Citizenship is a status that is defined by the laws of sovereign nations. Period. If a nation has laws that say you are a citizen, then by the laws of that country, you are a citizen.Phoenix520 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 11, 2022 8:39 am How on earth can one be citizen of four countries at once? The Irish one I can see, but somehow at least two of the others seem wrong.
I watch too many spy thrillers I guess. That’s the kind of plot device I’m used to. Present your British passport to the wrong person - viola, exposed.
Ireland and Greece and Kenya are three famous cases that by law, allow you to claim citizenship if a direct ancestor was a citizen. Ireland and Greece allow you to claim from your grandfather, Kenya allows at least from your father but you have to accept it before you turn 21. (See Obama, Barack - birth certificate nonsense).
No country can dictate the laws of another. North Korea can make a law that anyone born in California is a North Korean citizen if they want. Nobody else will recognise it, but it will hold in NK. (Or maybe they will - some countries sell passports and they get recognized)
The only thing about citizenship that is not completely national concern is losing citizenship. Citizens can be stripped of their citizenship, or voluntarily give it up. However, no one can lose citizenship if they have no other citizenship. This, of course, raises a lot of 'whudabouts' but that is beyond the scope of this discussion.
