{"id":353865,"date":"2016-04-04T10:47:11","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T15:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/military\/family-employment-housing\/military-children-born-abroad.html"},"modified":"2016-06-20T20:25:07","modified_gmt":"2016-06-21T01:25:07","slug":"military-children-born-abroad","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/military\/family-employment-housing\/military-children-born-abroad.html","title":{"rendered":"Military Children Born Abroad"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Military Children Born Abroad<\/h1>\n
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Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last updated\n

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This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n\n

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The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n<\/section>\n

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Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n

The child may need a visa to legally stay in his or her resident country. This will depend on the laws of the resident country and any treaties that may be in place with the U.S. Ask your commanding officer or qualified legal counsel about whether your child will need a visa and how to apply for one.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Service members’ assignments take them all over the world. Sometimes, families can join the service members on their overseas deployments. When children of these military families are born abroad, their parents must make sure that the children are citizens of the correct country, that they have appropriate travel documentation, and that they are well-supported.<\/p>\r\n

Many cases may be a simple matter of filing the correct paperwork with a nearby U.S. consulate or embassy<\/a>. But sometimes cases can get very complicated very quickly. This article provides an overview of how to secure citizenship for military children born abroad. Your commanding officer or legal counsel may be able to help you with additional questions.<\/p>\r\n

Citizenship<\/h2>\r\n

Many parents of children born abroad want to know if their children are U.S. citizens. The U.S. grants citizenship<\/a> in one of three ways: naturalization<\/a>, in which someone becomes a U.S. citizen sometime after birth; birth on U.S. soil; or birth to parents who are U.S. citizens. Contrary to popular belief, military bases are not considered "U.S. soil" for citizenship purposes. Therefore, the only way children born abroad can acquire citizenship at birth is through their parents.<\/p>\r\n

There are a wide variety of possible family arrangements, and each one has different citizenship implications.<\/p>\r\n

If the parents are married to each other, the child is a U.S. citizen if:<\/p>\r\n