Natural-born citizen: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

In general, a natural-born citizen of a country is someone who a citizen at birth rather than by naturalization. (Also see jus soli.)

This term is used in particular as a requirement for becoming President or Vice-President of the United States. Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution states that:

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

In other words, only a citizen by birth (as opposed to a naturalized citizen) can be President or Vice-President. The 14th amendment also states that, "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 14th amendment also applies to situations such as children born abroad to U.S. citizens, who are thereby also citizens at birth, i.e., "natural born," even though they were not born on US soil, and are thus also eligible to become president.

Title 8, Section 1401 of the U.S. Code states the following persons are considered "citizens at birth" and therefore eligible to run for President or Vice-President:

• Anyone born in the United States.
• Any Native American or Native Alaskan born in the United States (provided that U.S. citizenship does not affect the person's status as a tribal citizen).
• Anyone born outside the United States to U.S. citizen parents, as long as at least one lived in the United States before the person was born.
• Anyone born outside the United States if one parent is a U.S. citizen who lived in the U.S. for at least a year, and the other is a U.S. national.
• Anyone born in a U.S. possession if at least one parent is a U.S. citizen who lived in the U.S. for at least a year.
• Anyone found in the U.S. before the age of five whose parentage is unknown, as long as proof of foreign birth is not shown by age 21.
• Anyone born outside the United States to an alien parent and a citizen parent who lived in the United States for at least five years (military and diplomatic service or dependency to be included in this requirement).
• Anyone born before May 23, 1934 to an alien father and a citizen mother who lived in the United States for any period.