Citizenship of the United States[2][3] is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constitution and laws of the United States, such as freedom of expression, due process, the rights to vote, live and work in the United States, and to receive federal assistance.[4][5]
There are two primary sources of citizenship: birthright citizenship, in which persons born within the territorial limits of the United States are presumed to be a citizen, or—providing certain other requirements are met—born abroad to a United States citizen parent,[6][7] and naturalization, a process in which an eligible legal immigrant applies for citizenship and is accepted.[8] The first of these two pathways to citizenship is specified in the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution which reads:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.
The second is provided for in U.S. law. In Article One of the Constitution, the power to establish a "uniform rule of naturalization" is granted explicitly to Congress.
United States law permits multiple citizenship. Citizens of other countries who are naturalized as United States citizens may retain their previous citizenship, although they must renounce allegiance to the other country. A United States citizen retains United States citizenship when becoming the citizen of another country, should that country's laws allow it. United States citizenship can be renounced by Americans via a formal procedure at a United States embassy.[9][10]
National citizenship signifies membership in the country as a whole; state citizenship, in contrast, signifies a relation between a person and a particular state and has application generally limited to domestic matters. State citizenship may affect (1) tax decisions, (2) eligibility for some state-provided benefits such as higher education, and (3) eligibility for state political posts such as United States senator. At the time of the American Civil War, state citizenship was a source of significant contention between the Union and the seceding Southern states.
- ^ "Get a passport". Travel.state.gov. April 1, 2011. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Hooven & Allison Co. v. Evatt, 324 U.S. 652 (1945)". Justia Law.
- ^ "United States". Black's Law Dictionary (6th ed.). United States. 1990. p. 1533.
{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Top 10 Reasons to become a United States citizen". American Immigration Center. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
- ^ Heineman (book reviewer), Robert (July 2004). "Downsizing Democracy: How America Sidelined Its Citizens and Privatized Its Public (book) by Matthew A. Crenson and Benjamin Ginsberg". Independent Institute. Retrieved December 16, 2009.
The withholding tax has made the voluntary component of tax collection much less important, and the professional military has limited the need for citizen soldiers.
- ^ 8 U.S.C. § 1401 ("Nationals and citizens of United States at birth"); "United States Citizenship". Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved December 24, 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Note: A person is presumed to be a full citizen in the sense of having a duty to pay some types of taxes and serve on juries, upon reaching the age of majority. At present the age of majority is 18 years.
- ^ ("The term 'naturalization' means the conferring of nationality of a state upon a person after birth, by any means whatsoever".) (emphasis added).
- ^ 8 U.S.C. § 1481
- ^ "Legal Considerations". Travel.state.gov. Archived from the original on January 14, 2010. Retrieved April 8, 2014. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
