I have no legal status in the United States now, but if I have a child, will the child be an American citizen? Will I become an American citizen in the future?

Nationality is a stable legal connection between natural persons and countries; It means that a natural person is legally subordinate to the state, and a natural person has rights and obligations to the state because of this relationship, so the state protects his or her rights and interests at home and abroad.

There are two main ways to acquire nationality: one is to acquire a country's nationality by birth, which is called original nationality; The other is to acquire the nationality of a country through naturalization, which is called subsequent nationality.

According to the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America and the relevant provisions of the United States Congress, there are three main ways to obtain American citizenship, which will be introduced below.

1. Obtain American citizenship according to the principle of birthplace. According to the birthright principle, a person can acquire American citizenship as long as he is born in the United States, regardless of his parents' nationality. Even children born in the United States through American foreign parents can become American citizens. However, children born to families of foreign embassies and consulates in the United States cannot obtain American citizenship according to this principle.

Second, automatically acquire American citizenship according to the principle of descent. That is, as long as American citizens have lived in the United States for 65,438+00 years, and among them, they have lived in the United States for 5 years after the age of 65,438+04, their children born in foreign countries also become American citizens at birth. Therefore, regarding the original nationality of American citizens, the mixed principle is realized, that is, the principle of birthplace and the principle of descent are adopted, and the principle of birthplace is the main one.

3. Obtaining American citizenship after naturalization, that is, applying for American citizenship, is approved. The above two kinds of Americans are usually called native Americans. They both automatically acquire American citizenship by birth, that is, their original citizenship. But the United States is an immigrant country with a large number of naturalized citizens, that is, "foreign-born Americans." According to the relevant laws of the US Congress, the basic conditions for naturalization in the United States are: at least 65,438+08 years old, you must be a non-enemy national and legally enter the United States, obtain permanent residency (so-called American green card) and live in the United States for more than 5 years, and live in a state for at least 6 months. Those who meet the above conditions and wish to become American citizens should apply to the court through the Immigration and Naturalization Bureau of the US Department of Justice, and obtain the support certificates of two American citizens. After examination by the Immigration and Naturalization Bureau, they can prove that they have good moral character, reliable credit, basic English reading, listening, speaking and writing skills, and basic knowledge of American history, government structure and constitution, mainly about important events, figures, government organizations and powers in American history, and the US Constitution. Do not belong to any totalitarian or extremist organization. After a public hearing, the court confirmed that all the conditions were met, and the court announced the granting of American citizenship. Naturalized citizens must swear allegiance to the United States, fulfill their obligations as American citizens, and give up their original nationality and loyalty to the original country.

Therefore, your child obtains American citizenship according to the principle of birthplace, and you need to apply for American citizenship.