Concept
Citizenship by birthplace — jus soli — is the one passport route that needs no investment, no residence years and no ancestry: the child is a citizen because of where the birth happened. But the map is narrower than the marketing suggests: unconditional jus soli survives mostly in the Americas, while Europe and Oceania attach conditions to the parents' status. And one country's birthright carries a lifetime tax tail. This page maps both, from official sources.
Unconditional: The Americas
In these countries birth on the territory confers citizenship at birth, regardless of the parents' immigration status (children of foreign diplomats are the classic narrow exception). Each rule below is stated from the country's own constitution or statute:
| Country | Rule | Primary source |
|---|---|---|
| United States | All persons born in the US and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens (14th Amendment); the 2025 executive-order attempt to narrow this was struck down by the Supreme Court on 30 June 2026 | constitution.congress.gov, 14th Amendment |
| Canada | A person born in Canada after 14 February 1977 is a citizen (Citizenship Act s.3(1)(a); diplomat exception in s.3(2)) | laws-lois.justice.gc.ca |
| Mexico | Those born in the territory are Mexican by birth, whatever the parents' nationality (Constitution, Art. 30) | scjn.gob.mx (official text) |
| Brazil | Born in Brazil, even to foreign parents, unless the parents serve their country (Constitution, Art. 12.I.a) | planalto.gov.br |
| Argentina | Born in Argentine territory, regardless of parents' nationality (Citizenship Law 346) — verify current text at infoleg.gob.ar | infoleg.gob.ar |
Conditional: Europe and Oceania
Here the birth alone is not enough — the parents' status decides:
| Country | Condition at birth | Primary source |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Automatic if a parent is a British citizen or settled in the UK (rule since 1 January 1983); registration routes exist if a parent later settles or the child lives in the UK to age 10 | gov.uk |
| Ireland | Automatic only for births before 1 January 2005; since then a parent's reckonable residence counts (three years for a child born to foreign parents) | citizensinformation.ie |
| Australia | Automatic if a parent is a citizen or permanent resident at the birth; otherwise citizenship at the 10th birthday if ordinarily resident throughout (Citizenship Act 2007, s.12) | legislation.gov.au |
| New Zealand | Automatic if a parent is a citizen or entitled to reside indefinitely (rule since 1 January 2006, Citizenship Act 1977 s.6) | legislation.govt.nz |
| Germany | A parent with at least five years of lawful residence and an unlimited residence right (since 27 June 2024; previously eight years); dual retention now permanent | bmi.bund.de |
| France | Not automatic at birth: automatic at 18 after five years of residence since age 11 (earlier declaration possible); double jus soli for a child born in France to a parent also born in France — verify current text at service-public.fr | vie-publique.fr |
| Portugal | Parent with legal residence at the birth — the required period was raised by the 2025/26 nationality reform (reports: five years, previously one) — verify the current rule at aima.gov.pt | aima.gov.pt |
What Parents Get
A citizen child does not automatically upgrade the parents. Where bonuses exist they are residence accelerators, not passports: parts of Latin America give the parents of a citizen child facilitated permanent residence and shorter naturalization clocks; elsewhere the parents' position is unchanged and the family's status still needs its own work (verify per country — these provisions are frequently reformed; none of them is a planning constant).
The Traps
- The US tax tail: citizenship by birth includes citizenship-based taxation — a US-citizen child files US tax and reporting for life, wherever the family lives. The detail is at US citizens abroad and FATCA/FBAR/Form 8938.
- Dual-citizenship restrictions: some countries make the child choose later or the parents' home country refuses the second passport — check both ends before birth tourism becomes a problem (see second passport plan B).
- Birth-tourism compliance: visitor visas used for birth purposes are questioned at borders; a citizen child is lawful, a misrepresented entry is not. Immigrations authorities in the US and Canada scrutinize exactly this.
Q/A
Which countries have jus soli?
Unconditional birthright citizenship lives in the Americas: the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and most of Latin America. Europe and Oceania grant it conditionally (UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Portugal — conditions per the tables above, each stated from the country's own statute or official guidance as of 2026-08-19).
What bonuses do parents get?
Usually none automatically. Some Latin American countries accelerate the parents' residence and naturalization through a citizen child; most countries give the parents nothing by themselves. Treat any parental fast track as a country-specific, reform-prone rule — verify before relying on it.
Is a US-born child really «free»?
The passport is; the tax tail is not. A US citizen by birth owes the US worldwide taxation and annual FBAR/Form 8938 reporting for life, and banks worldwide will treat the child as a US person under FATCA. Renunciation exists but is deliberate, priced and — for covered expatriates — taxed (see US expatriation exit tax).
*Reviewed: 2026-08-19 · Sources: constitutions and statutes of the listed countries — read directly: US 14th Amendment (constitution.congress.gov), Canada Citizenship Act s.3 (laws-lois.justice.gc.ca), UK (gov.uk), Australia s.12 (legislation.gov.au), Germany (bmi.bund.de), Brazil Art. 12 (planalto.gov.br), Mexico Art. 30 (scjn.gob.mx); Ireland (citizensinformation.ie) and NZ (legislation.govt.nz) via official texts; Argentina, France, Portugal — linked official sources, re-read due (markers on-page).*
Cite as: wiki.private.law — "Birthright Citizenship Countries: The Jus Soli Map and Its Traps", https://wiki.private.law/en/birthright-citizenship-countries (reviewed 2026-08-19).
Sources
- US — Constitution, 14th Amendment (read 2026-08-19)
- Canada — Citizenship Act, s.3 (read 2026-08-19)
- UK — Apply for citizenship if you were born in the UK (read 2026-08-19)
- Australia — Citizenship Act 2007, s.12; Germany — Nationality Act (StAG) §4, official EN translation (read 2026-08-19)
- Brazil — Constitution, Art. 12; Mexico — Constitution, Art. 30 (read 2026-08-19)
- Ireland — Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, ss. 6–6A (statute text); New Zealand — legislation.govt.nz; France — service-public.fr, “Dans quels cas un enfant est-il français ?”; Portugal — aima.gov.pt (verify current texts where marked)