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Citizenship Most Americans take citizenship for granted. Due to our attitudes toward citizenship, certain bureaucrats within our federal government sometimes seek to deny the right of citizenship to Americans. A burgeoning area of law for immigration attorneys is citizenship. United States laws concerning acquisition of citizenship at birth embody two legal principals: 1) The law of the soil and 2) The law of the bloodline. What is law of the soil or jus soli? It is a rule of common law under which the place of a person’s birth determines citizenship. In addition to common law, this principle is embodied in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the various U.S. citizenship and nationality statutes. What is law of the bloodline or jus sanguinis? It a concept of Roman or civil law under which a person’s citizenship is determined by the citizenship of one or both parents. This rule, frequently called “citizenship by descent” or “derivative citizenship," is not embodied in the U.S. Constitution, but such citizenship is granted through statute. As U.S. laws have changed, the requirements for conferring and retaining derivative citizenship have also changed. Derivative citizenship is also a term applied to foreign born adopted children of United States citizens who meet certain conditions. It also used in the context of naturalization when discussing certain minor children when their parents naturalize. Do citizenship questions arise for persons born on United States soil? Yes. Due to a certain amount of fraud in border areas, the government may at a certain point in the life of an American born in one of these areas question that American's citizenship. In these cases, Oklahoma City immigration attorney Steven Langer seeks to put together evidence proving that "more likely than not" the person being questioned is indeed a United States citizen. In cases involving derivative citizenship, Mr. Langer first determines the law applicable at the time of birth. Researching this part of the puzzle can take many weeks. Facts to be reviewed include presence in the United States of the parent before the foreign birth of the child, whether the child was legitimated, whether the child is married and even in certain rare cases grandparental history must be reviewed. Mr. Langer then determines whether the appropriate proof of citizenship should be obtained by the Department of State or through United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. For those born inside the United States, the best approach is usually to file a passport application. For those born outside the United States, options include obtaining a passport as well as the issuance of certain certificates from the United States Department of State or the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Citizenship cases can present the most difficult challenges of law and fact for the best immigration attorneys. Mr. Langer accepts these cases as his workload permits.

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