PREVIEW
- What is ‘legal citizenship’?
- How can a country determine legal citizenship?
Citizenship can be defined in different ways. In international law, citizenship is a legal relationship between an individual and a country. Legal citizens typically have passports, birth certificates and other documents that prove that they are members of a country. Legal citizens have rights in the country where they have legal citizenship status. In exchange, legal citizens have certain responsibilities including paying taxes and obeying the laws of that country.
Some people feel that this legal definition of citizenship is too simple. They believe that citizenship is also an activity. It is also about people contributing to communities.
This learning resource will focus on the legal definition of citizenship.
Legal Citizenship Principles and Key Concepts
Legal citizenship can be established by law based on different principles. Countries have citizenship laws that may include one of both of these principles:
Jus sanguinis means ‘right of blood’ and legally refers to citizenship that is given according to the legal citizenship status of a person’s parents. It does not matter where this person was born. Under the jus sanguinis principle, legal citizenship might be based on the legal citizenship status of both parents or only one parent.
Jus soli literally means ‘right of soil’ and legally refers to citizenship that is given according to where a person is born. If a person is born within the territory of a country where the jus soli principle is used, that person would have legal citizenship status of that country even if their parents were legal citizens of a different country.
Some countries also offer naturalisation. Naturalisation is a process that enables a person to become a legal citizen in a particular country. A person who is a legal citizen in one country and wishes to become a legal citizen in another country, either by changing their legal citizenship status or by adding a second legal citizenship status, could undergo naturalisation. A person who does not have a legal citizenship status in any country could also undergo naturalisation, and they would then no longer be stateless. These persons might access naturalisation through residency, marriage, adoption, enlistment in the armed forces, passing an examination, or through other pathways. A naturalised citizen typically has access to rights on an equal basis with any other legal citizen of that country.
Some countries may have additional rules for legal citizenship status. They may want to extend legal citizenship status to persons that are of a certain indigenous or ethnic group or to persons who have ancestry that can be traced back to a country through many generations. These persons may be able to access legal citizenship status even if they now live and have legal citizenship status in another country. Therefore, in addition to legal citizenship based on the legal citizenship status of a person’s parents (jus sanguinis) or where a person was born (jus soli), it is also possible for legal citizenship to be based on a person’s indigeneity, ethnicity or ancestry.
Some countries have citizenship laws that allow for a person to have legal citizenship status from multiple countries.
Residents, Undocumented Persons, and Stateless Persons
A resident is a person who intends to stay in a certain country for a long period of time. Legal citizens are often residents in the country in which they have a legal citizenship status. Some people who do not have legal citizenship status in a certain country might also be residents there.
Therefore, it is possible to be both a legal citizen and a resident in a particular country – but not all residents are legal citizens. Residents who do not have a legal citizenship status in the country where they reside may not have the same rights and responsibilities as legal citizens. However, if they reside in a country for a long enough period, that country may give them some of the same rights and responsibilities as legal citizens.
An undocumented person is someone who lacks official government documents, such as an identification card or a birth certificate, to prove their identity, residence and/or legal citizenship status. An undocumented person might be stateless, but this is not always the case. In many countries, it is possible to be a legal citizen even without official government documents. Also, a person might have had documents in the past, which were lost or damaged during conflict or a natural disaster. They might have been recognised as a legal citizen in a particular country in the past as well, but they might face discrimination or other barriers in receiving new documents. Without official government documents, it could be difficult for a person to prove their legal citizenship status if this is commonly expected by government authorities in a particular country.
The children of undocumented parents can also face difficulties when applying for documents that prove their legal citizenship status. This process is often dependent on the applicant providing documentation of the legal citizenship status and residence of their parents and possibly their grandparents.
REFLECTION/DISCUSSION
- Should all residents of a country have the same rights and responsibilities as legal citizens? Why or why not?
- Should all undocumented persons have the same rights as legal citizens? Why or why not?
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