Citizenship in the Constitution is defined by the Fourteenth Amendment’s opening sentence: everyone born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to its jurisdiction, is a citizen of both the country and the state where they live.1Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Fourteenth Amendment The original 1787 Constitution used the word “citizen” throughout without ever saying who qualified, and that silence went uncorrected for eighty years. The 1868 amendment closed the gap, and everything about how citizenship is acquired, protected, and in rare cases lost flows from that clause and the statutes Congress has enacted under its authority.
Who Qualifies as a Citizen
Two routes create a citizen: birth and naturalization. Birth on U.S. soil is the constitutional route. Naturalization is the statutory route Congress controls under Article I, Section 8, which empowers it to set a “uniform Rule of Naturalization” applied identically across every state.2Constitution Annotated. Article I Section 8 Clause 4 Overview of Naturalization Clause No state can create its own path to federal citizenship.
The Fourteenth Amendment’s definition was written to overrule the Supreme Court’s 1857 ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford, which held that people of African descent could not be citizens.3Justia. Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1856) By putting the definition in the Constitution itself, the drafters placed it beyond the reach of ordinary legislation. Congress can regulate naturalization; it cannot rewrite who is a citizen at birth.
Birthright Citizenship and Its Current Legal Status
The Supreme Court read the “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” language in 1898 in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, holding that a child born on U.S. soil to Chinese parents who were permanent residents was a citizen at birth.4Justia. United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898) The Court’s logic was that nearly everyone born on American soil is subject to American jurisdiction, with narrow exceptions for children of accredited foreign diplomats and children of enemy forces occupying U.S. territory.
Birthright citizenship has been challenged recently. A January 2025 executive order directed federal agencies to stop recognizing citizenship for children born in the United States to parents who lack lawful permanent resident status. Federal courts issued injunctions blocking the order, and the case (Trump v. Barbara) reached the Supreme Court for review. As of 2026, the Citizenship Clause remains binding law, and birthright citizenship continues to apply to virtually all children born on U.S. soil regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
Citizenship by Descent for Children Born Abroad
Congress has extended citizenship at birth to many children born overseas to American parents, though the rules turn on how many parents are citizens and how long the citizen parent lived in the United States.
If both parents are citizens, at least one must have lived in the United States or its territories at some point before the child is born. If only one parent is a citizen, that parent must have been physically present in the United States for at least five years, with at least two of those years occurring after turning fourteen.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1401 – Nationals and Citizens of United States at Birth Time abroad on military service or U.S. government employment counts toward the physical presence requirement.
Qualifying children are citizens from the moment of birth, but parents should document that status by applying for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad at a U.S. embassy or consulate before the child turns eighteen. Missing that window does not erase the citizenship, but proving it later becomes much harder.
Naturalization Requirements
The standard path to naturalized citizenship requires at least five continuous years as a lawful permanent resident, with physical presence in the country for at least half of that time. The applicant must also have lived in the state or USCIS district where they file for at least three months, be at least eighteen years old, demonstrate good moral character, and pass an English and civics test.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1427 – Requirements of Naturalization7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I Am a Lawful Permanent Resident of 5 Years
Spouses of citizens get a shorter timeline. Instead of five years, they need three years of continuous residence as a permanent resident, provided they have been living with their citizen spouse the whole time and the spouse has been a citizen for the full three years. Physical presence during those three years must total at least eighteen months.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1430 – Married Persons and Employees of Certain Nonprofit Organizations Applications can be filed up to ninety days before the three-year mark.
Rights the Constitution Reserves for Citizens
The Constitution draws a line between rights available to “all persons” and rights that belong only to “citizens.” The Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses cover everyone within U.S. territory regardless of status.1Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Fourteenth Amendment Several other rights do not.
