With rare exceptions (primarily concerning the children of foreign diplomats), anyone who is born in the U.S. is automatically a U.S. citizen. The citizenship of children born overseas is not entirely straightforward. Generally, if one of the parents is a U.S. citizen who has lived in the U.S. for varying lengths of time after the age of 14, the child will be a U.S. citizen.

Example: Tatiana was born in the U.S. while her parents were in the U.S. for a five-year temporary work assignment. Since Tatiana was born in the U.S., she is automatically a U.S. citizen. After her father’s five-year U.S. assignment, she and her family returned to their home country of Germany. When Tatiana reached the age of 18, she decided she wanted to return to the U.S. to attend college and live permanently. As a U.S. citizen, she would have no problem gaining entry to the U.S. In addition, she may also have dual citizenship with Germany.

The benefits of citizenship are several:

• the ability to run for most public office positions,
• the ability to vote,
• entitlement to public benefits,
• protection from deportation, even after committing a crime,
• receive priority treatment in bringing any family members to the U.S.,
• ability to obtain certain government jobs, and
• more favorable estate tax treatment.

More information on who is a citizen or national at birth can be found in INA §§ 301-309, 8 U.S.C. §§ 1401-1409.