setting citizenship rules in unincorporated territories. American Samoans can become full citizens through the standard naturalization process after residing in the United States for at least five years.
Military Bases Abroad
A common misconception is that a child born on a U.S. military base overseas gets citizenship from the base itself. That is not how it works. Military installations abroad are not U.S. soil for citizenship purposes. A child born on a base overseas becomes a citizen only if at least one parent is a U.S. citizen who meets the physical presence rules under federal law.
Aircraft and Ships
Births on planes and ships raise jurisdiction questions. A baby born while an aircraft is over U.S. territory or a ship is within 12 nautical miles of the U.S. coastline may qualify, because those areas fall within U.S. territorial jurisdiction. A child born on a U.S.-registered ship or aircraft in international waters or foreign airspace does not. The State Department’s Foreign Affairs Manual confirms that a U.S.-registered ship on the high seas or in the exclusive economic zone is not part of the United States for citizenship purposes. These cases turn on the exact position at the time of birth, the citizenship of the parents, and where the vessel is registered.
Children Born Abroad to American Parents
Citizenship at birth is not limited to births on U.S. soil. Federal law also grants citizenship to many children born overseas to American parents, though the rules depend on whether one or both parents are citizens and how long the citizen parent lived in the United States before the birth.
- If both parents are U.S. citizens, the child is a citizen at birth as long as at least one parent lived in the United States or its territories at some point before the birth. There is no minimum duration.
- If only one parent is a U.S. citizen, that parent must have been physically present in the United States for at least five years before the child’s birth, with at least two of those years after age 14. Time spent abroad on military duty or working for the federal government counts.
Parents in this situation should apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. The CRBA proves the child’s citizenship and functions much like a birth certificate for passports and other official purposes. The process can be started through the State Department’s MyTravelGov portal.
The 2025 Executive Order and What Happens Next
In January 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” directing federal agencies to stop issuing citizenship documents to two groups of U.S.-born children: those whose mothers were unlawfully present and whose fathers were not citizens or lawful permanent residents, and those whose mothers were in the country on temporary visas and whose fathers were not citizens or lawful permanent residents. The order was set to take effect 30 days after signing.
Three federal district courts blocked it before it could take effect. A federal judge in Washington state called the order “blatantly unconstitutional.” Courts in Maryland and Massachusetts issued similar rulings. All three concluded the order conflicted with the plain text of the 14th Amendment and with Wong Kim Ark.
The administration appealed. In June 2025, the Supreme Court partially narrowed the scope of the lower-court injunctions, holding that universal nationwide injunctions likely exceed the authority Congress has given to federal courts. The order still cannot be enforced against the specific plaintiffs who challenged it, and federal agencies have not implemented it. The Court then granted review on the underlying constitutional question and heard oral arguments on April 1, 2026. As of that date, there is no decision on the merits. USCIS, the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Health and Human Services have prepared internal guidance in case the order is eventually allowed to go into effect.
Until the Supreme Court rules, existing law governs: children born on U.S. soil receive citizenship at birth under the 14th Amendment, consistent with Wong Kim Ark. Even a ruling in the administration’s favor would most likely reinterpret “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” rather than eliminate birthright citizenship outright, and citizenship acquired at birth under existing law cannot be retroactively revoked.
Proving Citizenship
For most people born in the United States, a standard birth certificate is all the proof they will ever need. It must show the city or county of birth, the date, and a filing date with a government registrar. That one document handles passport applications, employment verification, and most other purposes.
Social Security at Birth
The easiest time to set up a child’s records is right after birth. Hospitals let parents apply for a Social Security number as part of the birth certificate paperwork, a system the Social Security Administration calls “Enumeration at Birth.” Parents indicate they want an SSN for the newborn and provide their own Social Security numbers. There is no fee, and the card arrives by mail. Applying later at a Social Security office takes longer because the agency has to verify the birth certificate independently.
Passport or Certificate of Citizenship
Two documents formally prove citizenship: a U.S. passport and a Certificate of Citizenship. Which one you need depends on your situation.
First-time passport applicants use Form DS-11 and must apply in person at a passport acceptance facility such as a post office, library, or county clerk’s office. The total cost for an adult passport book is $165, made up of a $130 application fee paid to the State Department and a $35 acceptance fee paid to the facility. Routine processing runs four to six weeks; expedited service takes two to three weeks for an added fee.
Form N-600 requests a Certificate of Citizenship from USCIS. It is used most often by people who acquired citizenship through birth abroad to American parents or through a parent’s naturalization. It can be filed online or mailed to a USCIS lockbox. The fee is set on the USCIS fee schedule and is adjusted periodically. Processing typically runs several months longer than a passport.
Passports for children under 16 require both parents or legal guardians to appear in person with the child and show identification. If one parent cannot attend, the absent parent submits a notarized Statement of Consent (Form DS-3053), valid for 90 days from signing. A parent with sole legal custody can apply alone by presenting a court order, a sole-parent adoption decree, or a death certificate for the other parent. When a parent cannot be located or refuses to consent, the applying parent files Form DS-5525 explaining the circumstances, and the State Department evaluates the case individually.
Dual Citizenship and the Tax Catch
The United States does not prohibit dual citizenship. A child born in the U.S. to foreign parents can hold both American citizenship and the citizenship of the parents’ home country, as long as that country also allows dual nationality. Many people carry two passports their whole lives without any legal issue.
The catch is taxes. The United States is one of the few countries that taxes its citizens on worldwide income regardless of where they live. Someone born in the U.S. who moves abroad as a small child and never returns still has to file a U.S. tax return once income crosses the filing threshold. Foreign earned income exclusions and foreign tax credits can reduce or eliminate double taxation, but the filing obligation itself does not go away as long as citizenship is maintained. Citizens abroad get an automatic extension to June 15 and can request an additional six-month extension using Form 4868.