page_title: United States nationality law
section_title: Birth abroad to one United States citizen
hierarchical_section_title: United States nationality law / Acquisition of citizenship / Through birth abroad to United States citizens / Birth abroad to one United States citizen
caption_attribution_description: English: A Consular Report of Birth Abroad, issued by the State Department to a foreign-born person who acquires U.S. citizenship or non-citizen nationality at birth.
context_page_description: The United States nationality law is set out in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 which contains a uniform rule of naturalization of the United States. The 1952 Act sets out the legal requirements for the acquisition and divestiture of U.S. nationality.
  The most recent changes to the law were made in 2001.
context_section_description: A person born on or after November 14, 1986, is a U.S. citizen if all of the following are true:
  The person's parents were married at time of birth
  One of the person's parents was a U.S. citizen when the person in question was born
  The citizen parent lived at least five years in the United States before the child's birth
  A minimum of two of these five years in the United States were after the citizen parent's 14th birthday.
  INA 301(g) makes additional provisions to satisfy the physical-presence requirements for periods citizens spent abroad in "honorable service in the Armed Forces of the United States, or periods of employment with the United States Government or with an international organization." Additionally citizens, who spent time living abroad as the "dependent unmarried son or daughter and a member of the household of a person" in any of the previously mentioned organizations can also be counted.
  A person's Consular Report of Birth Abroad issued by a U.S. consulate or embassy is proof of citizenship. They may also apply for a passport or a Certificate of Citizenship as proof of citizenship. Different rules apply for persons born abroad to one U.S. citizen before November 14, 1986.  United States law on this subject changed multiple times throughout the twentieth century, and the law is applicable as it existed at the time of the individual's birth.
  For persons born between December 24, 1952 and November 14, 1986, a person is a U.S. citizen if all of the following are true:
  The person's parents were married at the time of birth
  One of the person's parents was a U.S. citizen when the person was born
  The citizen parent lived at least ten years in the United States before the child's birth;
  A minimum of 5 of these 10 years in the United States were after the citizen parent's 14th birthday.
  For persons born to two people who are not married to each other, the person is a U.S. citizen if all the following apply:
  the mother (or the father, if child was born on or after June 12, 2017) was a U.S. citizen at the time of the person's birth, and
  the mother was physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year prior to the person's birth. (For those born prior to June 11, 2017 to a U.S. father out of wedlock, see link.
caption: A State Department consular report of birth abroad, issued beginning 2011.
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