Voting
Four amendments protect voting rights, and each uses the phrase “the right of citizens of the United States to vote.” The Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, bars denial of the vote based on race or previous condition of servitude.9Library of Congress. U.S. Constitution – Fifteenth Amendment The Nineteenth extended that protection to women in 1920.10Library of Congress. U.S. Constitution – Nineteenth Amendment The Twenty-Fourth eliminated poll taxes in 1964, and the Twenty-Sixth lowered the voting age to eighteen in 1971. A lawful permanent resident who has lived in the country and paid taxes for decades has no constitutional right to vote in federal elections.
Privileges or Immunities
The Fourteenth Amendment also bars states from passing laws that “abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.”11Legal Information Institute. U.S. Constitution Amendment XIV The Supreme Court has read this clause narrowly, but it has been understood to protect interstate travel and the ability to seek federal protection while abroad.
Federal Employment and Jury Service
Most federal government positions are restricted to U.S. citizens, with limited exceptions for permanent residents on a naturalization path and certain temporary roles. Federal jury service is reserved for citizens who are at least eighteen and have lived in the judicial district for at least a year; anyone with an outstanding felony charge or an unrestored felony conviction is disqualified.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. 1865 – Qualifications for Jury Service
Obligations Citizens Owe
Citizenship carries duties, and some of them have real teeth. Federal law requires virtually all male citizens and male immigrants between eighteen and twenty-six to be registered with the Selective Service System. Under the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, registration is automatic: the Selective Service director uses federal data sources to register men within thirty days of their eighteenth birthday.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 U.S.C. 3802 – Automatic Registration Not being registered can make a person ineligible for federal student aid, federal employment, and, for male immigrants, naturalization.
Federal jury duty is likewise an obligation exclusive to citizens. Ignoring a summons can bring fines or contempt proceedings.
How Citizenship Can End
Citizenship is durable, not irrevocable. Federal law recognizes two ways it can end.
Voluntary Renunciation
A citizen can give up nationality by voluntarily performing certain acts with the specific intention of relinquishing citizenship. Those acts include obtaining citizenship in another country, swearing allegiance to a foreign government, serving as an officer in a foreign military, and committing treason or attempting to overthrow the U.S. government.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1481 – Loss of Nationality Intent is critical. Holding dual citizenship or serving in a foreign military does not automatically strip nationality without the specific intent to give it up.
Formal renunciation happens in person before a consular officer at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad. The State Department charges $450, a fee that dropped from $2,350 in early 2026.15Federal Register. Schedule of Fees for Consular Services – Fee for Administrative Processing of Request for Certificate of Loss of Nationality The person must confirm they are acting voluntarily, understand the consequences, and be current on U.S. tax obligations for the prior five years. Renunciation is permanent. Changing your mind later means starting over through the full immigration and naturalization process.
Denaturalization
Naturalized citizens face a vulnerability that birthright citizens do not. The government can seek to revoke their citizenship through court proceedings if the naturalization was obtained through fraud or concealment of a material fact, such as lying on the application about criminal history, immigration violations, or membership in prohibited organizations.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1451 – Revocation of Naturalization A separate provision makes naturalization presumptively revocable if the person joins a totalitarian or terrorist organization within five years of becoming a citizen.
The government’s burden is heavy: clear, convincing, and unequivocal evidence. There is no statute of limitations, so proceedings can begin decades after naturalization. Anyone convicted in criminal court of knowingly procuring naturalization by fraud has their citizenship automatically revoked by the sentencing court.
Non-Citizen Nationals
One category sits between citizen and foreign national and often causes confusion. Federal law defines a “national of the United States” as either a citizen or a person who, though not a citizen, owes permanent allegiance to the country.17Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1101 – Definitions In practice, the non-citizen national category applies almost exclusively to people born in American Samoa and Swains Island, which federal law classifies as “outlying possessions.”18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1408 – Nationals but Not Citizens of the United States at Birth Non-citizen nationals can live and work freely in the United States and carry annotated U.S. passports, but they cannot vote in federal elections and face the same federal employment restrictions as non-citizens. They can naturalize through a streamlined process, and a person cannot hold both statuses at once.