Naturalization

Naturalization is when a person changes their nationality. 

Overview

Most people have the nationality of the country where they are born and grow up. In other cases, one can be a citizen of a country when the person has a parent or grandparent who was/is a citizen of a different country. If they move to another country, they would keep their own nationality. However, if they stay there for a certain number of years, they may be able to change their nationality.

Regional differences

Different countries have different laws about naturalization. Usually the person must make a promise in a court of law. He will have to promise to be a good citizen and obey the country's laws. A country may grant citizenship to someone who has not asked for it. 

Usually, a person can keep their first nationality when getting a new one. This is called dual nationality. Sometimes children whose parents have different nationalities are allowed to have dual nationality. Someone who has been naturalized will normally have all the rights that any other person who belongs to that country has.

Denaturalization

The reverse also happens. States sometimes remove the citizenship of certain naturalized citizens, which can leave the former citizen stateless.

Related pages

 Civil rights
 Immigration
 Human rights
 Egalitarianism

 References 
Category:Citizenship